Author: Yuan Li
Source: East Asian Journal of Popular Culture
Link: https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/10.1386/eapc_00166_1
Abstract
This article examines the recent rapid rise of Taiwanese actor Ann Hsu’s stardom by foregrounding her multiracial identity as a critical site of negotiation in Chinese-language popular culture across the Taiwan Strait. I introduce the concept of trans-border stardom to theorize Hsu’s star image as shaped not only by geographic mobility across the Taiwan Strait but also by the shifting boundaries of race, gender and symbolic meaning.
Through close analysis of her on-screen characterizations, curated off-screen persona and fan-generated media, I argue that Hsu’s mixed-race body becomes a flexible signifier through which post-feminist sensibilities and female agency are visualized, challenged and localized in contemporary Chinese-language media cultures.
Her screen presence seemingly moves from the hyper-feminized romantic antagonist in early idol dramas to gender-ambiguous professionals in thrillers, while her off-screen performances of resilience and self-discipline reinforce the coherence of her resilient star persona. Both phases, however, embody core post-feminist values of individual agency and neo-liberal self-management, revealing aesthetic evolution within a consistent ideological framework.
Fan practices further rework her image through the language of empowerment and gender fluidity, positioning Hsu as a reflexive icon of post-feminist aspiration. This study contributes to debates on racialized femininity and regional stardom by showing how Hsu’s career exemplifies a trans-border modality of meaning-making beyond cultural, racial or gendered fixities.