Yingling and women imagery in contemporary Taiwanese media culture: The Tag-Along film series as an example

Abstract

With the assistance of textual analysis, this article examines the images of yingling (spirits of aborted or miscarried foetuses) in The Tag-Along and The Tag-Along 2. This popular cinematic demonology searches for a Taiwanese identity through urban legends and folklore. In the films, yingling are imagined as pitiful and malevolent. The spiritual being has desires, emotions and agency. This feto-centric imagination echoes the religious discourses that frame the newly popularized abortion ritual in Taiwan. Women are depicted as determined, independent and mutually supportive. However, the essentialist sexual differences remain highlighted, meaning that they are portrayed as mothers, and their bodies are represented through polluting blood, a signifier of excessive yin that serves the patrilineal needs of reproduction. During the process of modernization, Taiwanese society experienced drastic changes, yet, the ghost, as the persistent past, continues to impact the present. Through the investigation of irrationality, the reality surrounding women and children is revisited and debated.