Religion

October 19, 2018 (Friday), 3:30-5:00 pm, Pugh room 210
“Dancing for the Dead: Funeral Strippers in Taiwan,” Professor Marc L. Moskowitz, University of South Carolina

Film Presentation and Q&A Discussion with the Filmmaker/Scholar. Funeral strippers work on Electric Flower Cars (EFC), which are trucks that have been converted to moving stages so that women can perform as the vehicles follow along with funerals or religious processions. EFC came to Taiwan’s public attention in 1980 when newspapers began covering the phenomenon of stripping at funerals. There is a great deal of debate about whether this should be allowed to continue. In Taipei, Taiwan’s capital, one often hears middle and upper class men complain about the harmful effects of this rural practice on public morality. In contrast, people in the industry see themselves as talented performers, and fans of the practice say that it makes events more exciting. Dancing for the Dead follows this story, interviewing Taiwan’s academics, government officials, and people working in the EFC industry to try to make sense of this phenomenon.

Marc L. Moskowitz is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of South Carolina, focusing on the intersection between gender, religion, and popular culture in Chinese-speaking Asia. He is a recipient of the ACLS-NEH, Chiang Ching-Kuo, Fulbright, and Fulbright-Hays Awards. He has published three monographs and edited two volumes as well as directing two ethnographic films. He has also published in a range of journals, including the China Quarterly, Popular Music, Sexualities, and Visual Anthropology.

This event is organized by Professor Mario Poceski & Professor Ying Xiao.
The lecture is free and open to the public.