Vol. 6, No. 1 (2010): 1\u201323.<\/p>\n
Abstract<\/strong><\/p>\n “China, My Native Land”, directed by Lee Hsing and released in 1980, was the\u00a0first film that highlights the life story of Taiwanese Hakka writer Chung Li-fo\u00a0(1915\u20131960) and his wife Chung Phin-moi (1914\u20132008). In reality the Chungs\u00a0had challenged a contemporary Hakka taboo that couples with the same surname\u00a0could never tie the knot. Throughout their lives they experienced ridicules, illness,\u00a0death of a child and extreme poverty. Nevertheless they managed to stay together\u00a0and remained in love with each other.\u00a0On its debut the film was acclaimed a masterpiece of “Healthy Realism”, a\u00a0new trend of cinematic art of the 1980s. Reexamined two decades later, the film\u00a0turned out a cultural product targeted advocating the Kuomintang (\u570b\u6c11\u9ee8 KMT)\u00a0pro-China policy and consolidating its rule of martial law.\u00a0Furthermore, Phin moi’s image represented in the film goes through\u00a0duplex distortion, first by her husband and next by the director with Chinese\u00a0mentality. Illiterate, Phin-moi could not take the initiative of constructing her\u00a0image either in creative writing or in film production. At first her husband\u00a0described her personality. Afterwards the director based on his description to\u00a0reconstruct her on the screen. In this light Phin-moi is exploited twice, first by\u00a0Hakka patriarchy and then by Chinese ideology.\u00a0Image construction involves complicated knowledge politics. Phin-moi’s\u00a0role in the film exposes the multiple power configurations of male-centered Hakka\u00a0value and Chinese mindset. Towards the end the article explores the prospect of re-envisioning Hakka\u00a0femininity by younger-generation Hakka women themselves.<\/p>\n Author’s bio<\/strong><\/p>\n Tenn Nga-I is a PhD student in the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), Taipei, Taiwan. She holds an MA in journalism from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MA in Taiwanese Literature from National Cheng-kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. Her research interests range from Hoklo and Hakka literatures, ethnicities, Plain Aborigines\u2019 Studies, feminism, nationalism to social linguistics, pop culture and folk studies. For years, she has been participating in the revitalization of Taiwanese native tongues, such as Hoklo, Hakka and the Austronesian Siraya language. Her recent publications include, \u201cDecolonizing and De-Han Historical Interpretation A Supplementary History of My Homeland\u201d, Taiwanese Literature Review, Vol. 8, No. 3 (2008), and \u201cSirayan Women\u2019s De-Han and De-patriarchal Multi-marginal Struggles in A Supplementary History of My Homeland\u201d, Journal of Taiwan Literary Studies No. 8 (2009).<\/p>\n Download\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Download full article (PDF)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vol. 6, No. 1 (2010): 1\u201323. Abstract “China, My Native Land”, directed by Lee Hsing and released in 1980, was the\u00a0first film that highlights the life story of Taiwanese Hakka writer Chung Li-fo\u00a0(1915\u20131960) and his wife Chung Phin-moi (1914\u20132008). In reality the Chungs\u00a0had challenged a contemporary Hakka taboo that couples with the same surname\u00a0could never … Continue reading