ABSTRACT
Democratisation is arguably Taiwan’s most significant achievement since 1945. Many scholars have researched Taiwan’s political transformation from authoritarian rule to democracy (e.g. Rigger 1999; Tsang and Tien 1999; Fell 2004; Paolino and Meernik 2008). Some have focused on how the mass media facilitate the course of democratisation (e.g. Rawnsley and Rawnsley 2001; Voltmer and Rawnsley 2009: 234–248) and argue that,
those features of Taiwan’s transition that have contributed to its unique character and success – a smooth and gradual liberalization characterized by rapid economic growth, a remarkable degree of inclusiveness, and an almost complete absence of violent confrontation between the government and opposition – were served by a highly developed mass media and one of the most literate societies in Asia.
(Rawnsley and Rawnsley 1998: 106) Yet most of these studies have failed to devote sufficient attention to the cultural dimensions of the process, which I term cultural democratization, a gradual progression which generated dramatic results in at least two local cultural forms – cinema and theatre – in the 1980s.