Taipei
City of Displacements
Format:Paperback
Publisher:University of Washington Press
Published:11th Nov '11
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£91.00(9780295991252)
Through the prism of Taipei's development, Allen masterfully covers many aspects of visual culture in Taiwan during the past century. The book details cultural debates with insight and draws on many visual forms. Taipei is bound to become a prime source on Taiwan culture. -- Yomi Braester, author of Painting the City Red: Chinese Cinema and the Urban Contract
Analyses socio-cultural phenomena in their historical and contemporary contexts
Winner of the Joseph Levenson Post-1900 Book Prize
This cultural study of public space examines the cityscape of Taipei, Taiwan, in rich descriptive prose. Contemplating a series of seemingly banal subjects--maps, public art, parks--Joseph Allen peels back layers of obscured history to reveal forces that caused cultural objects to be celebrated, despised, destroyed, or transformed as Taipei experienced successive regime changes and waves of displacement. In this thoughtful stroll through the city, we learn to look beyond surface ephemera, moving from the general to the particular to see sociocultural phenomena in their historical and contemporary contexts.
Watch the book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBdGIoox7zM
"Insightful and inviting . . . this text not only will elucidate Taipei for newcomers and old-timers but will also raise interesting urban questions for comparative readings across many modern cities that demand equal system, skill, and affection. Highly recommended."
* Choice *"The inspiration to write Taipei: City of Displacements came as he pondered the city’s history during one of his frequent walks in the old city center. Therefore, he returned to Taipei in 1999 to put his literary training to use by studying Taipei as a text. . . . Readers interested in history…will find a fascinating study."
-- Donald Silver * Taiwan Review *"I highly recommend this book to readers interested in the cultural history of Asian cities."
-- Anru Lee * The China Journal *"[A]n interesting and insightful book about the cultural politics of public place in a postcolonial East Asian city. Combining investigation of historical material and long-term observation of contemporary urban saces, Joseph Allen presents a brilliant spatial reading of historical and present-day Taipei."
-- Liang-Yi Yen * China Review Internation- Winner of Joseph Levenson Prize 2011 (United States)
ISBN: 9780295991269
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 431g
288 pages