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International and Taiwanese students discover Taiwan through literature

(Provided by College of Liberal Arts) Assistant Professor Mark Frederick McConaghy of the Department of Chinese Literature, National Sun Yat-sen University, started the "Taiwan Literature and the Modern World" course in English as part of the micro-program "Taiwan in the World". The course, sponsored by the Higher Education Sprout Project: Co-Learning Group for Cross-Cultural Studies and Aesthetics of the College of Liberal Arts, NSYSU, guided exchange students from all over the world and local Taiwanese students to understand the world through Taiwanese literature. They discovered that what they thought was purely local is very global indeed!

Taiwan itself has a very rich and complicated history – the history of the island as a multiply colonized space has turned it, in however difficult a fashion, into a pluralized space in which different ethnicities, cultures, and languages interact, said Assistant Professor McConaghy. He said that the students of the course came from Indonesia, France, Russia, and the Netherlands, while Taiwanese students were from various regions of the country: Taipei, Taichung, Changhua, Pingtung. The course was a platform for students to express themselves freely and interact. Both international and Taiwanese students could share their views on Taiwan based on their experiences.

The course narrated Taiwan’s history from the Dutch era to the post-war democratization. Reading the Chinese and English versions Loa Ho’s "The Steelyard" and Wu Chuo-Liu’s "Orphan of Asia", the students experienced the joy of literature while crossing the boundaries of language and culture. The course also discussed the oppression of the indigenous population by the regimes of different periods, including during the Dutch, Koxinga, and Japanese colonial periods. Dutch student Robin said that she was unaware that the Netherlands had such a profound influence on Taiwan and that he will share this knowledge with his family after returning home. She also appreciated Assistant Professor McConaghy’s kind and lively teaching style.

The course included a series of activities with various scholars from different universities who were invited to share their perspectives on Taiwan. Professor Ann Heylen from the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature of National Taiwan Normal University, who comes from the Dutch-speaking region of Belgium, talked about how to understand Taiwanese literature and history from Dutch documents. Assistant Professor Kristina Karvelyte of the Department of Urban Planning and Disaster Management at Ming-Chuan University, who comes from Lithuania, gave a presentation on the implementation of culture policy in Taipei City planning and on the many employment opportunities arising therefrom. The creative industry that has been growing in recent years, is a popular sector for employment of graduates of humanities-related programs.

Besides, Assistant Professor Pei-Jean Chen of the Graduate Institute of Taiwanese Literature, National Chengchi University, was invited to give a speech on Taiwan from the perspective of queer literature and movies. At the same time, she also mentioned that the legalization of same-sex marriage has made Taiwan more visible internationally. After the lecture, she also discussed the experience of different countries in legalizing same-sex marriage with students from the Netherlands and France.

The "Taiwan Literature and the Modern World" course also cooperated with Takao Renaissance Association at NSYSU, specializing in the culture and history of the Hamasen district, to let the students visit the Kaohsiung Port right next to the campus and learn more about it. Many Taiwanese students were unaware of the centenary history of the Port and its modernization. International students also said that this activity let them appreciate the beauty of Kaohsiung City.

In addition to its rich historical landscape, Kaohsiung, also called “Takao”, can pride itself on cultural assets. The students of the course visited Kaohsiung Literary Museum in Central Park, where the staff presented the history of the Museum in Chinese and English and its importance to Kaohsiung, introduced such famous writers as Yeh Shih-Tao and Yu Kwang-Chung, explained how literature can cross boundaries, and how to promote literature among common people, and combine it with experimental art.

(Edited by Public Affairs Division)
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