Taiwan Comics: History, Status and Manga Influx 1930s–1990s, a new book published in the book series Stockholm Studies in Media Arts Japan presents the history of Taiwan Comics dating back to the 1930s, and the co-existence of cartoons in line with the traditions of mainland China alongside pirated Japanese manga.
The books presents the first comprehensive introduction to the comics culture of Taiwan. Under martial law (1949–87), Taiwan’s comics culture was shaped by an intriguing mix: mainland Chinese traditions of political cartoons (manhua) and popular “picture books” (lianhuanhua) existed side by side with pirated and often obscured Japanese manga. Triangulating the sociology of culture, media history, and comics studies, the book investigates the hybridity of Taiwan comics with regard to the intricate relationship between transcultural while situated forms and socio-cultural contents against the backdrop of changes in comics’ cultural, symbolic, and economic capital.
The book looks into the different positions held by “mainlanders” and “islanders” with regard to publication venues (newspapers, magazines, and rental-store editions) and interpersonal networks. The last chapter shifts the focus to representational content with a special emphasis on graphic history and examines how the setting of comics narratives in an ahistorical “ancient China” related to contemporaneous official history. Thus, the book provides insights into Taiwan’s postwar history and controversial national identity through the lens of comics while introducing an extraordinarily heterogeneous media to researchers engaged in comics and manga studies.
Stockholm Studies in Media Arts Japan
Stockholm Studies in Media Arts Japan (SMAJ, ISSN 2004-1292) is a peer-reviewed series of monographs and edited volumes published by Stockholm University Press.
SMAJ strives to provide a multidisciplinary forum for research on media and arts associated with Japan, prioritizing investigations of forms, formats, materialities and creative practices. The scope of subjects is broad, including texts, performances and artefacts of various times and social position in a variety of local and transnational cultures.
How to access this book
At the Stockholm University Press website you can download an ePub or pdf-file that allows you to read the book online or access it on multiple devices. You may also order a print copy of the book through the website. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bcp
About the publisher Stockholm University Press
Stockholm University Press (SUP) is an open access publisher of peer-reviewed academic journals and books. We aim to make journals and books affordable, and to give them the widest possible dissemination, so that researchers around the world can find and access the information they need without barriers.
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