The Portrait of “Alienated” Artist and Revisionist Historiography in the East-Asian Auteur Cinema Since 1980s

Abstract

East-Asian auteur cinema since 1980s, acclaimed in the global art cinema circuit, has critically examined the idea of the nation-state and cultural identity. In order to put forward the critical discourses of postcoloniality, the East-Asian cinema from the PRC, Taiwan, and South Korea has framed a dialectical relationship between history (of the official version) and memory (of personal experiences). It is interesting to note that the auteur cinema of PRC, Taiwan, and South Korea, which has investigated the relationship between history and memory, often placed the biographical and mythical stories of artists’ lived experiences, which have been marginalized in the official accounts of history, at the center of their narratives. This article aims to discuss how the postcolonial and post-Cold War re-imagination and re-figuration of the national culture in the auteur cinema of the PRC, Taiwan, and South Korea found embodiment in the portrait of artists.