Damp Skin: Portraits of Taiwanese Domesticity, Resilience, and Otherness

Abstract

This thesis is an intricate exploration of Taiwanese life under the constant dampness, weaving together the present with historical threads and personal memories of home and motherhood alongside broader socio-historical narratives. It examines Taiwanese domesticity through the dual prisms of “dampness” and “enclosure failure” to reveal how these elements influence or fail to meet Taiwanese people’s physical comfort and needs. Central to this research is exploring the historical marginalization of the Taiwanese body in domestic spatial development under the influence of external powers.

Damp Skin unfolds through three intertwined registers that offer diverse materials and perspectives spanning time and space, providing a layered understanding of Taiwanese history and contemporary experiences: I. Home, Memory, and Motherhood, II. Planetary Climate and Body, and III. Domesticity and Architectural Enclosure in Taiwan. This thesis argues the continuous repositioning of our bodies (ourselves and family) in response to external factors — climate, society, and power. It serves to revisit the past, document the present, and speculate on the future, enhancing our understanding of everyday life in Taiwan and exploring potential cultural adaptations. Each thread collects materials and offers distinct perspectives on Taiwanese identity and space’s historical and contemporary shaping. Together, they form portraits of the complexities and nuances of Taiwanese domesticity, resilience, and otherness, framed through the intimate and expansive lens of dampness and enclosure.