Re-writing religion: Questions of translation, context, and location in the writing of religion in Taiwan

This chapter examines how religion in contemporary Taiwan has been written, and offers suggestions for re-inventing that writing. I adopt the position that writing religion, like writing culture, cannot be reduced to a method which simply claims either transparency of representation or immediacy of experience. Writing religion is not merely a simple matter of producing texts, ‘keeping good field notes, making accurate maps, “writing up” results’ (Clifford 1986: 2), but is embedded in disciplinary and political contexts.