| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 政治經濟研究所碩士在職專班 === 102 === Extended Abstract
The Representation of Ethnic Identity in Taiwan Cinema in 21 Century
Fu-Min Yu
Dr. Chin-Fu Hung
Graduate Institute of Political Economy, College of Social Sciences.
SUMMARY
The correlation between the changes and transformation of ethnic identities in Taiwan and the presentation of them through imagesin Taiwanese films is the main target of this research paper. The objects of this study include “Mainlanders”, “Hoklos”, “Hakkas”, “Aboriginals” and “New inhabitants”. The criteria of selecting the ethnical identity films are based on the topics of“ethnic languages,”“ethnic historical memories,” and “ethnic culture appearances”to analyze the relationship between Taiwanese films and ethnic identities. We found that with the improvement on political democracy in the 21st century Taiwan, the topics on the disadvantaged groups have been explored with more profundity. The film contents shift away from dark, heavy themes and move closer to people's life as we face the economic depression. Identity of Mainlanders is weaker with the reduction in film productions as well as the box office. The themes of Hoklo group are no more about sadness in life or persecutions. The overall direction of the film culture is moving toward striking a balance between artistic films and the commercial films.
Key words: 21st century;Taiwan films;Ethnic groups of Taiwan;The representation of ethnic
INTRODUCTION
Taiwanese films of the 21st century have walked out of the dark period that came after the new movie era. During the same time, the politics and the society of Taiwan also went through multiple changes and transformations. The presentation of the linkages between Taiwanese films and Taiwanese society is the major motivation of my research in this thesis. Secondly, movies can present perspectives on the inner/outer environment that are worth observing. Analyzing ethnic identities in Taiwan from the prospective of “films” can be a meaningful research. Thus, the correlation between the changes and transformation of ethnic identities in Taiwan and the presentation of them through images in Taiwanese films is the main target of this research paper.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The objects of this study include 4 major ethnic groups of Taiwan, namely, Mainlanders, Hoklos , Hakkas and Aboriginals which have been generally defined since 1980s. Lastly, another group included in this study is commonly known as the“New inhabitants,” which is composed of the groups of foreign workers and foreign spouses. The criteria of selecting the ethnical identity films are based on the topics of“ethnic languages,”“ethnic historical memories,” and “ethnic culture appearances”to analyze the relationship between Taiwanese films and ethnic identities.
Structure of the research is based on the research methods of “case study” and is “textual analysis. Case study is is expected to capture the complexity of a single case; whilel textual analysis is referring to the analysis of structuralism semiotics, raised by the master of film thesis – Christian Metz, to emphysis on the non-ciematic codes of film for analysis instead of cinematic codes, which is the “cultire appearances”. We adopt the following three dimensions - the macro environment that includes politics, economics and the filmic culture in Taiwan, together with the micro environment that includes the views of the film creators (directors and screenplay writers) and the functions and impacts of government culture-related policies to analyze the ethic identification and ethnic awareness presented in the films that were shot and released during this period.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The objected films we selected list as below:
1. Price of Tears..
2. War Game 229 .
3. Night Marker Hero.
4. Din Tao：Leader of the Parade .
5. The Song of Chatain Mountain.
6. Blue Brave-The Legend of Formosa in 1895.
7. Finding Sayun.
8. Seediq Bale: The Sun Flag. ＆ Seediq Bale: The Rainbow Warriors.
9. My Little Honey Moon.
10. Pinoy Sunday.
We found that with the improvement on political democracy in the 21st century Taiwan, the topics on the disadvantaged groups have been explored with more profundity. The film contents shift away from dark, heavy themes and move closer to people's life as we face the economic depression. Identity of Mainlanders is weaker with the reduction in film productions as well as the box office. The themes of Hoklo group are no more about sadness in life or persecutions. The overall direction of the film culture is moving toward striking a balance between artistic films and the commercial films.
CONCLUSION
Based on the five well-defined ethnic groups (“Mainlanders”, “Hoklos”, “Hakkas”, “Aboriginals” and “New inhabitants”) to analysis the ethnics of identities of 21st century. We have come to the following conclusions after completing the in-depth research and analysis on the selected films listed above.
1. Taiwan films of 21st century have adopted a multicultural presentation of ethnical identities.
2. Our observation shows there is cause and effect of various degrees between the ethnical identities in the films and the macro/micro environments as well as the government policies.
3. Through the presentation of the films, we can witness the evolution of each ethnic group.
4. The growth/decline of the box office reflects the shifting of ethnical influence.
5. Hoklo people has gradually become the mainstream ethnic identify in Taiwan in recent Taiwanese films.
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