Women, idol drama and three dominant value systems in East Asia

Speaker: Dr Jocelyn Yi-Hsuan Lai

Abstract

In this seminar, a theoretical framework and concepts drawing on Western and East Asian critical media theories will be introduced for my analysis of the inter-Asian co-operations of Taiwanese idol drama, a female-oriented TV drama. I see the idol dramas as a medium that is subject to three dominant, pedagogical and oppressive value systems (post-colonial nationalist, patriarchal and capitalist/commercial) in Taiwan and other East Asian countries. The scattered sets of dominant value systems, which resemble yet contradict the others in different aspects, form the context of the idol drama industries and producers who embrace it. Their ambiguous resemblance is one main factor of inter-Asian co-operation, yet their contradictions form the difficulty. The value systems from stronger countries in East Asia, especially their ideas about Taiwan and social (gender) values, have been articulated by idol drama producers and entered Taiwan. But such articulation is open to competition between different producers.

Speaker's Bio

Jocelyn Yi-Hsuan Lai graduated from King’s College London in 2016 with a PhD in Media and Cultural Industry Studies. Her PhD thesis “Articulating East Asia: Inter-Asian Packaging of Taiwanese Idol Drama in the Twenty First Century” examines how the drama industry has developed international and multilateral co-operation after the neo-liberal deregulation of its domestic market. Her research focuses on the production and consumption of contemporary East Asian media culture and stars, with a specialisation in cultural politics of Taiwanese media culture and stars. She (2011) published an article exploring how the Taiwanese TV drama industry interacted with mainland China from 1989-1992 in the Taiwan-based journal, Mass Communication Research. Her forthcoming article “East Asian Stars, Public Space, and Star Studies” will appear in the Routledge Handbook of East Asian Popular Culture (2017).

Organiser: Centre of Taiwan Studies

Contact email: bc18@soas.ac.uk