The event is organised in cooperation with the Graduate School in Asian Studies

An under-explored field in studying Taiwan’s politics and democracy is the use of cute elements in political campaigns. Cute elements have been part of political campaigning since the 1998 Taipei mayoral election and have been employed in internal affairs and diplomacy. How do Taiwanese politicians use cute elements during elections? Does this cute campaigning work in persuading voters? How should we make sense of this seemingly “feminine” or “childish” approach under constant threat of invasion by China? Dr. Hsin-I Sydney Yueh will introduce a cultural concept to explain Taiwan’s unique election culture, and compare two DPP’s presidential campaigns in 2020 and 2024 to illustrate the use of cuteness and its implications in political communication.

About the speaker:

Hsin-I Sydney Yueh is Associate Teaching Professor of Communication at the University of Missouri, USA. She is the author of Identity Politics and Popular Culture in Taiwan: A Sajiao Generation (Lexington Books, 2016), which won the 2018 Outstanding Book Award for the International and Intercultural Communication Division, National Communication Association, USA. Her recent co-edited book, Resistance in the Era of Nationalisms: Performing Identities in Taiwan and Hong Kong (Michigan State University Press, 2023) addresses various forms of resistance and explores how people in Taiwan and Hong Kong respond to the big-power politics between China and the United States. 

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