Pub Date : 2021-07-09DOI: 10.1163/24688800-20211218
C. Berry
How do you get people interested in something they know nothing about? Something old, forgotten—and in black and white with subtitles? ‘Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema: Recovered and Restored’ is a project to screen old Taiwanese-language films (taiyupian), mostly from the 1960s, in Europe. It was a learning experience in working with Taiwanese culture in Europe. This report is my effort to reflect on that experience and I try to answer two questions. First, what is so interesting about these films? Second, why was it so difficult to make the initial breakthrough and what made it possible in the end? There are many different elements at play. But I have come to understand that the environment for screening alternative, archive, and art films has changed over the decades to create both new problems and new possibilities, among which the potential for universities to be cultural incubators has been crucial.
{"title":"Introducing Taiwanese-Language Cinema in Europe","authors":"C. Berry","doi":"10.1163/24688800-20211218","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-20211218","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000How do you get people interested in something they know nothing about? Something old, forgotten—and in black and white with subtitles? ‘Taiwan’s Lost Commercial Cinema: Recovered and Restored’ is a project to screen old Taiwanese-language films (taiyupian), mostly from the 1960s, in Europe. It was a learning experience in working with Taiwanese culture in Europe. This report is my effort to reflect on that experience and I try to answer two questions. First, what is so interesting about these films? Second, why was it so difficult to make the initial breakthrough and what made it possible in the end? There are many different elements at play. But I have come to understand that the environment for screening alternative, archive, and art films has changed over the decades to create both new problems and new possibilities, among which the potential for universities to be cultural incubators has been crucial.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"281 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121608628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-23DOI: 10.1163/24688800-20201156
Flair Donglai Shi
Sinophone studies has improved the visibility of a range of Chinese-language cultural products and is expanding into a transnational and multilingual academic enterprise. With firm acknowledgement of the pragmatic benefits the Sinophone has brought (particularly to Anglophone and Taiwanese academia), this paper reflects on some of the problems embedded in the underlying premises and ideological mechanisms of the concept of the Sinophone that have so far been under-discussed. As a first step towards a more self-reflective meta-discourse about Sinophone studies, it highlights three areas that warrant more clarification and debate before the concept is applied to specific analyses: the significance of the Chinese Cold War; the matrix of multiple Sinocentrisms; and the double-edged sword of theoretical generalisation. In this process, I emphasise the institutional formation of the ‘Sinophone’ both as a cultural field and as an academic discourse, and highlight the significant role that Taiwan has been playing in this.
{"title":"Reconsidering Sinophone Studies: The Chinese Cold War, Multiple Sinocentrisms, and Theoretical Generalisation","authors":"Flair Donglai Shi","doi":"10.1163/24688800-20201156","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-20201156","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Sinophone studies has improved the visibility of a range of Chinese-language cultural products and is expanding into a transnational and multilingual academic enterprise. With firm acknowledgement of the pragmatic benefits the Sinophone has brought (particularly to Anglophone and Taiwanese academia), this paper reflects on some of the problems embedded in the underlying premises and ideological mechanisms of the concept of the Sinophone that have so far been under-discussed. As a first step towards a more self-reflective meta-discourse about Sinophone studies, it highlights three areas that warrant more clarification and debate before the concept is applied to specific analyses: the significance of the Chinese Cold War; the matrix of multiple Sinocentrisms; and the double-edged sword of theoretical generalisation. In this process, I emphasise the institutional formation of the ‘Sinophone’ both as a cultural field and as an academic discourse, and highlight the significant role that Taiwan has been playing in this.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127022511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-08-20DOI: 10.1163/24688800-00302009
S. Chang, Jeremy Chiang
This review article looks at “Oppression and Overcoming: Social Movements in Post-War Taiwan” (2019.5.28–2020.5.17), an exhibition at the National Museum of Taiwan History (nthm) through approaches of museum studies and social movement studies, and aims to understand its implication for doing Taiwan Studies. This review concludes that “Oppression and Overcoming” is significant as a novel museological practice by being part of a continuation of social movements, which transformed the museum to a space for civil participation and dialogue. This allows the exhibition to become a window for both citizens and foreigners to understand and realize Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and civil society. In addition, this review suggests that future exhibitions on social movements could demonstrate the possibility to position Taiwan in a global context to better connect with other countries in the Asian region.
