The Sweet and the Bitter of Drips: Modernity, Postcoloniality, and Coffee Culture in Taiwan

Abstract

This article explores the history of coffee culture in Taiwan to highlight the complexities of the colonization and globalization of East Asia. Coffee is a not only drinkable commodity but it also carries unique cultural codes in postcolonial Taiwan. The authors recognize that local life and Western culture are entangled on this island, as a consequence of Taiwan’s colonial legacy and globalization. By examining the transnational industries and mass consumption of coffee, the authors argue that there are multiple layers of cultural complexity in Taiwan that reflect a postcolonial cosmology of this evolving society. In this article, the authors aim to construct a glocal (global—local) picture for further discussion about the practices of modernity and global imaginations embedded in the everyday life of postcolonial East Asia.

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