Presentation Schedule
Small Talk, Big Tensions: Narrative Ethics and Liberal Family Values in a Taiwanese Documentary (107316)
Session Chair: Desmond O'Doherty
This presentation will be live-streamed via Zoom (Online Access)
Wednesday, 13 May 2026 16:10
Session: Session 4
Room: Live-Stream Room 1
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
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This paper explores the narrative construction of liberal family values and their ethical tensions through a cultural analysis of the Taiwanese documentary Small Talk. Situated within Taiwan’s post-authoritarian transformation and the growing visibility of non-normative family forms, the study examines how liberal ideals of autonomy and openness are articulated—and unsettled—within contemporary Sinophone family narratives.
Rather than treating the film primarily as an identity-based documentary, this paper approaches Small Talk as a cultural narrative that stages an unresolved ethical encounter between liberal individualism and enduring familial obligations. Focusing on everyday conversations between the filmmaker and her mother, the analysis highlights how narrative meaning emerges through conversational forms such as questioning, silence, hesitation, and refusal. These interactional practices function as narrative strategies that expose asymmetries of agency, memory, and vulnerability within family life.
Drawing on narrative ethics and cultural studies, the paper argues that while the documentary critiques patriarchal authority and affirms non-traditional family forms, it simultaneously reveals a persistent longing for ethical security traditionally associated with the family, particularly in relation to aging, care, and intergenerational responsibility. Liberal family values are thus shown not as a linear progress narrative, but as a cultural formation marked by ethical ambivalence. By foregrounding narrative impasse, this study contributes to cultural studies discussions on family, gender, and the cultural limits of liberal individualism in Asian and Sinophone contexts.
Authors:
Qiang Yi, National Chengchi University, China
About the Presenter(s)
Qiang Yi is a PhD Candidate in Communication Studies at National Chengchi University. His research focuses on visual culture, documentary studies, and narrative ethics.
See this presentation on the full schedule – Wednesday Schedule
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