Adina Zemanek

Assistant Professor

Institute of Middle and Far Eastern Studies

Jagiellonian University in Krakow



                          National Identity in Taiwanese Popular Culture


                                  Elective course, 20 class hours



This course will trace various kinds of national identity constructed in Taiwanese popular culture,
with special emphasis on the recent years. A short introduction to Taiwan’s history and the main
kinds of texts to be employed as examples throughout the course will be followed by a series of
lectures dedicated to selected topics related to national identity. Each lecture will be
illustrated with numerous examples, which will also serve as starting point for class discussions.



Evaluation methods:


  * class attendance is compulsory; students with over two absences (regardless of the reason) will
obtain a „not passed”
  * the course will be followed by a test in the form of a short essay based on visual material
presented in class



1. Introduction


Historical background: the Dutch in Taiwan, the Qing rule, the Japanese colonial period, the
Republic of China, the martial law era, democratization and Taiwanization


Taiwanese cinema after the martial law era: the “New Wave” and recent years


Comic books in Taiwan since the martial law era


Tourist souvenirs in present-day Taiwan



2. Chinese identity during the martial law era


The Kuomintang’s sinicization of city spaces (Taipei); Chinese identity as expressed in „Campus
Folk Songs” (1970s) and in contemporary graphic memoirs



3. History and memory


Taiwanization, “de-Chiang-Kai-shek-ification” and “subjectivity in history”, with examples from
popular non-fiction books, contemporary graphic memoirs and postcards





4. Ethnicity


The 本省人 benshengren (native Taiwanese) and the 外省人 waishengren (Mainlanders) in the New Wave
cinema, recent films and comic books



5. Taiwanization and the 台客 Taike culture


Origin and evolution of the Taike stereotype; its employment in defining Taiwan during the 1990s
and in recent years; with examples from popular books, Hoklo rock, films and postcards



6. Taiwaneseness and everyday life


Tim Edensor’s idea of national identity embodied in everyday life, John Urry’s concept of the
“tourist gaze” and definitions of Taiwan in tourist souvenirs and comic books



7. Cultural hybridity


Taiwan’s culture as unique configuration of localized global influences; with examples from films
and comic books



8. Linguistic issues


The use of Mandarin and Hoklo to emphasize a Chinese or local identity; linguistic hybridity in
present-day Taiwan; with examples from films (“Healthy Realism”, the “New Wave”, works from recent
years) and graphic memoirs



9. Generations and national identity


Student political activism, the “China factor” and the 五年級 wu nianji (“fifth-grader”) generation;
with examples from popular non-fiction and graphic memoirs




                                      Recommended literature


Allen, Joseph R. (2012). Taipei. City of Displacements. University of Washington Press: Seattle and
London, 2012

Edensor, Tim (2002). National Identity, Popular Culture and Everyday Life. Berg: Oxford and New
York

Hong, Guo-Juin (2011). Taiwan Cinema. A Contested Nation on Screen. Palgrave Macmillan: New York

Hsiau, A-chin (2000). Contemporary Taiwanese Cultural Nationalism. Routledge: London and New York

Lynch, Daniel C. (2004). Taiwan’s Self-Conscious Nation-Building Project. Asian Survey, 44, 4
(August), 513-533

Makeham, John and Hsiau, A-chin (eds.) (2005). Cultural, Ethnic and Political Nationalism in
Contemporary Taiwan. Bentuhua. Palgrave Macmillan: New York

Manthorpe, Jonathan (2005). Forbidden Nation. A History of Taiwan. Palgrave Macmillan: New York

Taylor, Jeremy E. (2010). Qujianghua: Disposing of and Re-Appraising the Remnants of Chiang
Kai-Shek's Reign on Taiwan. Journal of Contemporary History, 45, 1, 181-196

Urry, John and Larsen, Jonas (2011). The Tourist Gaze 3.0. Sage: Los Angeles, London, New Delhi