Water under the Bridge: Unsettling the Concept of Bridging Cultures in Yoko Tawada's Writing

Within the context of ideas about bridging cultures, the article analyzes how Tawada's use of bridges and in-between spaces in the short story "In Front of Trang Tien Bridge" and in selected essays reveals novel ways of imagining intercultural convergences. These new ways point in unexpected directions that make connection and exchange a never-ending process, one that can lead as easily into solipsism as into dialogue. The story uses the setting of Vietnam to complicate the function of the in-between space while also undermining East-West dualisms. It addresses the ongoing effects of colonialism and war linking Japan, Germany, and Vietnam.