Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


lin-yufang-dissertation.pdf (777.33 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

The Cultural Construction of Taiwan in the Literatures of Taiwan, China, and the United States

Lin, Yu-Fang
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent149178259135258

Abstract Details

2017, PHD, Kent State University, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English.
This dissertation explores the complexity of the construction of Taiwan and Taiwanese identity through three literary texts: Wang Chen-ho’s Rose, Rose, I Love You (1998), Chan Koonchung’s The Fat Years (2009), and Brenda Lin’s Wealth Ribbon: Taiwan Bound, America Bound (2004). Drawing on these literary works, this dissertation’s purpose is to examine the cultural construction of the modern nation-state of Taiwan in relation to the geopolitical poles in which it is situated: China and the United States. Through theoretically-informed readings, the dissertation explores the discursive emergence of modern-day Taiwan in order to make sense of a Taiwanese identity that is constructed through a long history of colonization and manipulated by contemporary neoliberal capitalism and geopolitical interests. Caught in the middle space between the East and the West / China and the United States, Taiwan and its people struggle to be Taiwanese and to make sense of what that might mean. At the same time, the polar opposites—Communist China and the Democratic United States—, likewise, try to define what Taiwan is according to their own national interests. Hence, Taiwan is a unique case of cultural construction of place, because the narratives about the territory are created both elsewhere and within its borders. Moreover, these narratives about Taiwan are in conflict with one another at the ultimate risk of being subsumed within the greater narratives of the Chinese and American superpowers. Further complicating the matter is the fact that Taiwanese people have different opinions about Taiwan; their differing views inspire the imaginative work of Chinese and Taiwanese immigrants in the United States. All of these narratives play a key role in the cultural construction of Taiwan.
Babacar M'Baye (Committee Co-Chair)
Masood Raja (Committee Co-Chair)
Robert Trogdon (Committee Member)
Mei-Chen Lin (Committee Member)
James Tyner (Committee Member)
182 p.
Asian American Studies; Asian Literature; Literature
Taiwan; United States; China; literature; culture; discourse; Wang Chen-ho; Chan Koonchung; Brenda Lin; identity; globalization; nationalism; postcolonialism; fiction; capitalism; Asian American;

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lin, Y.-F. (2017). The Cultural Construction of Taiwan in the Literatures of Taiwan, China, and the United States [Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent149178259135258

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lin, Yu-Fang. The Cultural Construction of Taiwan in the Literatures of Taiwan, China, and the United States . 2017. Kent State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent149178259135258.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lin, Yu-Fang. "The Cultural Construction of Taiwan in the Literatures of Taiwan, China, and the United States ." Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent149178259135258

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent149178259135258
802
© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.