I always find popular culture interesting. It sometimes could be transformations from certain folk culture; sometimes it functions as a form of dialogue between people from different backgrounds. What’s more important is as Lawrence Levine suggests, “popular culture is cultue that is popular, culture that is widely accessible and widely accessed; widely disseminated, and widely viewed or heard or read” (1373). In my opinion, accessibility is one of the crucial keys to the understanding popular culture. When reading Levine’s article on his research about the entertainment (radio and TV) during the Great Depression era, his approach reminds me of how Taiwanese puppet show has been studied for the past decade.
After KMT’s retreat to Taiwan back in 1949, Mandarin Chinese was considered the official language spoken in Taiwan. Regardless of the fact that the languageTaiwanese, a dialect, was spoken by majority of population in Taiwan, speaking in Taiwanese was forbidden in schools because it was considered low and lack of culture. As a result, a form of language hierarchy was established and perpetuated for a long time. It was in late 90’s that 2 young hostesses in an entertainment show criticized that people who spoke Taiwanese and watched Taiwanese puppet show were “no class” and should be cast away to the southern part of Taiwan (while Taipei, the capital city situated in Taipei, was/is the center). Right after the show was aired, countless phone calls and letters arrived at the TV company because people were angry at the comment and blamed the 2 young hostesses that they had no idea how Taiwanese puppet show is a form of art and in fact, a form of lost art because less people spoke Taiwanese and appreciate the dialogue among the puppet characters. Soon after that, people who had been interested in Taiwanese puppet shows gradually voiced out and got involved in the renaissance of Taiwanese puppet show. The puppet show was so popular that it started to broadcast in US market as well. I find the development quite intriguing. Taiwanese puppet show as a form of folk culture was popular at once and later was ignored and neglected and finally revived as a form of popular culture which is accessible not only by Taiwanese people but by people around the world.
Here's a youtube link of what a Taiwanese puppet show used to be:
Here's a link of what a Taiwanese Puppet Show is:
Similar situation could be observed in Taiwanese Opera. The opera is mainly spoken in Taiwanese and so people my age or of younger generation do not really have a chance to watch Taiwanese Opera. We even have a saying in our culture that whenever a child doesn’t fulfill his/her parents’s expectation, the parents would simply say “you’d better not grow up ending up being a Taiwanese opera performer!” However, as time goes by, more and more younger generation “discover” the beauty in language, posture, costume and setting of Taiwanese opera that they decide to revive the almost-gone folk culture. Several popular singers even adapt certain lyrics from classic Taiwanese operas into music album which again introduces younger generations the art of Taiwanese opera.
Taiwanese Opera:
Contemporary adaptation:
The revival may sound exciting; however, there are different opinions about the adaptation of the folk culture and the central issue orbits around the key word, authenticity. Will popular culture shape and shift the sense of authenticity of the artistic form? Or does popular add varieties to the making of culture? And is there a such thing as authenticity?
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