University of Helsinki
Speaker: Hsin-I Sydney Yueh (Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Communication, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA)
Venue: Room U3041, University of Helsinki Main Building
Time: Tuesday 26 September, 13:15-14:30
One salient feature in Taiwan’s political campaigns is the use of cute elements. In this talk, Professor Hsin-I Sydney Yueh will introduce a cultural concept “sajiao” and explain how this prevalent communication style has been adopted by Taiwan’s politicians and government officials to compose their persuasive messages. Examples ranges from presidential elections, referendum rallies, and policy promotions conducted by the central and local governments. Based on ethnography and through the lens of cultural studies, Yueh will show the audience the formation of sajiao culture in Taiwan, and the implications of using this particular style in political communication. In addition to analyze the cute elements in Taiwan’s elections, she will also identify limitations of this particular strategy under China’s information warfare to Taiwan.
About the speaker:
Dr. Hsin-I Sydney Yueh is the author of Identity Politics and Popular Culture in Taiwan: A Sajiao Generation (Lexington Books, 2016), which won the 2018 Outstanding Book Award for the International and Intercultural Communication Division, National Communication Association, USA. Her recent co-edited book, Resistance in the Era of Nationalisms: Performing Identities in Taiwan and Hong Kong (Michigan State University Press, 2023) addresses various forms of resistance and explores how people in Taiwan and Hong Kong respond to the big-power politics between China and the United States. Yueh was the recipient of a Taiwan Fellowship in 2021. She serves on the board of directors (2020–2023) for North American Taiwan Studies Association (NATSA) to promote Taiwan studies in North America.
If you have access to the University of Helsinki library, you may check Dr. Yueh’s new e-book Resistance in the Era of Nationalisms: Performing Identities in Taiwan and Hong Kong by clicking here.