The most recent novel published by French author Pierrick Bourgault features a female Taiwanese character, who faces challenges as an expatriate in France.
The novel, Journal d’un cafe de campagne, tells the story of two 40-year-olds, a Taiwanese woman named Lin (林) and her French husband Yann, who move to a small town about two hours by train from Paris to open a cafe.
One of the major obstacles they face is keeping their small business afloat in a rural area, which is typically plagued by bureaucracy that is unfriendly to entrepreneurs.
Photo: CNA
At a promotional event at a Paris bistro on March 6, which was attended by Representative to France Francois Wu (吳志中) and Taiwan Cultural Center in Paris director Hu Ching-fang (胡晴舫), Bourgault said he crafted the story based on his observations of the plight of young dream chasers in France, where people seek to move out of urban centers into provincial areas, but are often hampered by local government regulations.
He chose a Taiwanese character as a lead to draw parallels between a country that cultivates entrepreneurs in rural areas with one that discourages such ideas, he said.
Bourgault visited Taiwan in 2012 and did an island-wide tour on scooter.
“I was searching for a country [when first writing the novel] that stands shoulder to shoulder and could be compared and contrasted with France,” he said. “Taiwan is a highly developed country whose citizens are democratically independent, making them very suitable for storytelling.”
He said Lin’s character was chosen to examine France’s traditions from the perspective of an immigrant, while presenting aspects of Taiwanese culture to French readers.
“From the observations I was able to make during my visit to Taiwan, I think Taiwanese women are steadfast and affable,” he said. “They will definitely speak their minds, but won’t deliberately ignite conflict. They are also gentle, yet firm on determining what they want, which are admirable traits.”
One of the most memorable aspects of his visit to Taiwan was seeing many highly educated young people returning home to rural areas to invest their skills and expertise in agriculture, arts and culture, including handicraft, he said.
Taiwan has been taking steps over the past 10 years to improve the working environment in rural areas, which is quite rare in France, Bourgault said.
“In France, you either own a humble boutique establishment or a giant-sized conglomerate,” he said.
While people of working age in France also wish to develop artistic spaces, and run cafes and restaurants in the countryside, they are deterred by the bureaucracy, he said.
“To me, Taiwan represents more freedom and easier access for the younger generation to become creative entrepreneurs, and my book pays respect to those qualities,” Bourgault said. “I use my story as a way to criticize France’s bureaucracy in that regard.”
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