Green Leaf, Red Fruit: A Contemporary Paradox

Spanning Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean region, the betel nut plays a multifaceted role in societal networks, despite its stigmatization in contemporary Taiwan. It embodies a complex interplay of opposing and exchange relationships, encompassing dualities such as carcinogenic/health benefits, civilization/custom, secular/sacred, colonizer/colonized perspectives, and even Taiwan/terroir in the semantic network. Over millennia, the symbolic meanings of the betel nut have continuously evolved. This project seeks to explore the contradictions and dichotomies associated with the betel nut, reflecting its intricate and conflicting connotations across different cultural, historical, and socio-economic contexts. These contradictions manifest in various dimensions, such as cultural tradition versus modern progress, economic benefits versus social perception, and aesthetic standards versus public health.

Following field research conducted in Vietnam in 2023 and 2024, we gained foundational insights and comparative perspectives, inspiring us to reassemble P.M.S. members and related researchers for this project. Our objective is to delve back into Taiwan’s deeply rooted yet stigmatized betel nut culture. By examining elements overlooked or normalized by mainstream society, we aim to explore how these opposing forces have emerged within historical and cultural contexts. The project intends to uncover knowledge and value systems hidden beneath cultural surfaces, displaced by colonization and modernization. Through this exploration, we hope to construct an alternative historical and knowledge pathway, revealing narratives often ignored, forgotten, or erased.