Diaspora, Material Life and Cultural Identity: Chinese Women Writers in Taiwan during the 1950s

Abstract

A large number of mainlanders were forced to move to Taiwan with the KMT government in 1949. This group of Chinese mainlanders was mostly servicemen, government employees, and teachers; their composition differed tremendously from local Taiwanese. Such differences have been the historical and social origins of ethnic conflicts in Taiwan accordingly. It is found that although gender issues are important, it is not necessary and sufficient in the relations among ethnic groups in particular. Female mainlanders, due to their everyday life interactions with local people, had a much closer contact with local Taiwanese. The closer contact generated a higher local identity than that of their male counterparts. This paper therefore aims to explore the dynamic process between one's everyday life and cultural identity. Through a series of textual analyses of the work of female mainland writers, the present author attempts to inquire into the material basis of cultural identity through aspects of social life, namely food, clothing, residence, social networks, transportation and travel, education, and entertainment. This paper would also discuss the theoretical implication in a diaspora space.