Vienna, Austria
The Vienna Taiwan Lectures, featuring talks by external experts, are organized by the Vienna Center for Taiwan Studies. The series was established at the Department of East Asian Studies in 2012, and is supported by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Vienna.
The lectures are given in English, with a length of around 50 minutes plus discussion. Each lecture is generally developed as a paper published in the Vienna Taiwan Studies Series, which is both a book series and an annual journal. The Lectures are videotaped and available to the public with a password at http://tsc.univie.ac:at.
The Vienna Center covers costs of transportation, and accomodation is provided. Guest speakers are invited to a post-lecture dinner with local scholars.
Download the Invitation to the Vienna Taiwan Lectures summer term 2017 as PDF
Topic for 2017 – 2018:
Taiwan: Mirroring Society? Affecting Society? The Impact of Literature, Television and Film
Context: There are dissenting views on the influence that literature, and now other media forms, have or would like to have on society. For the Western observer, Taiwanese literature, television series or films are a means to (better) understand Taiwan and current developments of Taiwanese society. Aboriginal authors might want to present their indigenous origins. Hakka authors may attempt to include the rural landscapes of their childhood in their writings. Looking at Taiwanese children’s books, the reader might get a glimpse of how Taiwanese parents would like their sons and daughters to develop. Furthermore, the market for local literary products is worth our analysis: Is there an appreciative audience for local literature? How many children’s books in Taiwan are actually translations, and if so, from which languages and countries?
Guest speakers’ presentations can focus on an individual author and their work(s). They may also deal with literature representing a certain time period, or representative of a specific topic. Or the subject can examine thematic voids: Why is an issue not included in literary works?
And how far is that specific for Taiwan, and if so, why?
The University of Vienna’s winter term is from 1 October 2017 through 30 January 2018.
Lectures are always on Wednesday evenings, 18 – 20:00 (6-8 pm)
(This year’s topic may be extended through 2018-19.)
Your suggestion for a presentation in the series should include:
your name and title of presentation
your location and specialization
the period of time when you are available
half a page abstract of your lecture.
Please contact Astrid Lipinsky at astrid.lipinsky@univie.ac.at