Suchergebnisse

This paper is in closed access until 27/12/2019. ; In 2016, Tsai Ing-wen became the first woman to be elected President of Taiwan (Republic of China). The extent to which this indicated a major shift in the country's gender politics remains to be seen. However, analysis of the status of women in the field of sport in Taiwan offers interesting insights into the island's gender power balance. This chapter examines the degree to which Taiwanese female athletes have been able to emerge as sporting heroes of the nation and the ways in which the Taiwan media represent the relationship between women and sport more generally. Although evidence of change can be found, the overall impression is that sporting women, as both participants and fans, continue to struggle for parity of esteem with their male counterparts.

The Chinese Civil War split the Chinese into two politically conflicted states from 1949. The People's Republic of China and Republic of China both claimed to be the legitimate representative of China in the international community. "Chinese Taipei" has become the name of Republic of China in the international sport field and almost every international organization since 1981, after Kuomintang (The Chinese Nationalist Party) refused to play under the provincial name "Taiwan," which was suggested by the International Olympic Committee in the 1960s. However, the relationships between Taiwan and China and the nationalistic discourses have changed drastically in Taiwan in the past 40 years. "Chinese Taipei" became the compromised, shameful symbol of Republic of China. At the same time, "Taiwan" turned into the most progressive, resistant, and aspired but banned name and self-identity for many Taiwanese. In 2018, the "2020 Tokyo Olympics Taiwan Name Rectification Referendum" was launched. It requested to rectify the current "Chinese Taipei" to "Taiwan". This paper aims to build a contextualized and historical understanding of this interrelation of sport and nationalism in Taiwan via this name game.

Jeremy Lin and the resulting "Linsanity" has caused an unprecedented media and marketing frenzy worldwide. This essay examines its implication through reviewing media narratives in Taiwan, Lin's ancestral homeland. Japanese colonizers first brought modern sports to the Taiwanese as a symbol of "civilization" and "modernity." Although "athleticism" confronts Confucian tradition, sports began to play a subtle but crucial role in the Taiwan nationalism-building process. Although sports are marginally positioned in Taiwanese culture, various regimes have used sports and physical education to integrate national identity and national morale. Taiwanese nationalism lacks self-assurance and must be recognized by its significant others. "The glory of Taiwan" has become a common phrase in contemporary Taiwan media coverage. Regardless of how trivial the issue, the Taiwanese appear desperate for every chance to prove their existence and worth. Recently, Jeremy Lin became the famous "glory of Taiwan." However, "Is Jeremy Lin Taiwanese?" raises a tricky and ambiguous question reflecting the complexity and anxiety of Taiwanese national identity. Through the lens of Linsanity in Taiwan media discourses, we argue that the Linsanity situation significantly differs from that of most Western societies. Taiwanese sportsmen, such as Jeremy Lin, became national heroes without "beating any foreign enemies." Lin's identity has become the most important issue of Linsanity for Taiwan media discourses. In the process of exploiting Linsanity, a peculiar embodiment of sports nationalism has surfaced in Taiwan.

This is the first comprehensive study of sport in Taiwan to be published in English. It appears at a time when Taiwan has the attention of the global community to the greatest extent since the years following the creation of the People's Republic of China and the formation by the Chinese Nationalist Party of an alternative seat of government for the Republic of China in Taiwan's capital, Taipei. The story of sport in Taiwan is one of athletic achievements and political machinations with this island's athletes allowed to compete in international sport only in the name of Chinese Taipei. The book offers insights into the development, political uses, and current situation of sport in Taiwan, the contribution made by the island's indigenous peoples, the significance of physical activity initiatives, relations between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, sports fandom, the role of the sports media, and gender, exercise, and health. As is so often the case with other parts of the world, sport in Taiwan provides a lens through which the authors examine a range of political and social issues and thereby help readers to gain a better understanding of this interesting, vibrant, and politically sensitive island. "This book is a comprehensive, critical, and timely piece of scholarship that makes a valuable and unique contribution to both the field and our understanding of the distinct and precarious status of Taiwan as a culture and society. Drawing on a range of academic disciplines, theories and methods, the fascinating assembly of essays cover topics spanning indigenous sport, racialised sporting bodies, sport policy, and sport and international relations. The editors, Bairner, Chen, and Chiang, have skilfully blended a collection that uses sport as a strategic lens to provide insights into the complex cultural, economic, political, and diplomatic spheres within which Taiwan carefully negotiates its sovereignty and identity amidst an international community that largely spectates from the geo-political side-lines. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand not only the significance of sport in Taiwan but also the significance of Taiwan in the world."—Steve Jackson, Otago University, New Zealand