Visiting Fellow at CEFC

A BRIEF REFLECTION ON MY TIME AT THE CEFC

In the Summer of 2016, I spent two months (August and September) as a visiting scholar at the Taipei Office of the French Centre for Research on Contemporary China (CEFC), located at Academia Sinica. The CEFC is funded by the French Foreign Ministry and National Center for Scientific Research; however, its doors are also wide open for researchers from other European countries. Thus, I had the pleasure of being the first scholar from a non-francophone country to be hosted by the CEFC in Taipei.

My project concerned the generation born in the 1960s in Taiwan (normally known “wunianji” on the island) as producers of popular culture involved in grassroots nation-branding. During my stay, I greatly benefited from discussions with the Taipei Office’s director, Dr Stéphane Corcuff, and from the CEFC’s rich library resources. I also had the opportunity of getting acquainted with the numerous scholarly activities organised by the Taipei Office, and of delivering a talk in which I shared my recent research output with a very active and varied audience.

On a personal level, a special bonus were the enjoyable chats I had with Chen Sih-Jie, the Office’s very efficient administration assistant, on lots of miscellaneous topics such as literature, libraries, Taipei, and the joy of learning French.

Adina Zemanek is Assistant Professor, Institute of Middle and Far Eastern Studies, Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She is also EATS Board member, 2016–present.