{"title":"Review of the Exhibition Oppression and Overcoming: Social Movements in Post-War Taiwan, National Museum of Taiwan History, 28 May 2019–17 May 2020","authors":"S. Chang, Jeremy Chiang","doi":"10.1163/24688800-00302009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00302009","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This review article looks at “Oppression and Overcoming: Social Movements in Post-War Taiwan” (2019.5.28–2020.5.17), an exhibition at the National Museum of Taiwan History (nthm) through approaches of museum studies and social movement studies, and aims to understand its implication for doing Taiwan Studies. This review concludes that “Oppression and Overcoming” is significant as a novel museological practice by being part of a continuation of social movements, which transformed the museum to a space for civil participation and dialogue. This allows the exhibition to become a window for both citizens and foreigners to understand and realize Taiwan’s vibrant democracy and civil society. In addition, this review suggests that future exhibitions on social movements could demonstrate the possibility to position Taiwan in a global context to better connect with other countries in the Asian region.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"7 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131104323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-05-13DOI: 10.1163/24688800-20201157
Chengpang Lee
The social science communities in Taiwan face significant difficulties in publishing their studies in top-tier international journals. In this paper, I problematise the phenomenon of international publishing and situate this inquiry within the literature on global knowledge production. I further discuss the ‘small country predicament thesis’ originally framed by Su-jen Huang and the proposed solution—the Moneyball approach. Using the keyword search method, I aim to answer two empirical questions: who and what kinds of papers related to Taiwan get published in the top US sociological journals. The findings of this case study suggest that most of the papers are authored by foreign scholars, most papers were published prior to 2000, and they all share methodological similarities. Comparing this pattern to other Asian countries, the case of Taiwan shows both similarities and differences in facing the challenges of academic publishing.
{"title":"Making Taiwan Relevant to Sociology: a Case Study on the Publication Pattern in the Major US Journals","authors":"Chengpang Lee","doi":"10.1163/24688800-20201157","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-20201157","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The social science communities in Taiwan face significant difficulties in publishing their studies in top-tier international journals. In this paper, I problematise the phenomenon of international publishing and situate this inquiry within the literature on global knowledge production. I further discuss the ‘small country predicament thesis’ originally framed by Su-jen Huang and the proposed solution—the Moneyball approach. Using the keyword search method, I aim to answer two empirical questions: who and what kinds of papers related to Taiwan get published in the top US sociological journals. The findings of this case study suggest that most of the papers are authored by foreign scholars, most papers were published prior to 2000, and they all share methodological similarities. Comparing this pattern to other Asian countries, the case of Taiwan shows both similarities and differences in facing the challenges of academic publishing.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121417296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-03DOI: 10.1163/24688800-00301006
C. Figueira
State-centred diplomacy is primed by foreign policy objectives. Yet when traditional diplomacy suffers from weaknesses—as in the case of Taiwan—their institutions are advised to revise approaches and to consider engaging non-state actors in their strategies. This article critically explores how Indigenous peoples can be considered non-state diplomatic actors in Taiwan’s public/cultural diplomacy. Considering various definitions of diplomacy and different understandings of the role of non-state actors, the article examines the legitimacy of Taiwanese Indigenous peoples to represent Taiwan internationally and their capacity to shape the perceptions of foreign publics about the country. Further, a contextualised analysis of Dispossessions: Performative Encounter(s) of Taiwanese Indigenous Contemporary Art—an exhibition and series of events that took place in May 2018 at Goldsmiths, University of London—is used to demonstrate how the engagement between Taiwanese Indigenous peoples and foreign publics can happen in practice by examining the event through a public/cultural diplomacy lens.
{"title":"Indigenous Peoples as Non-State Diplomatic Actors in the Public/Cultural Diplomacy of Taiwan: a Case Study of Dispossessions: Performative Encounter(s) of Taiwanese Indigenous Contemporary Art","authors":"C. Figueira","doi":"10.1163/24688800-00301006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00301006","url":null,"abstract":"State-centred diplomacy is primed by foreign policy objectives. Yet when traditional diplomacy suffers from weaknesses—as in the case of Taiwan—their institutions are advised to revise approaches and to consider engaging non-state actors in their strategies. This article critically explores how Indigenous peoples can be considered non-state diplomatic actors in Taiwan’s public/cultural diplomacy. Considering various definitions of diplomacy and different understandings of the role of non-state actors, the article examines the legitimacy of Taiwanese Indigenous peoples to represent Taiwan internationally and their capacity to shape the perceptions of foreign publics about the country. Further, a contextualised analysis of Dispossessions: Performative Encounter(s) of Taiwanese Indigenous Contemporary Art—an exhibition and series of events that took place in May 2018 at Goldsmiths, University of London—is used to demonstrate how the engagement between Taiwanese Indigenous peoples and foreign publics can happen in practice by examining the event through a public/cultural diplomacy lens.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"119 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121593624","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-03DOI: 10.1163/24688800-00301004
K. Brown
Xi Jinping’s People’s Republic of China is keen to express its grand strategic ambitions—the delivery of centennial goals by 2021 and 2049. This marks the end in which China seeks to keep a low profile. With notions like the ‘China Dream’, the Belt and Road Initiative, and a raft of other expressions and moves, Xi and his fellow leaders have shown that they want a more proactive foreign policy. In this ambitious, historically driven and more nationalistic strategic approach, the issue of Taiwan remains central. There has been more attempt to make some kind of framework for reunification on the part of Beijing accepted both internationally, and in Taipei. Taiwan’s space has been restricted, and a number of moves have placed pressure on the Tsai presidency, from trying to gain diplomatic allies currently linked to Taiwan, to refusing Taiwan space on the World Health Assembly and other bodies.
