Andrea Riemenschnitter: Senses of Place: Contemporary Taiwanese Poetry in an Age of Uncertainty

Date and time: Thu, 10 Apr 2025 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM CEST
Location: Online

After a period of relative stability in many parts of the world, we are now witnessing an accelerating shift toward uncertainty. The 21st century presents humanity with an array of multiplying and intensifying crises, raising urgent questions about our future. How do cultural productions reflect and respond to these challenges?Globally, we see a movement away from human-centered perspectives toward ideas of planetary interconnectivity, recognizing the complex entanglements between humankind and nonhuman forces. At the same time, concerns have shifted from resisting consumer capitalism to grappling with the rapid rise of aggressive technofeudalism. Under these changing conditions, creative expression increasingly embraces performative and activist art forms rather than retreating into high culture’s detachment from everyday struggles.Resonating with its deep history as an oceanic contact zone, its long experience of serial colonial occupations, and its present role as an economic powerhouse and model of democratic reform, Taiwan offers a unique lens for examining how literature and the arts engage with today’s geopolitical uncertainties. At the forefront of these cultural responses is Taiwan’s vibrant poetry scene. This talk explores aesthetic trends in contemporary Taiwanese poetry, focusing on sound and place poems from roughly four generations of poets. Their works offer powerful glimpses into alternative futures—whether imagined as existential utopias, sonic reworldings, or acts of spiritual decolonization.

More information at Senses of Place: Contemporary Taiwanese Poetry in an Age of Uncertainty Tickets, Thu 10/04/2025 at 6:00 pm | Eventbrite.