Modernity and the Formations of Female Bodies

Dance Hall Culture in Taiwan during the 1920s and 1930s

Abstract

English abstract: This article examines the bodily discipline of comportment in Taiwanese society with a focus on the formations of modern female bodies during the Japanese "Dōka" (literally "assimilation") policy era (1919-1936). It investigates the cultural relevance of dance in terms of bodily discipline and the negotiation of identities in urban spaces. With archival research and the examination of the documentary Viva Tonal: The Dance Age (2003), this article looks at how the idea of modernity was brought to Taiwan during the Japanese colonization era through various bodily techniques. It argues that dance halls and social dance are locations in which the moving body in urban Taiwan negotiated and subverted specific forms of resistance and agency.