240 Pages
    by Routledge

    236 Pages
    by Routledge

    This inter-disciplinary volume of essays opens new points of departure for thinking about how Taiwan has been studied and represented in the past, for reflecting on the current state of ‘Taiwan Studies’, and for thinking about how Taiwan might be re-configured in the future.

    As the study of Taiwan shifts from being a provincial back-water of sinology to an area in its own (albeit not sovereign) right, a combination of established and up and coming scholars working in the field of East Asian studies offer a re-reading and re-writing of culture in Taiwan. They show that sustained critical analysis of contemporary Taiwan using issues such as trauma, memory, history, tradition, modernity, post-modernity provides a useful point of departure for thinking through similar problematics and issues elsewhere in the world.

    Re-writing Culture in Taiwan is a multidisciplinary book with its own distinctive collective voice which will appeal to anyone interested in Taiwan. With chapters on nationalism, anthropology, cultural studies, media studies, religion and museum studies, the breadth of ground covered is truly comprehensive.

    1. Introduction: re-writing culture on Taiwan Paul-François Tremlett  2. Re-writing religion: questions of translation, context, and location in the writing of religion in Taiwan Fang-long Shih  3. Re-riting death: secularism and death-scapes in Taipei Paul-François Tremlett  4. Writing indigeneity in Taiwan Scott Simon  5. Re-writing museums in Taiwan Edward Vickers  6. Re-writing language in Taiwan Henning Klöter  7. Writing Taiwan’s nationhood: language, politics, history Mark Harrison  8. Re-writing cinema: markets, languages, cultures in Taiwan Chris Berry  9. Re-writing art in Taiwan: secularism, universalism, globalization, or modernity and the aesthetic object Felix Schoeber  10. Re-writing education: ‘learning to be Taiwanese’? Stuart Thompson  Afterword Stephan Feuchtwang

    Biography

    Fang-long Shih is a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics, and the Convener of the Taiwan Research Programme.

    Stuart Thompson is a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, and Chair of the London Taiwan Seminar since 2003.

    Paul-François Tremlett is a Research Fellow in the Religions Department at the School of Oriental and African Studies.

    'Each chapter is exceptionally well articulated, full of important insights, and presents a profoundly interesting range of issues relating to Taiwan's historical and cultural change. For these reasons, the volume stands out as an important contribution to Taiwan Studies.' - Marc L. Moskowitz, The China Quarterly, Volume 198 - June 2009

    'The wide variety of perspectives for comparative research offered here will certainly serve as a valuable resource for students and researchers, not only in the area of Taiwan Studies, but also in the spheres of anthropology and social science in general.' - Jenns Damm, China Perspectives issue 2009-3