Introduction

Abstract

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the impact of multilayered and multidirectional cultural flows in the shaping, constructing, and writing of Taiwan in a global context. It shows how Taiwan’s cultural and literary hybridity offers a great example of glocalization, in which Taiwanese elements coexist with homogenizing tastes, and, even more specifically, the dominant cultures – be they universally shared concerns, Western audiences’ tastes in literature and cinema, or regional geopolitics and cultural inputs. The book examines how Taiwanese authors have exerted their creativity in the process of cultural exchange through their often hybrid and eclectic styles. It provides an in-depth textual analysis, although the main cases in point vary from literature, to film/media culture, to daily practice and activities. The book addresses cultural flows by exploring the dialogue, negotiation, and struggle between the inside and the outside, and between self-identification and external imposition and imagination.