ABSTRACT
The cultures of Taiwan and the Philippines are almost never studied together, even though the two countries are close neighbors and, since the late nineteenth century, have experienced comparable historical contexts such as colonization, martial law, and democratization. How might Taiwanese culture and identity be understood in new ways vis-à-vis the Philippines? This chapter considers possible comparative strategies such as approaches involving the shared histories of the Austronesian population, Spanish colonization, and Chinese settlement. The chapter concludes, however, that the most useful strategy would emphasize the experiences of Taiwanese and Filipinos under the duress of foreign powers. Two texts from World War II are presented as a case study: the Taiwanese novel Orphan of Asia by Wu Zhuoliu, written in Japanese while Taiwan was under Japanese colonization, and the testimony of Concepción Gotera, composed in Spanish and English in the Philippines upon her interrogation by the American military. These texts, like their countries, are marked by their authors’ challenge of creating self-identities while under severe pressures imposed by occupying powers.
