Hokkien entertainment media

Last updated January 31, 2024

Hokkien media is the mass media produced in Hokkien. Taiwan is by far the largest producer of Hokkien-language media.^[1]

Films

Many films in Taiwan are produced in Hokkien. Many other films that are primarily in Mandarin or some other language may also have some Taiwanese dialogue.

The first Hokkien films shown in Taiwan were shot in Hong Kong and featured dialogue in the Amoy dialect. The increasing popularity of Amoy films in Taiwan drew audiences away from Taiwanese opera performances, so some troupe leaders began making films in Taiwanese Hokkien.^[2] Over 1,000 Hokkien-language films were made in Taiwan between 1956 and 1961.^[3] The popularity of Amoy films, established in the early 1950s, then fell, and was overtaken by Taiwanese Hokkien films. By 1981, the number of Taiwanese Hokkien films made numbered 2,000.^[2] However, censorship during Taiwan's White Terror period heavily affected Hokkien pop and film.^[3]^[4] As a result, approximately 160 Hokken-language films from this period survive, all held by the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute (TFAI).^[3]^[5] When Ray Jing became leader of the National Film Archive, a predecessor organization to the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute, he began focusing the organization's efforts on the preservation of Hokkien-language films.^[5]^[6] The Taiwan Cinema Digital Restoration Project was launched in 2013 by the TFAI.^[3]^[7] The project sought to archive and restore Hokkien-language films.^[5]

Besides Taiwan, some Hokkien films have also been produced in Mainland China, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

Television

There are a variety of television dramas, news broadcasts, variety shows, etc. that are produced in Hokkien. There were restrictions on the broadcasting of Hokkien in Taiwan, but they were lifted in the 1980s.

Taiwanese dubs of Cartoon Network shows feature some Taiwanese-language dialogue.^[8]

Music

The recording of Hokkien opera and songs in Taiwan and China can be traced back to the 1920s. During the middle stage of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan, there was an industry of recorded Hokkien popular music. This was funded mainly by American record companies such as Columbia Records and RCA. Although significant, this industry was largely ended with the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and the subsequent restrictions on cultural production in Taiwanese and Hakka.

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References

1 2 Taylor, Jeremy E. (2008). "From Transnationalism to Nativism: The Rise, Decline and Reinvention of a Regional Hokkien Entertainment Industry". Inter-Asia Cultural Studies. 9 (1): 62–81. doi:10.1080/14649370701789658. S2CID 214649906.
1 2 Lee, Daw-ming (2012). Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 23–25. ISBN 9780810879225.
1 2 3 4 Han Cheung (5 March 2020). "Lost Taiwanese cinema tours the West". Taipei Times. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
↑ Tsai, Wen-ting (May 2002). "Taiwanese Pop Will Never Die". Taiwan Panorama. Translated by Smith, Glenn; Mayer, David. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2016. Cited in: Ho, Wai-Chung (December 2007). "Music and cultural politics in Taiwan". International Journal of Cultural Studies. 10 (4): 463–483. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.1025.5929 . doi:10.1177/1367877907083080. S2CID 144602597.
1 2 3 Gao, Pat (1 January 2018). "Preserving the Past". Taiwan Today. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
↑ Lee, Daw-Ming (2012). Historical Dictionary of Taiwan Cinema. Scarecrow Press. pp. 123–124. ISBN 9780810879225.
↑ "Taiwan Film Institute preserves country's cinematic classics". Taiwan Today. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
↑ Chang, April (July 21–22, 2014). "Taiwan Talk: Dubbing Cartoons for a Taiwanese Audience (7/21-22/2014)" (Interview). Interviewed by Keith Menconi. International Community Radio Taipei . Retrieved March 8, 2020.