Taiwan's quest for identity and international recognition have unequivocally been the most important issues in Taiwan over the past 40 years, and they continue to generate impassioned debate, nationally and internationally. This book explores the instrumental roles artists, curators and museums have played in Taiwan's nation-building process. It focuses on the post-martial law period, from 1987 until 2010, a transformative period when democratization gave rise to a heightened sense of Taiwanese nationalism, and when issues concerning Taiwan's identity vis-à-vis with China, peaked.
DIVTraces the growth and evolution of a Taiwan's sense of itself as a separate and distinct entity by examining the diverse ways a discourse of nation has been produced in the Taiwanese cultural imagination./div
The Matsu archipelago between China and Taiwan, for long an isolated outpost off southeast China, was suddenly transformed into a military frontline in 1949 by the Cold War and the Communist-Nationalist conflict. The army occupied the islands, commencing more than 40 long years of military rule. With the lifting of martial law in 1992, the people were confronted with the question of how to move forward. This in-depth ethnography and social history of the islands focuses on how individual citizens redefined themselves and reimagined their society. Drawing on long-term fieldwork, Wei-Ping Lin shows how islanders used both traditional and new media to cope with the conflicts and trauma of harsh military rule. She discusses the formation of new social imaginaries through the appearance of 'imagining subjects', interrogating their subjectification processes and varied uses of mediating technologies as they seek to answer existential questions. This title is Open Access.
"Until 300 years ago, the Chinese considered Taiwan a “land beyond the seas,” a “ball of mud” inhabited by “naked and tattooed savages.” The incorporation of this island into the Qing empire in the seventeenth century and its evolution into a province by the late nineteenth century involved not only a reconsideration of imperial geography but also a reconceptualization of the Chinese domain. The annexation of Taiwan was only one incident in the much larger phenomenon of Qing expansionism into frontier areas that resulted in a doubling of the area controlled from Beijing and the creation of a multi-ethnic polity. The author argues that travelers’ accounts and pictures of frontiers such as Taiwan led to a change in the imagined geography of the empire. In representing distant lands and ethnically diverse peoples of the frontiers to audiences in China proper, these works transformed places once considered non-Chinese into familiar parts of the empire and thereby helped to naturalize Qing expansionism. By viewing Taiwan–China relations as a product of the history of Qing expansionism, the author contributes to our understanding of current political events in the region."
Migration has transformed Taiwanese society in the last 20 years. The main inflows have been temporary workers from Southeast Asian countries and female spouses from Southeast Asia and China marrying Taiwanese husbands. The main outflow has been migration to China, as a result of increased economic integration across the Taiwan Strait. These changes have significantly altered Taiwan’s ethnic structure and have profound social and political implications for this new democracy. As large numbers of these migrants take Taiwanese citizenship and their offspring gain voting rights, the impact of these "new Taiwanese" will continue to increase. This book showcases some of the leading researchers working on migration to and from Taiwan. The chapters approach migration from a range of disciplinary perspectives, including international relations, sociology, social work, film studies, political science, gender studies, geography and political economy and so the book has great appeal to scholars and students interested in the politics of Taiwan, Taiwanese society and ethnic identity as well as those focusing on migration in East Asia and comparative migration studies.
Hao Zhidong has provided essential background on the types of thinking that could create a unified island-mainland polity. Do the politicians in Beijing and Taipei want one enough to make the symbolic sacrifices that would be needed to bring their citizens peace with prosperity? The thinkers whom Hao analyzes in this book can show them ways to do this---Lynn White, Princeron University A tour de force survey of the dilemmas and possibilities facing intellectuals and policy makers in the Chinese-speaking world when dealing with Taiwan as a problem of Chinese nationalism.---Christopher R. Hughes, London School of Economics and Political Science A sane, thoughtful and thoroughly grounded study of what intellectuals are doing---and could do---to mediate the contentious patriotism in both Mainland China and Taiwan. Hao brings the sensibilities of a native to a rigorous comparative sociological analysis of the states and the intellectuals involved and what it would take to resolve this key relationship.---Timothy Check, University of British Bolumbia This volume makes a significant contribution to understanding the complexities of the development of nationalisms and divided nations, identity politics, and the roles of the state and intellectuals, not only across the Taiwan Strait, but also around the world. Professor Hao Zhidong's proposed solution to a unified cross-Strait polity is extremely thoughtful and stimulating and deserves serious attention from all parties concerned.---Timothy Ka Ying Wong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong This is one of the few books that argues for a feasible compromise solution to the political conflict across the Taiwan Strait that still troubles greater China. The author elaborates on the factors both enabling and constraining the formation of a hybrid of federation and confederation. In a unique way he deals with the role of the state and intellectuals (organic, professional, and critical) as well as their interaction in shaping national identities. The important questions raised are: Can China become a true world leader? Will Taiwan be a key player in China's transformation? The book should be of interest to students in political science, sociology, and history, as well as policy-makers and businesspeople who are concerned about the development of cross-Strait relations.
