At first glance, Tsai Ming-liang’s films - described as a “manifesto of desire” and full of “perverse motifs” - seem at first glance unsuitable for strengthening Taiwan’s soft power internationally. Tsai paints a picture of alienation and isolation in urban wastelands coupled with a grotesque sense of humour. Nonetheless, Tsai’s films have been honoured internationally, and time and again his films have been promoted abroad by governmental Taiwanese institutions.
My presentation will first give an overview of Tsai Ming-liang’s work, including international prices, and then use a few selected examples to illustrate the image Tsai conveys of Taiwan and how this is received internationally. In particular, the 1992 film Qingshaonian Nuozhao (Rebels of the Neon God) will be discussed: Youth gangs pay homage to the Neon God in video arcades, and instead of school and careers, the protagonists live by petty theft. The second film discussed, Tianbian yi duo yun (The Wayward Cloud) from 2004, on the other hand, belongs to the grotesque films and brings together the porn industry and watermelons.
Jens Damm holds an interim professorship at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg in Chinese Studies. He is also an Associate Fellow with the European Research Center on Contemporary Taiwan (ERCCT) at the University of Tübingen. His research is focused on discourses on gender and ethnicity-related issues in Taiwan and Greater China and on the impact of the new communication technologies.
Location: Vorgelege, entrance 2.3, Hof 2, Altes AKH, Campus, Spitalgasse 2, 1090, Vienna