{"title":"The Beijing Perspective: the Political and Diplomatic Context for Taiwan and the World Health Assembly","authors":"K. Brown","doi":"10.1163/24688800-00301004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00301004","url":null,"abstract":"Xi Jinping’s People’s Republic of China is keen to express its grand strategic ambitions—the delivery of centennial goals by 2021 and 2049. This marks the end in which China seeks to keep a low profile. With notions like the ‘China Dream’, the Belt and Road Initiative, and a raft of other expressions and moves, Xi and his fellow leaders have shown that they want a more proactive foreign policy. In this ambitious, historically driven and more nationalistic strategic approach, the issue of Taiwan remains central. There has been more attempt to make some kind of framework for reunification on the part of Beijing accepted both internationally, and in Taipei. Taiwan’s space has been restricted, and a number of moves have placed pressure on the Tsai presidency, from trying to gain diplomatic allies currently linked to Taiwan, to refusing Taiwan space on the World Health Assembly and other bodies.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"85 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115723289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-09DOI: 10.1163/24688800-00202006
T. Rich, A. Dahmer, Isabel Eliassen
What explains Taiwan’s vacillating support for same-sex marriage? Despite earlier favourable public opinion and a Constitutional Court decision in 2017 in favour of legalisation, anti-lgbt referendums in 2018 found overwhelming support. We argue that the framing of same-sex marriage as undermining traditional family structures allowed opponents to shift the national discussion on legalisation. Our results suggest that supporters and the Tsai administration may have overestimated the extent to which opinions on legalisation were firm.
{"title":"Explaining Support for Same-Sex Marriage: Evidence from Taiwan","authors":"T. Rich, A. Dahmer, Isabel Eliassen","doi":"10.1163/24688800-00202006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00202006","url":null,"abstract":"What explains Taiwan’s vacillating support for same-sex marriage? Despite earlier favourable public opinion and a Constitutional Court decision in 2017 in favour of legalisation, anti-lgbt referendums in 2018 found overwhelming support. We argue that the framing of same-sex marriage as undermining traditional family structures allowed opponents to shift the national discussion on legalisation. Our results suggest that supporters and the Tsai administration may have overestimated the extent to which opinions on legalisation were firm.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"6 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120993094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-09DOI: 10.1163/24688800-00202004
Hon-min Yau
The aim of this paper is to assess the change in the cyberpower dynamics between Taiwan, the US, and China. Given Taiwan’s decision to establish the Information, Communications and Electronic Warfare Command to counter China’s cyberthreat in 2017, there is very little scholarly work regarding the context of Taiwan’s cybersecurity challenge. Not only are cyberweapons and capabilities not viewable and quantifiable in the direct sense as numbers of submarines or aircraft, but also the problem of attribution in cyberspace creates an epistemological limitation in explaining the origin of cyberattacks. Hence, this paper engages with Taiwan’s conception of cyberspace and submits a general review of cyberpower. It concludes that the shift in the cyberpower dynamics between Taiwan, the US, and China has contributed to Taiwan’s fear and changed Taiwan’s threat perception.
{"title":"An Assessment of Cyberpower within the Triangular Relations of Taiwan–US–China and Its Implications","authors":"Hon-min Yau","doi":"10.1163/24688800-00202004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00202004","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this paper is to assess the change in the cyberpower dynamics between Taiwan, the US, and China. Given Taiwan’s decision to establish the Information, Communications and Electronic Warfare Command to counter China’s cyberthreat in 2017, there is very little scholarly work regarding the context of Taiwan’s cybersecurity challenge. Not only are cyberweapons and capabilities not viewable and quantifiable in the direct sense as numbers of submarines or aircraft, but also the problem of attribution in cyberspace creates an epistemological limitation in explaining the origin of cyberattacks. Hence, this paper engages with Taiwan’s conception of cyberspace and submits a general review of cyberpower. It concludes that the shift in the cyberpower dynamics between Taiwan, the US, and China has contributed to Taiwan’s fear and changed Taiwan’s threat perception.","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"88 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116821532","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2019-09-09DOI: 10.1163/24688800-00202011
Hsin-tien Liao
{"title":"Imaging Taiwan: the Role of Art in Taiwan’s Quest for Identity (1987–2010), written by Sophie McIntyre, (2018)","authors":"Hsin-tien Liao","doi":"10.1163/24688800-00202011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/24688800-00202011","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":203501,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Taiwan Studies","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2019-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130899439","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}