Dominant Migrants in Taiwan

Abstract

Taiwan has a remarkable history of immigration. Most of the people in Taiwan today can be regarded as descendants of migrants who arrived in a number of major migration waves. In the course of the cultural studies project, migration of newcomers is often dealt with in terms of marginalization and vulnerability of migrants. The case of Taiwan, however, differs from that matrix since it had always been the migrant groups who after an exceptionally short time obtained a dominant position on the island. It is a truism that the heritage of migration continues to influence the society's self-awareness. Additionally, Taiwan as a de facto independent entity is a “new nation”—like Singapore or Israel—and it faces severe problems in determining its national identity at the borderline of external and internal challenges. The article analyzes the Taiwanese identity debate under the framework of migration issues and its strategic use of the postmodern discourse of marginalization. Both contribute to some features in the Taiwanese quest for identity. These features consist of the very specific mixture of political, ethnic, linguistic, and cultural aspects, the borders of inclusion and exclusion in the construction of a Taiwanese “we,” and the intransigence of the debate. The specific migrant heritage of Taiwan and an evolving perception of “suffering” ( ) will be employed to explain these traits.