Australian professor Kurt Brereton has published his “Hyper Taiwan,” a handbook that uses Taiwan's scooter culture as a focal point for examining its social structure and identity.
Before writing the book, Professor Brereton took a very different approach to travel in Taiwan. Over the past six years since his first visit in Taiwan in 1997 as a guest professor, he has visited Taiwan once per year. During the stay, he traveled by scooter, riding through the streets and alleys all over Taiwan. Hyper Taiwan is a bilingual record of Taiwan culture with thirteen topics from his visual cultural observations.
With an academic background in architectural design, the humanities and social sciences, he has created his own interpretation of Taiwanese society through this western scholarly mindset. In the book, uses three voices: that of an artist, of a traveler, and an academic.
Taiwan owns an incredible number of scooter riders in comparison to other nations, said Brereton at a public occasion when selling his book.
He is impressed by the rapidness and activeness the scooter lifestyle. Scooters have become a metaphor for Taiwanese culture, surpassing its basic function as merely a form of transportation.
Based on his own riding experiences, he senses the differences between car culture and scooter culture.
He explained that scooter riders are closer to the environment. They take in the air pollution, the street sounds and see things from the street level.
He said that he thinks Taiwan is an island that has absorbed influence from East Asian countries like Japan, Korea, China, America and some western countries.
In “Hyper Taiwan,” there are collages showing prominent characteristics of Taiwanese cultural; the book is written poetically, lending a flighty tone to Taiwan culture.
Brereton also stated said that Taiwanese are faced with identity issues.
“I have an important message for the world [with this book], that is, Taiwan is a country that should be studied very carefully. ”
“It's a special travel journal about Taiwan with fresh approaches into contemporary scenes of Taiwan culture,” said Yuan Shiuan-chyn, director of the Third Department of Council of Cultural Affairs. The CCA and Art and Collection publishing company published “Hyper Taiwan” simultaneously in Taiwan and Australia.