20.10.2022TRCCS Lecture: Taiwan Cinema as Soft Power: Authorship, Transnationality, Historiography

Lecturer

Prof. Song Hwee Lim (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)

Date and Time

October 20, 2022, 6 - 8 pm

Venue / Registration

The lecture takes place on-site as well as online.

ON-SITE: University of Zurich, Room RAA G01 (Lecture Hall), Rämistrasse 59, 8001 Zürich

ONLINE: via Zoom. You will get the Link via Email after your registration.

Abstract

Why has Taiwanese film been so appealing to film directors, critics, and audiences across the world? This lecture proposes that because Taiwan is a nation without hard political and economic power, cinema becomes a form of soft power tool that Taiwan uses to attract global attention, to gain support, and to build allies. It shows how this goal has been achieved by Taiwanese directors whose films win the hearts and minds of foreign audiences to make Taiwan a major force in world cinema.
The lecture maps Taiwan’s cinematic output in the twenty-first century through the three keywords in its subtitle. By examining case studies that include Hou Hsiao-hsien, Ang Lee, and Tsai Ming-liang, it argues that authorship is central to Taiwan cinema’s ability to transcend borders to the extent that the historiographical writing of Taiwan cinema has to be reimagined.

Organisation

Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies - Chinese Studies

Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies (by the National Central Library of Taiwan (NCL) and the University Library Zurich (UBZH)