PVP 1 Small Island, Big Issues: The Nation in the Popular Sovereignity in Contemporary Taiwan - ATJ500179

• Title: PVP 1 Small Island, Big Issues: The Nation in the Popular Sovereignity in Contemporary Taiwan
• Guaranteed by: Department of Sinology (21-KSI)
• Faculty: Faculty of Arts
• Actual: from 2024
• Semester: summer
• Points: 0
• E-Credits: 7
• Examination process: summer s.:
• Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/1, Ex [HT]
• Capacity: unlimited / unlimited (15)
• Min. number of students: unlimited
• 4EU+: no
• Virtual mobility / capacity: no
• State of the course: taught
• Language: English
• Teaching methods: full-time
• Note: course can be enrolled in outside the study plan; enabled for web enrollment
• Guarantor: Jacob Friedemann Tischer, Ph.D.
• Teacher(s): Jacob Friedemann Tischer, Ph.D.

Annotation

This MA-level class addresses students with some prior knowledge of Taiwan, preferably at an MA or PhD level.
Centered around the concept of popular sovereignty as an analytical lens on popular culture, the course engages a
select number of current topics through discussion of one monograph and/or several articles per week. Each participant
will have the opportunity to present one scholarly monograph and inspire and moderate the ensuing discussion for one
hour (or longer if they desire). To stimulate conversation and get an idea of your interests, I ask every participant to
submit short reading summaries and discussion questions in advance of five out of the ten total sessions of class (of
your choice). Since this is a seminar, you and your interests will play a central role in this class. The desired learning
outcome for participation is that you will gain an in-depth view of the topics covered in class as well as an overview of
ongoing debates in the small but lively field of Taiwan Studies. At the same time, you will be able to connect issues
specific to Taiwan with broader conversations in the social sciences—for example, as concerns debates over national
identity, language, and performance.
Course Completion Requirements:
• Class attendance at least 8/10
• Reading summaries and discussion questions for five sessions (out of the total ten)
• Presentation of one monograph and leading discussion (45 minutes)
• Film review (1,000 words, to be submitted by the end of day on March 30, 2025)
• Review of the monograph presented in class, connecting it to issues discussed during the course (2,000
words, due May 11, 2025)
Grading:
• 10% reading summaries and discussion questions
• 20% class attendance and participation
• 20% presentation & discussion
• 20% film review
• 30% monograph review

Last update: Jirková Miroslava (30.01.2025)

Course completion requirements

Course Completion Requirements:

Class attendance at least 8/10

Reading summaries and discussion questions for five sessions (out of the total ten)

Presentation of one monograph and leading discussion (45 minutes)

Film review (1,000 words, to be submitted by the end of day on March 30, 2025)

Review of the monograph presented in class, connecting it to issues discussed during the course (2,000 words, due May 11, 2025)

Grading:

10% reading summaries and discussion questions

20% class attendance and participation

20% presentation & discussion

20% film review

30% monograph review

Last update: Jirková Miroslava (30.01.2025)

Literature

ANDERSON, Benedict R. (2016). Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Revised edition. London: Verso, 2016. ISBN 978-1-78478-675-5.

BOYM, Svetlana (2001. The future of nostalgia. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-00708-0.

BRITANNICA (n.d.). Sovereignty. .

BRYANT, Rebecca; REEVES, Madeleine eds. (2021). The everyday lives of sovereignty: political imagination beyond the state. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2021. ISBN 1-5017-5574-9. Dostupné z: .

CHANG, Kang-i Sun (2006). Journey Through the White Terror: A Daughter’s Memoir. Taipei: National Taiwan University Press. (A copy in English can be made available if desired. Otherwise, please consult the Czech translation:)

CHANG, Kang-i Sun (2021). Cesta bílým terorem. Překlad František Reismüller. Vydání první. Praha: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy. 207 stran. ISBN 978-80-7671-027-6.

CHANG, Lung-chih (2015). Island of Memories. Postcolonial Historiography and Public Discourse in Contemporary Taiwan. International Journal for History, Culture and Modernity, 2(3), 229 - 244. .

CHUA, Beng Huat (2004). Conceptualizing an East Asian popular culture. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, 5(2), 200-221.

DAWLEY, Evan N. Becoming Taiwanese: Ethnogenesis in a Colonial City, 1880s-1950s. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2019. ISBN 1-68417-598-4. (PRESENTATION.)

EIRANEN, Reetta (2022). Emotions and Nationalism. In: The Routledge History of Emotions in the Modern World. Abingdon: Routledge, 407-422. ISBN 9781032304656. Dostupné z: .

GRINDSTAFF, Laura (2008). Culture and Popular Culture: A Case for Sociology. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 619(1), 206-222. ISSN 0002-7162. Dostupné z: .

HOMEWOOD, Nathanael (2024). Seductive Spirits: Deliverance, Demons, and Sexual Worldmaking in Ghanaian Pentecostalism. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. (PRESENTATION.)

KHOO, Hui-lu (2019). The dynamics of Southern Min in Taiwan: From Southern Min dialects to “Taigi.” In: The Routledge Handbook of Chinese Discourse Analysis. Abingdon: Routledge, 596-610. ISBN 9780415789790. Dostupné z: .

KLÖTER, Henning (2022). Language Visibility and Invisible Languages: The Street Name Signs of Taipei City. International journal of Taiwan studies, 5(2), 332-352. ISSN 2468-8797. Dostupné z: .

