Taiwanese Literature at a Crossroads

In all of its existence, Taiwanese literature was most threatened during the time of martial law (1947–1987), which can be compared to the Cold War period. Taiwan is located at the imaginary crossroads of the free and communist worlds, of freedom of speech and censorship.

In his lecture, the Taiwanese writer Chu Jou-sun will focus on the works of two other Taiwanese writers, Nie Chua-ling, who through the “free world”, and Chen Jing-chen, who from the perspective of the “communist world”, illustrate the contradictions of Taiwanese literature. He will also discuss Václav Havel's influence on Taiwanese literature.

Moderated by Wei-lun Lu, Associate professor, Department of Chinese Studies, Masaryk University.

The event will be held in Chinese and Czech, with interpretation.