Chien-Jung Hsu. The Construction of National Identity in Taiwan's Media, 1896–2012

Chien-Jung Hsu's The Construction of National Identity in Taiwan's Media, 1896–2012 is a thorough study of the relationship between Taiwan's search for a national identity and its modern forms of media. Hsu's historical inquiry into the longue durée provides a much-needed chance to look at the development of this collective psyche that, Hsu argues, has been in the making ever since the Japanese colonizers set foot on the island more than a century ago. This lengthy process of becoming Taiwanese, as Hsu's book shows, has zigzagged over the course of multiple colonialisms. Taiwan's experiences with colonial rules in various forms have long intrigued students of colonialism and nationalism, who have been looking for clues as to the complexity of humanity under extremely diverse repressive situations. Hsu's work definitely contributes to this field of investigation. Hsu not only examines a specific case, but also seeks to argue comparatively that Japanese colonialism and the Kuomintang's subsequent settlement has set Taiwan up as a unique example with which to examine the formation and transformation of national identity over the course of multifarious anticolonial struggles.

Aesthetics · Colonialism · Epistemology · Humanity · Identity (music) · Media studies · National identity · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Psyche · Settlement (finance) · Sociology · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · History · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Japanese History and Culture · Law · Philosophy