題目："Cross-Strait Perceptions in Cyberspace: Xiamen and Taiwan"
演講者：Jens Damm 柏林自由大學漢學系、長榮大學台灣研究所助理教授
時間：10月24日(一) 12:00-14:00
地點：綜合院館南棟13樓第二會議室（271332室）
摘要：
Cross-Strait Perceptions in Cyberspace
This paper deals with the ambiguous roles and, in particular, the related perceptions, of the Taiwanese within cross-Strait cyberspace and in particular with the role of cybercommunities. These cybercommunities have the potential to influence the broad societal, political, and cultural transformations that in recent decades have shaped China toward becoming a more open society. In 2011 more than one-third of China’s population is online, and with the ongoing popularity of bulletin board systems (BBSs) and increasingly blogs, cybercommunities have become one of the dominant features of China’s Internet. These communities exist in the fields of civic engagement and nationalist endeavors; marginalized groups are present as well as users enjoying leisure and entertainment activities. Links to Chinese-speaking regions worldwide transcend national boundaries.
Although some obstacles exist (for example, PRC censorship measures), a wide range of transregional and transnational communications can also be found crossing the Taiwan Strait within this cyberspace. The discourse analysis that I present in this paper is based on social and participatory media, such as blogs and BBSs, and builds on methodological approaches derived from discursive analysis and media perception. The analysis takes into account the underlying changes in social practices and the shifts in various policy fields on each side of the Taiwan Strait. In this way, the paper highlights the changing roles played by the different kinds of media and the way that the representation of the Taiwanese in the media has been reshaped in line with shifting power-relations and the integration of global and regional developments. Questions regarding who is control of the communication channels and how state and non-state actors interact are also addressed.
The key questions can be formulated as follows:
- What is the role of the social and participatory media with regard to reshaping the ways that the Taiwanese are perceived?
- How are the state-led discourses reflected and what are the roles played by censorship and control play?
- Finally, have recent developments in the new media (Internet, blogs, online newspapers, accessible on both sides of the Taiwan Strait simultaneously) led to the greater pluralization of opinions, and have interactive media environments, such as blogs and forums, changed the subjectivities and current alternative views?
