The Last Isle

Contemporary Film, Culture and Trauma in Global Taiwan

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Asian, Far Eastern, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book The Last Isle by Sheng-mei Ma, Rowman & Littlefield International
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sheng-mei Ma ISBN: 9781783483402
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International Publication: July 9, 2015
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International Language: English
Author: Sheng-mei Ma
ISBN: 9781783483402
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield International
Publication: July 9, 2015
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield International
Language: English

Taiwan is in danger of becoming the last isle, losing its sovereignty and identity. The Last Isle opens from where Taiwan film scholarship leaves off—the 1980s Taiwan New Cinema, focusing on relatively unknown contemporary films that are “unglobalizable,” such as Cape No. 7, Island Etude, Din Tao, and Seven Days in Heaven. It explores Taiwan films’ inextricability with trauma theory, the irony of loving and mourning Taiwan, multilingualism, local beliefs, and theatrical practices, including Ang Lee’s “white” films. The second half of the book analyzes Taiwan’s popular culture in Western-style food and drink, conditions over living and dying, and English education, concluding with the source of Taiwan’s anxiety—China.

This book distinguishes itself from Taiwan scholarship in its stylistic crazy quilt of the scholarly interwoven with the personal, evidenced right from the outset in the poetic title “The Last Isle,” coupled with the “dissertating” subtitle. This approach intertwines the helix of reason and affect, scholarship and emotion. The Last Isle accomplishes a look at globalization from the bottom up, from a global Taiwan whose very existence is in doubt.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Taiwan is in danger of becoming the last isle, losing its sovereignty and identity. The Last Isle opens from where Taiwan film scholarship leaves off—the 1980s Taiwan New Cinema, focusing on relatively unknown contemporary films that are “unglobalizable,” such as Cape No. 7, Island Etude, Din Tao, and Seven Days in Heaven. It explores Taiwan films’ inextricability with trauma theory, the irony of loving and mourning Taiwan, multilingualism, local beliefs, and theatrical practices, including Ang Lee’s “white” films. The second half of the book analyzes Taiwan’s popular culture in Western-style food and drink, conditions over living and dying, and English education, concluding with the source of Taiwan’s anxiety—China.

This book distinguishes itself from Taiwan scholarship in its stylistic crazy quilt of the scholarly interwoven with the personal, evidenced right from the outset in the poetic title “The Last Isle,” coupled with the “dissertating” subtitle. This approach intertwines the helix of reason and affect, scholarship and emotion. The Last Isle accomplishes a look at globalization from the bottom up, from a global Taiwan whose very existence is in doubt.

More books from Rowman & Littlefield International

Cover of the book Meanderings Through the Politics of Everyday Life by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Media and the Experience of Social Change by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Just Food by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Home, Nature, and the Feminine Ideal by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Spaces of Governmentality by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book The Aesthetics of Violence by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Towards a New Pensions Settlement by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book The Phenomenology of Gravidity by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Aiming High by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Taming an Uncertain Future by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Carbon Capitalism by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book The Moral Psychology of Pride by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Political Philosophy and Political Action by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book New Philosophies of Sex and Love by Sheng-mei Ma
Cover of the book Deleuze and the Humanities by Sheng-mei Ma
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy