Federica Passi - Taiwan literature: A Question of Definition
Despite being well received and well criticized in the academic milieu around the world, Taiwan literature still poses fundamental questions about itself: the basic one is the question of its definition, mainly due to its problematic relationship with the literature from mainland China.
The lecture will focus on issues concerning the definition of Taiwanese literature, and its relationship with mainland literature, showing different points of view on the matter expressed by scholars and writers both from Taiwan and from outside the island. The evolution of the notion of “Taiwan literature” will be analyzed giving attention to related topics, from the concept of regionalism with its political implications, to the most recent “Sinophone” approach, which has contributed to inscribe the literature of the island in a new context, wider than the dualism Taiwan-China.
The lecture, in addressing problematic issues concerning the literature from Taiwan, will also show that these issues, instead of diminishing its value, actually make it a very interesting and vibrant field of research.
