Cosmopolitanism and Indigenism: The Uses of Cultural Authenticity in an Age of Flows

In an age of vibrant flows and border crossings, the notion of inauthenticity seems essential to conceptualizing the cultural production of our time. This paper examines two models of literary praxis that underscore the important role of inheritance in literary/cultural production, namely Taiwanese cosmopolitanism and indigenism. Though seemingly opposed to each other, the two paradigms operate with a great emphasis on the notion of cultural authenticity. They ask difficult questions, such as “What does it mean to identify oneself as an heir to a cultural tradition that is considered oppressive and overpowering to one’s native culture?”; “What constitutes ‘cultural authenticity’ in an age of ceaseless change and border-crossings?”; “What material stakes may be involved in the evocation of the notion of authenticity in literary praxis?” These two paradigms, as illustrated by two prominent writers from Taiwan—Yang Mu and Sayman Rapongan, demonstrate how the untimely question of authenticity may help shed light on some of the critical issues in global literary and cultural studies.