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Globalization and Its Discontents through Taiwanese Female Documentarists' Lenses

by Professor Deborah Tze-lan Sang
Professor of Chinese Literature and Cultural Studies
Michigan State University

In an age of globalization characterized by uneven development and flexible accumulation,
documentary filmmakers all over the world have found significant issues to investigate,
ponder, and critique. Documentary filmmaking in Taiwan is no exception to the current
phenomenon, having confronted issues ranging from industries and markets to the human and
environmental costs of development. In this regard, female documentarists’ contribution
deserves a special examination--how have they met the dual challenges of feminism and
documentary practice in the global era? In this talk, Professor Sang observes that female
documentarists based in Taiwan are most effective in exploring globalization and its
discontents when they employ a combination of approaches ranging from the intimate
observation of individual lives to the panoramic analysis of systemic issues. Moreover,
compared with their mainland Chinese counterparts, Taiwanese female documentarists have
more explicitly linked local issues to transnational processes rather than accepting a
predominantly national frame of reference.
Professor Sang’s major publications include The Emerging Lesbian: Female Same-Sex Desire
in Modern China (Chicago , 2003) and Documenting Taiwan on Film: Issues and Methods in
New Documentaries (Routledge, 2012, co-edited).