Abstract
Popular culture has been known to have powerful possibilities in promoting empathy, critical thinking, and identity formation, among many other things. For instance, TV dramas and their associated popular images often articulate a society’s views and ideas, echoing the social issues it confronts and reflecting and shaping the society’s identity. Media scholars, such as Graf, have long stated that TV dramas greatly influenced and contributed to Taiwan’s quest for identity. Through the analysis of four TV dramas in Taiwan, Meteor Garden (2001), Devil Beside You (2005), Why Why Love (2007) and Still Me (2022), this study explores the relationship between popular culture (in this case, TV dramas) and issues of Taiwanese identity. There are no less than four major “streams of influence” over Taiwan’s cultural identity: the traditional China stream, the Japanese stream, the Republic of China stream, and the cosmopolitan stream. The first three streams, in many ways, are complicated by historical traditions, political conflicts, and tragic memories, such as the Civil War and Japanese colonization. Through textual analysis of the four TV dramas, this study examines the trajectory and evolution of Taiwan’s TV dramas over the last two decades, revealing the emergence of a new aspect of Taiwanese-ness, which simultaneously reflects and contributes to the desire for an identity that is untouched by historical and political issues, free from tradition, and unburdened by tragic memories. The study concludes by further discussing the important connections between media, society, and identity.
Presenters
Shu Ling Chen BerggreenAssociate Professor, Media Studies, University of Colorado-Boulder, Colorado, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
Popular Culture, TV Dramas, Cultural Identity, National Identity, Streams of Influence, Historical Traditions, Political Conflicts, Tragic Memories, Civil War, Japanese Colonization, Meteor Garden, Devil Beside You, Why Why Love, Still Me, Media, Society, Identity
Digital Media
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