Humour, Identity and (De)Localness in Digital Spaces

Reviews / Votes

"Li-Chi Chen dives into the vibrant and complex world of queer Asia with this fascinating book. It's witty, sharp, and full of insights, offering a compelling look at how language shapes queer experiences online. Chen unpacks the nuances of humor - everything from the campy flair of reality TV drag queens to the subtle negotiations of desire on apps like Grindr and X. Humour, Identity and (De)Localness in Digital Spaces really changes how we think about sociolinguistics and digital intimacy. Chen shows us how gay Taiwanese men cleverly use humor to challenge traditional norms, navigate global queer culture, and hold onto their unique identities. Through humor - whether it's self-deprecating jokes or clashes of different speech styles - we see these men fiercely protect and redefine what it means to be "Tai" in a globalized digital landscape. This book is an essential, trailblazing read for anyone interested in queer linguistics or digital anthropology." (M. Mifdal, Media Studies Researcher and Specialist in Humor and Digital Culture)

"Interested in how multiple layers of identity are discursively intertwined? Then reading this book on digitally mediated Taiwanese queer male humor will be an unusual enrichment." (Jef Verschueren, Emeritus Professor of Linguistics, University of Antwerp, Belgium)

"If you are open to absorbing new interdisciplinary insights, this fascinating study by Li-Chi Chen certainly breaks a new ground. Multimodal and interactional in its theoretical approach, it boldly attempts to apply the recent achievements of cultural studies, humour research, contact linguistics, cognitive linguistics, semiotics, and gender studies to the complex socio-political and digital context of multilingual and multiethnic Taiwan: he zooms in on the unique humour of Taiwanese gay men - drag queens, gay YouTubers, date app users and homoerotic content creators on X/Twitter - and encourages readers to become familiar with the elusive concept of tai-ness. The picture that emerges radiates far beyond Taiwan and has implications for further multimodal, multilingual and multicultural studies of gender and humour." (Wladyslaw Chlopicki, Professor of Linguistics, Jagiellonian University, Poland)

"Li-Chi Chen's Humour, Identity and (De)Localness in Digital Spaces offers a lively and original account of how gay Taiwanese men negotiate queerness, localness and digital belonging. Moving across drag performance, YouTube, Grindr and X/Twitter, the book shows how playful linguistic practice becomes a resource for identity work, sexual expression, social critique and community formation. This vibrant and much-needed contribution to language, gender and sexuality studies opens new pathways for understanding queer humor and Asian sociolinguistic modernities." (Mie Hiramoto, Associate Professor of Linguistics, National University of Singapore, Singapore)

"In this deeply insightful and empirically grounded monograph, Li-Chi Chen offers a rare and powerful sociolinguistic lens onto the intersections of language, gender, and sexuality in contemporary Taiwan. The Taiwanese context is uniquely positioned - marked by progressive landmarks like Asia's first legalization of same-sex marriage and the global visibility of drag icons like Nymphia Wind, yet still anchored in traditional Confucian ideals of gender order. By meticulously mapping how humor operates as a flexible, performative strategy across digital spaces, Chen brilliantly demonstrates how language play both challenges heteronormative hierarchies and reclaims localized identity. This book is an essential and transformative read for scholars of pragmatics, sociolinguistics, queer linguistics, and East Asian cultural studies." (Hsi-Yao Su, Professor of Linguistics, National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan)

"Humour, Identity and (De)Localness in Digital Spaces offers a landmark account of how gay Taiwanese men deploy humour to negotiate identity, desire and belonging - a bold and significant intervention that pushes queer linguistics well beyond its Western defaults." (Wei-Lin Melody Chang, Senior Lecturer in Chinese, University of Queensland, Australia)