front cover of The Cultural State of Contemporary Taiwan, Volume 17
The Cultural State of Contemporary Taiwan, Volume 17
Christopher Lupke, ed.
Duke University Press
This special issue is devoted to exploring the highly contested cultural and political space that makes up contemporary Taiwan. Examining a range of topics—from social formations, institutions, and legal discourse to popular culture, literary creativity, and cinematic representation—contributors to “The Cultural ‘State’ of Contemporary Taiwan” define what it means to live in Taiwan.

The seven essays in this issue represent a broad spectrum of academic approaches that include sociology, anthropology, legal studies, film studies, literary studies, and cultural theory. One essay investigates Taiwanese who have relocated to Shanghai in search of a secure economic future. Another uses psychoanalysis to examine potentially fascist representations of Taiwan in Japanese manga. The third essay addresses the legal status of women in Taiwan in various marital situations and historical periods. The fourth discusses literary representations of the juancun, or soldiers’ villages, which were common enclaves for retired military personnel and their families. Also featured in this issue are explorations of literary portrayals of the aftermath of the February 28, 1947, massacre and resulting White Terror events, as well as a consideration of the philanthropy practiced by the massive Ciji corporation, which holds more power in the world than Taiwan’s recognized government. The final essay offers a careful study of the films of Cai Mingliang and Chen Guofu and focuses on the way that contemporary Taiwanese cinema handles questions of consumer society, urban alienation, and sexual and emotional relationships.

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front cover of Film Production and Consumption in Contemporary Taiwan
Film Production and Consumption in Contemporary Taiwan
Cinema as a Sensory Circuit
Ya-Feng Mon
Amsterdam University Press, 2016
This book uses the potent case study of contemporary Taiwanese queer romance films to address the question of how capitalism in Taiwan has privileged the film industry at the expense of the audience's freedom to choose and respond to culture on its own terms. Interweaving in-depth interviews with filmmakers, producers, marketers, and spectators, Ya-Fong Mon takes a biopolitical approach to the question, showing how the industry uses investments in techno-science, ancillary marketing, and media convergence to seduce and control the sensory experience of the audience-yet that control only extends so far: volatility remains a key component of the film-going experience.
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