Chee-Hann Wu

Indigenous Taiwan through Critical Lenses: Comparative and Place-Based Perspectives

29 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Yi-Yang Cheng, Ssu-Chieh Jessica Fan and Susan Hou. Centring on Indigeneity in Taiwan, the interdisciplinary roundtable “Indigenous Taiwan through Critical Lenses: Comparative and Place-Based Perspectives” conceptualized Taiwan as a grounding point for multiple geographical perspectives. Instead of positioning Taiwan as a boundary object between the East and the West, it prompted a fresh envisioning and repositioning of Taiwan as a liminal space of unbounded and interconnected possibilities. Put differently, the roundtable discussions explored alternative ways of positioning Taiwan in/and the world, including perspectives which might have previously been marginalized or eluded consideration.

Beyond Books: Taiwanese Stories in the World

27 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Ssu-Chieh Jessica Fan and Cheng-Ting Wu. In recent years, Taiwan literature has experienced a surge in visibility and recognition within the global cultural community. To explore the border-crossing potential of Taiwanese stories, the planning team of the NATSA 2023 conference organized a special event, creating a lively platform for discussing the circulation and reception of Taiwanese fiction and non-fiction works in the international book market and academia.

Taiwanese American as an Aesthetic/Academic/Activist Concern

25 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Organized by I-Lin Liu. Taiwanese American is not a given status but a process of becoming. For first and second-generation Taiwanese Americans, the experience of living in a foreign land and becoming a member of an ethnic minority group often creates occasions for rethinking or reconceptualizing the meanings of being Taiwanese or Taiwanese American. This article focuses on the meaning(s) of Taiwanese American identity, community building, and the future of the Taiwanese American identity.

NATSA: Repositioning Taiwan

22 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Chee-Hann Wu. The North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) is a registered nonprofit organization and the largest scholarly association dedicated to Taiwan Studies in the United States and Canada. It was founded in 1994 when Taiwan Studies became a booming field of research that attracted international attention during the 1990s, a period of rapid political, economic, social, and cultural change in Taiwan. The growing academic interest in Taiwan called for a regular and interdisciplinary academic forum. To establish such a forum, the North American Taiwan Studies Association’s constitution was drafted and ratified at the first annual conference at Yale University in June 1994.

Taiwanese Horror Games and the Ghosts from the Past

4 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Chee-Hann Wu. Taiwanese horror (taishi kongbu) is a rising genre that has claimed an important space in Taiwanese popular culture, particularly in the video game industry since the debut of Detention in 2017. These video games often incorporate elements of Taiwan’s local religions, ritual practices, and mythologies, especially the ones associated with ghosts and other supernatural beings. Although mostly implicit, many Taiwanese horror games contain hints of historical references to the 228 Incident and the White Terror under Martial Law. Malevolent monsters and ghosts become physical incarnations of state-sanctioned violence by perpetrators and accomplices and the suffering of those who were arrested, executed, or silenced.

How Much Money Could Ghosts Make? A Case Study on the Most Ferocious Female Ghost of Taiwan – Chen Shou Niang

1 September 2023 Chee-Hann Wu

Written by Yi-Ping Wu. Staying at home, not going to the beach, or climbing mountains, and not even opening an umbrella indoors are just a few taboos everyone must remember when Ghost Month 鬼月 arrives. Although the origin of the concept of Ghost Month is uncertain, the Taiwanese still emphasize the rituals that must be practised and the taboos that must be prohibited during this period. What attracts our attention most is the colossal amount of money that the Taiwanese pay for the rituals, offerings, and joss paper (paper money) to honour their ancestors because their past loved ones could return to the world of living since the gate of the underworld would open on the first day of July on the lunar calendar. The huge income that the cultural concept of Ghost Month contributes reminds us of an interesting question to think about thoroughly: How much money the “ghosts” could make?

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