Outline and Interpretation of Shu-Mei Shih's "Globalisation and the (in)significance of Taiwan"

Outline and Interpretation of Shu-Mei Shih's "Globalisation and the (in)significance of Taiwan"

Globalization

·      Utopic

o   Free, flexible

·      Dystopic

o   “homogenize world cultures and replace them with lowest common denominator” (pg. 143)

·      Taiwan is neither of the above— it is caught in the “ in between” of extremes: forgotten for its insignificance (pg. 144)

o   Because not colonized by West, Taiwan does not enter realm of post-colonial thought

§  In this way, is post-colonialism still a selfish view of the west? Looking only at what we have influenced, and disregarding study of those not on our immediate radar.

·      “It was the close of British colonialism and Hong Kong’s retrocession to China in 1997 that made imperative, and, some say, viable, a space for Hong Kong cultural studies.” (pg. 144) == only after West’s connection, did Hong Kong become “worth studying”

§  In order to survive in the world, necessary to globalize—but do not have luxury of time to stop and consider how to do so in the best way (pg. 147)

·      “Farewell China”

o   Taiwan separate from China in political and national identity, but mixed in economy and culture (pg. 147)

§  Results in confused dilemma that seeks to race toward western globalization (pg. 148)

§  “The question for Taiwan to solve is how one can partake of an ethnic Sino-Chinese heritage without having to be part of China” (pg. 149)

o   If Taiwan neither connects to Chinese nor “Taiwan nativism” completely, with what should it culturally identify? What should it accept? The globalization gives the easy answer of filing the void with a westernized society—but is there a way to reconcile without complete surrender to that? (pg. 149)

·      In search of inauthenticity

o   Taiwan is neither Chinese nor Japanese culture; the forced identification to one or the other will only end in inevitable futility and disappointment (Wu Chuoliu’s example) (pg. 150)

§  Need to instead “dis-identify” with those completely, and from here the acceptance of a new, mixed culture is possible

·      “The death of the subject, here no longer metaphorical but literal, spells out the necessity of dis-identification (not simple counter-identification), upon the basis of which new collective imaginings of a non-authentic multi- culture may be possible.” (pg. 150)

§  “Taiwan’s abject status may paradoxically help spur new imaginings of transculturalism while avoiding the many pitfalls of multiculturalism.” (pg. 152) – the fact that Taiwan is in such a marginalized position may prove to be the very thing that saves it; as other cultures look at the difference in order to solidify their own identity (binary); thus, the more other cultures reify their identity through Taiwan, the more Taiwan does, indeed, develop an identity—based upon inauthenticity, rather than a forced identification