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Olivia Smalley Thesis 230720.pdf (847.68 KB)

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“煙火氣”—— 台灣夜市與民眾生活 “Yānhuǒ Qì”—— Táiwān Yèshì yǔ Mínzhòng Shēnghuó "Air of Smoke and Fire": Taiwan Night Markets and People’s Lives

Smalley, Olivia Grace
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1689755369579665

Abstract Details

2023, Master of Arts, Ohio State University, East Asian Languages and Literatures.
本論文探討台灣夜市與民眾生活的關係極其夜市作為一個瀏覽、嘗鮮、交流場所的文化意義。研究方式主要有這兩種：一是通過本人廣泛的現場親歷與觀察並結合網路研究對台灣夜市給出一個概括性的“深厚描寫”；二是通過對台灣居民（包括台灣本地人及居住在台灣的非本地人士）的問卷調查，了解他們對夜市的感受和看法並對其進行歸納和分析。 眾所週知，無論從規模、時間、數量還是質量來說，台灣夜市都非常之火，好像是台灣生活的不可或缺的一個組成部分。我開始研究這個話題的時候，也假設台灣民眾一定會常常在夜市流連忘返，覺得他們的生活離不開夜市。我的研究結果卻令人驚訝，人們與夜市的關係其實非常複雜、動態和多元。對於現代台灣人的日常生活來說，夜市並非必要，甚至可有可無。夜市的存在和火爆，更像是因為它是一個帶有“傳統”和“本地”色彩的文化符號，給現代台灣人和來台旅遊或短期居住的非台灣人提供了一個瀏覽、嘗鮮、與人交流和了解“他者”的場所和機會。 This thesis explores Taiwan’s night markets and how people’s lives may relate to them, as well as the concept of the night market being a cultural symbol in modern day Taiwan. I approach these concepts from two perspectives: 1) based on extensive personal experiences and close observations of 19 different night markets, I present a “thick description” of these markets; and 2) based on my survey of local residents (including native Taiwan residents and non-native short-term residents and visitors), I analyze people’s complicated and sometimes contradictory feelings toward the night market. It is a well-known fact that night markets in Taiwan are extremely popular. It’s nothing short of phenomenal in terms of how many of them there are, how long they have been running, how extensive each night market is, and how many people go there every night. Because of this, observers often assume people in Taiwan must frequent these night markets every day and all the time. In fact, my original hypothesis was that: to Taiwanese people, the night market is an integral component to their daily lives. My research produces a rather surprising result. People’s feelings toward night markets are complex, dynamic, and diverse. In modern day Taiwan, the existence and popularity of night markets is less of a response to people’s need for food and other aspects of daily life, and more of a cultural symbol sprinkled with “traditional” and “local” flavors and functioning as a “special place” where people (native and non-native) can go to explore, try out, interact with each other, and have a taste of “the other.”
Galal Walker (Committee Member)
Xiaobin Jian (Advisor)
62 p.
Asian Studies; Foreign Language; History
Taiwan; Night Market; Culture; History

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Smalley, O. G. (2023). “煙火氣”—— 台灣夜市與民眾生活 “Yānhuǒ Qì”—— Táiwān Yèshì yǔ Mínzhòng Shēnghuó "Air of Smoke and Fire": Taiwan Night Markets and People’s Lives [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1689755369579665

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Smalley, Olivia. “煙火氣”—— 台灣夜市與民眾生活 “Yānhuǒ Qì”—— Táiwān Yèshì yǔ Mínzhòng Shēnghuó "Air of Smoke and Fire": Taiwan Night Markets and People’s Lives. 2023. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1689755369579665.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Smalley, Olivia. "“煙火氣”—— 台灣夜市與民眾生活 “Yānhuǒ Qì”—— Táiwān Yèshì yǔ Mínzhòng Shēnghuó "Air of Smoke and Fire": Taiwan Night Markets and People’s Lives." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1689755369579665

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.
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