Lectures / Talks
Talk: I Didn‵t See You Until Now: The Rising Profile of Taiwanese Americans in Media and IRL (2024/3/19)
【EARN Public Talk】
Speaker: Ed Lin (Writer, US)
Chair: Li-hsin Hsu (English, NCCU)
Time: 10-12 noon 19 March 2024
Venue: Ji-Tao Building Rm 309 NCCU
Title: I Didn't See You Until Now: The Rising Profile of Taiwanese Americans in Media and IRL
Abstract: In recent years, Taiwanese culture and history has been integrated into storylines of hit U.S. series, an Academy Award-winning film, and even on the sports page. There are more Taiwanese American authors than ever. But the Taiwanese identity only seems to be newly emerging in the U.S.; it has always been present, just subtle. Yes, there are certainly more Taiwanese Americans than ever, and that's a big part of the higher profile, but the larger catalyst might be that the generation after martial law in Taiwan was lifted can be more assertive in their identity as "Taiwanese." For me, one big sign was literally a sign change. One of my favorite restaurants recently changed its name from "Famous Pork Chop House" to "Taiwan Pork Chop House." I always knew they were Taiwanese because it had fried pork chops and chicken legs with pickled vegetables, and shaved-ice desserts. When a new generation took over, they decided to put "Taiwan" in the name, and updated the decor to include Taiwanese items. Maybe customers acquainted with Taiwanese cuisine would immediately know, but the vast number of non-Asian visitors would have no idea. Now they know, and so does most of America.
Bio: Ed Lin is a Taiwanese-American writer, actor and novelist. He is the first author to win three Asian American Literary Awards.[1] His first novel, Waylaid (2002) won a Members' Choice Award at the Asian American Literary Awards and also a Booklist Editors' Choice Award in Fiction in 2002.[2] Lin has written a series of crime novels revolving around Chinese-American cop Robert Chow and set in 1976 New York City Chinatown, beginning with This Is A Bust (2007) (Kaya Press), which won a Members' Choice Award at the Asian American Literary Awards. The sequel, Snakes Can't Run, was published in 2010, followed with One Red Bastard in 2012, both by Minotaur Books.
