Jens Damm - The search for identity

The cinema of Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang delves into themes of family, loneliness, alienation, and LGBTQ issues within the context of urban Taiwanese society. Tsai’s films show the complexities and contradictions of modern family life, reflecting the social and cultural changes that have taken place in Taiwan in recent decades. Through his minimalist and contemplative style, Tsai portrays the disintegration of traditional family structures, alongside the emotional isolation and existential crises experienced by individuals in modern urban environments. His films, such as “Rebels of the Neon God” (1992), “Vive L’Amour” (1994), “The River” (1997), and “Days” (2020), serve as important reflections on family dysfunction, societal pressures, and the search for identity. In this lecture, I will analyze how Tsai’s films challenge traditional gender roles, explore the complexities of queer identity, and the social and cultural factors contributing to the isolation and alienation of individuals. By examining these films, I will disuss Tsai’s commentary on the evolving dynamics of family life and the LGBTQ community’s struggles for acceptance in contemporary Taiwan

Dr. Jens Damm is an Associate Research Fellow at the European Centre for Taiwan Studies (ERCCT) at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen. In recent years he has held a deputy professorship at the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg. From February 2025 he will hold the Visiting Chair of Taiwan Studies at Leiden University. He was Associate Professor at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan Studies, Chang Jung University, Tainan, Taiwan (2009-2019). His research interests include LGBTQ and gender and gender studies in the Taiwanese context, new media and the internet, the Taiwanese and Chinese diaspora and gender studies. He can be reached at jens.damm@fu-berlin.de.