Queer Theory and Politics in Taiwan: The Cultural Translation and (Re)Production of Queerness in and beyond Taiwan Lesbian/Gay/Queer Activism
Resource
NTU Studies in Language & Literature Number 14, 123-154
Journal
NTU Studies in Language & Literature Number
Pages
123-154
Date Issued
2005-09
Date
2005-09
Author(s)
DOI
246246/2006121215550460
Abstract
This paper seeks to discuss queer theory and politics in Taiwan in terms of cultural
translation, production and reproduction. For this end, I will focus on issues such as
gay/lesbian/queer movements, translating queer theory, naming, queer activists’
co-operation with the media and popular culture, queer literature, queer activists’
connection with postmodernism and postcolonialism, and queer studies in the academy.
I argue that, as one of the key theories flourishing in Taiwan’s cultural and academic scene
in the 1990s, queer theory has helped transform the public discourse on sexuality and
gender. To have queer theory and gay/lesbian theory translated to Taiwan almost at the
same time is to contribute to gay-positive awareness with more resourceful tactics, to
generate a carnivalequely gay-friendly atmosphere, to address the differences within
lesbians and gays, and to even break down the homosexual/heterosexual divide almost
from the beginning. By connecting with the media, popular culture, and postmodernism,
queer politics has succeeded in presenting itself as at once the avant-garde and the most
progressive and trendy at the cultural front. But queer politics also finds the need to
connect with postcolonialism by tracing the history of local gay/lesbian/queer
communities and cultivating new ones, and by thinking about the transnational politics of
translation. The translation of queer theory is always already indiginized for the specific
needs of the lesbian/gay/queer movements in Taiwan in the 1990s. And the success of
the lesbian/gay/queer movements within a very short time is indicative not only of the
dynamic, pluralist cultural atmosphere right after the lifting of the martial law in 1987, but
also of the resourcefulness of the activists in cultural production of queerness.
Subjects
queer theory
queer politics
gay/lesbian/queer movement
translation
naming
queer literature
postmodernism
postcolonialism
Publisher
臺北市：外文學系
Type
journal article
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