LIN, James (2022). Nostalgia for Japanese colonialism: Historical memory and postcolonialism in contemporary Taiwan. Online. History compass, 20(11). ISSN 1478-0542. Dostupné z: .

MORRIS, Andrew D. (2010). Colonial project, national game: a history of baseball in Taiwan. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 9786612790232. Dostupné z: .

MOSKOWITZ, MARC L. (2009). Mandopop under siege: culturally bound criticisms of Taiwan’s pop music. Popular music, 28(1), 69-83. ISSN 0261-1430. Dostupné z: https://doi.org/10.1017/S026114300800161X.

MOSKOWITZ, Marc L. ed (2010). Popular Culture in Taiwan: Charismatic Modernity. Abingdon: Routledge.

SCHWEIG, Meredith (2016). “Young Soldiers, One Day We Will Change Taiwan”: Masculinity Politics in the Taiwan Rap Scene. Ethnomusicology, 60(3), 383-410. ISSN 0014-1836. Dostupné z: .

SCHWEIG, Meredith (2022). Renegade rhymes: rap music, narrative, and knowledge in Taiwan. Chicago, Ill: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-82058-0. (PRESENTATION.)

SILVIO, Teri (2019). Puppets, gods, and brands: theorizing the age of animation from Taiwan. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 9780824880996. Dostupné z: .

STOREY, John (2024). Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. 10. Abingdon: Routledge. ISBN 9781032484075. Dostupné z: .

WU, Ming-yi 吳明益 (2013). The man with the compound eyes 複眼人. Tr. by Darryl Sterk. Penguin Random House. Originally published in Chinese in 2011 by 夏日出版社. ISBN 9780345802880. (You may read the Czech translation instead: Muž s fasetovýma očima , published by Mi:Lu)

YANG, Dominic Meng-Hsuan (2020). The great exodus from China: trauma, memory, and identity in modern Taiwan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 1-108-80915-4. (PRESENTATION.)

YUEH, Hsin-I Sydney (2013). Body Performance in Gendered Language: Deconstructing the Mandarin Term Sajiao in the Cultural Context of Taiwan. Ricerche di pedagogia e didattica, 155-178. ISSN 1970-2221. Dostupné z: .

YUEH, Hsin-I Sydney (2017). Identity politics and popular culture in Taiwan: a Sajiao generation. Lanham: Lexington Books. ISBN 9781498510332. (PRESENTATION.)

YUEH, Hsin-i Sydney (2022). "Spicy Taiwanese sister" against the rise of China: gender, identity politics, and elections in Taiwan. Communication and critical/cultural studies, 19(3), 271-288. ISSN 1479-1420. Dostupné z:

Last update: Jirková Miroslava (30.01.2025)

Requirements to the exam

There is no final exam for this class. (The text printed here previously was a holdover from before or copied from someplace else, I don't know.)

Last update: Tischer Jacob Friedemann, Ph.D. (24.04.2025)

Syllabus

This class meets on Thursdays, 10:50 AM

1. Feb. 20: Introduction and course overview.
Homework: Think about what interests you most about Taiwan, and pick a medium (meme or other image, report, video, podcast, article, figurine etc.) that best represents your interest. Be prepared to share said medium in class.

2. Feb. 27: Theoretical concepts
Readings:
On popular culture: Chua 2004, Moskowitz ed. 2010 introduction, Storey 2024 excerpts, optional: Grindstaff 2008.
On popular sovereignty: Britannica n.d., Bryant & Reeves 2021 introduction and ch. 4 (by Friedman), optional: Wikipedia entry.

3. Mar. 6: History and memory
Readings: Chang 2015, Chang 2021.
Presentation (1): Yang 2020.

4. Mar. 13: Japanese nostalgia
Readings: Boym 2001 excerpts, Lin 2022, Podcast with Evan Dawley on New Books Network.
Presentation (2): Dawley 2019.

5. Mar. 20: Nation-building: The national game
Readings: Calhoun 2016, Friedman 2018, Wang 2009. 

Presentation (3): Morris 2010.

6. Mar. 27: Gender, nation, and race in/through popular music
Readings: Read 2020, Schweig 2016.

Presentation (4): Schweig 2023.

7. Apr. 3: Language and ideology
Readings: Yueh 2022, Khoo 2019, Wan 2015, Cavanaugh 2019 on language ideologies.
Presentation (5): Yueh 2017.

8. Apr. 10: Movie screening and discussion: Cape No 7 海角七號 

9. Apr. 17: Dean’s Day - no class!

Apr. 22: Film review due!

10. Apr. 24: Animation, Performance, Decoloniality
Readings: Silvio 2019.
Presentation (6): Silvio 2019.

11. May 1: Labor Day - no class!

12. May 8: Victory in Europe Day - no class!

May 25: Monograph review due!

13. May 29: Island think
Readings: WU, Ming-yi 吳明益 (2013). The man with the compound eyes 複眼人. Tr. by Darryl Sterk. Penguin Random House. Originally published in Chinese in 2011 by 夏日出版社. ISBN 9780345802880. (You may read the Czech translation instead: Muž s fasetovýma očima , published by Mi:Lu) 

Presentation (7): Collection of short stories from Taiwan.

* The instructor reserves the right to change parts of this syllabus. If changes occur, you will be informed about them in class.

Last update: Tischer Jacob Friedemann, Ph.D. (24.04.2025)