The Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University held a seminar entitled "Linguistic Plurality in Taiwan: Languages, Literature, Cinema" as part of the Spotlight Taiwan Lyon 2021 on Oct. 21 and 22, inviting experts to discuss the phenomenon of multilingualism in Taiwan from different perspectives.
In addition to screenings of "The Magician on the Skywalk (天橋上的魔術師)" and "The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful (血觀音)" by Golden Bell winning director Yang Ya-che (楊雅喆), the director was also invited to participate in the discussion exploring the considerations and implications of literary and script adaptation, filming imagery, and national institutional power. Stéphane Corcuff, a scholar at the Institute of Political Studies of Lyon, Taiwanese writer Hu Shu-wen (胡淑雯) and Polish scholar Adina Zemanek were also invited to share their thoughts on topics including "Multilingualism in Taiwan Rediscovered," "Language and Literature during the White Terror," and "The Languages of Foreign Spouses in Film."
With a rich, in-depth analysis of how Taiwan has moved from "loss of language" to "multilingualism," participants were granted valuable insight into Taiwan's linguistic history, policies, and current situation.
Spotlight Taiwan Lyon is the brainchild of three major Lyon professors Corrado Neri, Gwennaël Gaffric, and Lin Chi-miao (林季苗). Lin told the Central News Agency that the purpose of the event was to promote Taiwan’s multilingualism and multicultural coexistence and integration among the French. She also received feedback from many students who said they had not realized that the history of language in Taiwan included languages of the Austronesian family that can be traced back thousands of years.
In a speech, Taiwan's representative to France Wu Chih-chung (吳志中) voiced his support for the event, adding that Taiwan is a multilingual and multicultural country that brings together European, Chinese, Japanese, and indigenous heritage. Taiwan not only shares universal values, but is also pushing forward issues including same-sex marriage and women’s participation in politics.