Heteroglossic Asia

Heteroglossic Asia presents an analysis of geographic, historical, cultural, economic, spatial and political factors underlying Taiwan’s maritime urbanity by means of case studies based on Taipei and Kaohsiung; two cities which represent the multi-accentual character of Taiwan’s urban environment and its recent changes and development through architecture. Focussing on the concept of a heteroglossic Asia Pacific, exemplified by the analysis of Taiwan’s urban transformation, the study argues that Taiwan’s urban environment shows a form of intended "fuzziness" which cannot be described as resting on either a simplified nationalist base or chaotic societal anxiety. Rather, this form lies between binary poles: autocracy and democracy, nation state and day-to-day life, top-down and bottom-up orientations, orthodoxy and hybridisation.