Floating home: a journey of Taiwanese identity in the UK

People from Taiwan have been internationally marginalised and unrecognised for a long time, particularly by the cultural hegemony from the Western cultures and colonialism from Japanese imperialism and Chinese authoritarianism. These historical influences generate a hybrid culture in the Taiwanese society. Through the migratory experience of the Taiwanese people in Britain, their hybrid-cultural identity is caught between even unstable in between the host society and their homeland. As Stuart Hall states that identities, particularly in late modern times, are 'multiply constructed across different, often intersecting and antagonistic, discourses, practices and positions' (Hall, 1996:04). It is intriguing to explore what is the identity of Taiwanese people in the UK, especially in the migratory situation. This practice-based research project, which combines a production of a documentary feature and a series of seven short documentaries made over the research period, and a written thesis. The research explores and examines the intricacies of the experience of a small group of Taiwanese migrants. living in the UK. It investigates Taiwanese identity in Britain using collaborative documentary filmmaking techniques as its central research methodology. 1