Last Isle

Explores the affective toll of Taiwan’s geographical and political proximity to China through a critical analysis of contemporary Taiwanese film and culture. It examines the complex, precarious relationship between the sovereign state of Taiwan and China in order to consider what this might mean global anxiety around the growing power of China.

Sheng-mei Ma is Professor of English at Michigan State University.

Acknowledgments / Figures / Introduction / 1. Trauma and Taiwan's Melodrama: Seven Orphans of Cape No. 7 / 2. Island's Irony: Virtual Pilgrimage Circum-Taiwan in Search of the High Cs / 3. Mazu's Touch, Taiwan Nezha and Crying / 4. Globalization's Bottom: Subtitle and Switch in Wang Yu-Lin's Taiwanese Dialect Films / 5. Wet Umbrella and The White Snake / 6. Hyde-and-Seek in Asian Diaspora: Deann Borshay Liem's Negative and Ang Lee's Ventriloquy / 7. Sold Mountain: Chinese-Language Films on Shangri-La / 8. Nestle in Shalu / 9. Taiwan's English Education: A Fish with Three Heads / 10. The Fate of Accidental Taiwanese: 5 Ways to Leave Your Father / Coda: China Laying Golden Eggs / Bibliography / Index