Tracing the Emergence of Gay and Queer Subcultures in Taiwan
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Niezi and Its Legacies: Tracing the Emergence of Gay and Queer Subcultures in Taiwan A Thesis Submitted to the University of Manchester for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2016 Chih-Chi Ting School of Arts, Languages and Cultures TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction: Homesexuality, Niezi, and the Nation------------------------------------------9. 0.1 Colonial Histories and the Emergence of Today’s Taiwanese Consciousness ----------12. 0.2 The Dominant Cultural Formations and the KMT-------------------------------------------22. 0.3 Pai Hsien-yung and Modernism----------------------------------------------------------------27. 0.4 Chapter Outlines----------------------------------------------------------------------------------34. Chapter One: Homosexuality under Martial Law-------------------------------------------37. 1.1 The Construction of ‘Chinese Nationalist Respectability’---------------------------------38. 1.2 The Emergence of Homosexual Subculture--------------------------------------------------48. 1.3 Taiwanese Modernism and the Outsider------------------------------------------------------50. Chapter Two: Niezi (Crystal Boys): Exiled and Sinful Sons--------------------------------62. 2.1 Homosexual Shame------------------------------------------------------------------------------63. 2.2 Power Differentials ------------------------------------------------------------------------------69. 2.3 Niezi’s Reception 2.3.1 The Politics of Familialism----------------------------------------------------------------74. 2.3.2 After 1985: Niezi as a Homosexual Subcultural Symbol------------------------------79. Chapter Three: Filming Niezi--------------------------------------------------------------------85. 3.1 1977-1987: Towards Political Taiwanisation------------------------------------------------86. 3.2 Taiwan New Cinema and Nation Building---------------------------------------------------89. 3.3 Producing Niezi ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------98. 3.3.1 Effacing Desire-------------------------------------------------------------------------------99. 3.3.2 Feminisation and Little Jade----------------------------------------------------------------101. 3.3.3 Alternative Familial Subjectivity and Feminism-----------------------------------------103. 3.4 Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------105. Chapter Four: Towards Neoliberalism: The Emergence of Identity Politics ---------108. 4.1 Neoliberalism and Globalisation-------------------------------------------------------------109. 4.2 The Prestige of Academia---------------------------------------------------------------------113. 4.3 The Emergence of Tongzhi--------------------------------------------------------------------115. 4.4 ‘Kuer’ Dynamics--------------------------------------------------------------------------------118. 4.5 Redeveloping New Park-----------------------------------------------------------------------126. 4.6 The Tongzhi/Kuer Space Action Front------------------------------------------------------128. 4.7 Towards Cool Seduction-----------------------------------------------------------------------132. 2 Chapter Five: Televising Niezi------------------------------------------------------------------134. 5.1 Social Contexts 5.1.1 The High Point of Taiwanisation: Bentuhua----------------------------------------------135. 5.1.2 Soft Power and Cool Japan-----------------------------------------------------------------138. 5.1.3 Japanese Business Culture------------------------------------------------------------------146. 5.2 Small Screen Niezi 5.2.1 Public Service TV----------------------------------------------------------------------------150. 5.2.2 Japanisation-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------152. 5.2.3 Homoeroticism and Respectability--------------------------------------------------------155. 5.3 Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------160. Conclusion: Cosmopolitan Gays?--------------------------------------------------------------164. 6.1 Cosmopolitan Gay------------------------------------------------------------------------------166. 6.2 Staging Niezi------------------------------------------------------------------------------------168. 6.3 Final Words--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------173. Works Cited------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------174. Chinese Glossary------------------------------------------------------------------------------------191. Japanese Glossary-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------200. Word count: 70537 3 Abstract This thesis seeks to trace the representations of male homosexuality in Taiwanese society since the 1970s, with a specific focus on the legacies and representations of Pai Hsien- yung’s novel Niezi (Crystal Boys, published in 1983), widely regarded as the first full- length novel themed on homosexuality in Taiwan’s literary history. Set in 1970s Taiwan during the Martial Law period, the novel’s portrayal of the underground homosexual community and male prostitution culture based in Taipei’s New Park (now 228 Park) did not capture critical attention or gain commercial success when published, owing to the then conservative social atmosphere. Nonetheless, after the lifting of Martial Law, as Taiwan became a democratised nation with mature elective democracy and participation in globalised cultural circuits, Niezi became canonised and politicised as the iconic text for a sequence of social activism regarding homosexual human rights in academia and related cultural activities in the 1990s and 2000s. Even today, Niezi is still considered the most debatable representative homosexual literary text in Taiwan’s homosexual community. While Niezi’s iconic status has stood the test of time over the past three decades, the changing interpretations of the text offer a great resource through which to examine the representations of male homosexuality in Taiwan during this period. Taiwanese society transformed from an authoritarian regime in the 1970s and 1980s, to quasi-democracy in the early 1990s, then full elective democracy in the mid-1990s, and now Taiwan has fully joined the globalised circuits of the capitalist economy, with free markets, cross-cultural communication and rapid flows of information. This social transformation brought about changing interpretations of Niezi, in which male homosexuality was no longer a social taboo, and activist cultural critics started to demand equal rights for homosexuals inspired by Euro-American theoretical discourse and social reform. The social transformation also saw two visual adaptations of the novel through the forms of film and television, which I shall examine in this thesis. I will also demonstrate not just how male homosexuality has been represented in different social contexts, but also what has contributed to the endurance of Niezi’s legacies in the past three decades. In addition, while there was a great amount of homosexual literature produced after the lifting of Martial Law owing to social liberalisation, the thesis will also consider Niezi’s continuing iconic status. 4 DECLARATION No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 5 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses 6 Notes on Chinese and Japanese Characters and Materials This thesis uses the Hanyu Pinyin system of romanised Chinese words, names and phrases, except for preferred