This book is an analytical of study of Taiwan interspersed with personal elements from the author's life there in the last 20 years. Taiwan's unique confluence of colonial histories, Chinese nationalism and democratization offers a tangible alternative to the status quo in mainland China, albeit one that is becoming more marginal with time. With this in mind, the author offers a concise introduction to the politics and culture of contemporary Taiwan, investigating the Taiwanese identity, aesthetic and its future. A guide to navigating the coming years for Taiwan and greater China, this book will be of interest to scholars, political scientists and historians.
Jennifer M. Wei argues that construction and perceptions of language and identity parallel sociopolitical transformations, and language and identity crises arise during power transitions. Under these premises, language and identity are never well-defined or well-bounded. Instead, they are best viewed as political symbols subject to manipulation and exploitation during socio-historical upheavals. A choice of language—from phonological shibboleth, Mandarin, or Taiwanese, to choice of official language—cuts to the heart of contested cultural notions of self and other, with profound implications for nationalism, national unity and ethno-linguistic purism. Wei further argues that because of the Chinese Diaspora and Taiwan's connections to China and the United States, arguments and sentiments over language choice and identity have consequences for Taiwan's international and transnational status. They are symbolic acts of imagining Taiwan's past as she looks forward to the future.
In the decades since her defeat in the Second World War, Japan has continued to loom large in the national imagination of many of her East Asian neighbours. While for many, Japan still conjures up images of rampant military brutality, at different times and in different communities, alternative images of the Japanese ‘Other’ have vied for predominance – in ways that remain poorly understood, not least within Japan itself. Imagining Japan in Postwar East Asia analyses the portrayal of Japan in the societies of East and Southeast Asia, and asks how and why this has changed in recent decades, and what these changing images of Japan reveal about the ways in which these societies construct their own identities. It examines the role played by an imagined ‘Japan’ in the construction of national selves across the East Asian region, as mediated through a broad range of media ranging from school curricula and textbooks to film, television, literature and comics. Commencing with an extensive thematic and comparative overview chapter, the volume also includes contributions focusing specifically on Chinese societies (the mainland PRC, Hong Kong and Taiwan), Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore. These studies show how changes in the representation of Japan have been related to political, social and cultural shifts within the societies of East Asia – and in particular to the ways in which these societies have imagined or constructed their own identities. Bringing together contributors working in the fields of education, anthropology, history, sociology, political science and media studies, this interdisciplinary volume will be of interest to all students and scholars concerned with issues of identity, politics and culture in the societies of East Asia, and to those seeking a deeper understanding of Japan’s fraught relations with its regional neighbours.
This book investigates the aesthetics and politics of Post/Taiwan-New-Cinema by examining fifteen movies by six directors and frequent award winners in international film festivals. The book considers the works of such prominent directors as Edward Yang, Tsai Ming-liang and Chang Tsuo-chi and their influence on Asian films, as well as emergent phenomenal directors such as Wei Te-sheng, Zero Chou, and Chung Mong-hong. It also explores the possibility of transnational and trans-local social sphere in the interstices of layered colonial legacies, nation-state domination, and global capitalism. Considering Taiwan cinema in the wake of globalization, it analyses how these films represent the socio-political transition among multiple colonial legacies, global capitalism, and the changing cross-strait relation between Taiwan and the Mainland China. The book discusses how these films represent nomadic urban middle class, displaced transnational migrant workers, roaming children and young gangsters, and explores how the continuity/disjuncture of globalization has not only carved into historical and personal memories and individual bodies, but also influenced the transnational production modes and marketing strategies of cinema.
