Taiwan and the Self: A Study of Internal Reflection

The event will be presented by Kiat-Sing Ang, a first-year Master’s student in Eastern European and Russian Studies at Vilnius University.
Over the past four centuries, Taiwan has experienced a series of external influences that have continuously shaped its cultural and linguistic landscape. Successive periods of governance and contact with different powers have left lasting marks on the island’s social and linguistic identities. Each period brought changes not only to the environment and economy but also to language use and cultural expression.
Today, the most significant impact may not lie in the history of these external influences, but in the internal processes of cultural adaptation and linguistic transformation that followed. The gradual prioritization of certain languages over others reflects complex historical, social, and educational dynamics. As a result, many indigenous and local languages face marginalization, raising important questions about cultural continuity, self-perception, and the evolving nature of identity in Taiwan.