This talk examines the controversial nickname of Taiwan as a ghost island and further explores its growing impact on contemporary literary and artistic creation in the local community. The presentation intends to expand the scope of the genre by taking into account the development and transformation of the ghost-island narrative in pop music, cinema, and even video games. Across platforms, ghost-island narrative serves as an effective medium that not only speaks to the historical past of the contested island-state but also channels political and psychological anxieties experienced by Taiwanese islanders in the twenty-first century.

The University of Helsinki invites to this online talk in the ‘Spotlight Taiwan Series’ with Chia-rong Wu, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Global, Cultural and Language Studies at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand.

Find more information about the event and register here.