
New Books in East Asian Studies Cross-Border Intimacies: Affect and Emotions in Marriage Migration Between China and Taiwan
Jan 23, 2026
Lara Momesso, an Honorary Research Fellow and expert in migration and gender studies, delves into her extensive research on marriage migration between Taiwan and China. She explores how geopolitics influences personal intimacies, revealing the complex emotional landscapes of cross-strait marriages. Lara discusses the evolution of migrant motivations since the late 1980s and contrasts open fieldwork in Taiwan with the challenges in China. She also plans future research on the experiences of second-generation migrants and the aging population in these communities.
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Intimacy Over Instrumental Views
- Cross-strait marriage migration must be seen as long-term relationships shaped by affect, not just economic strategies.
- Lara Momesso argues emotions and relational dynamics crucially reshape belonging and integration over years.
Affect And Emotion Intertwined
- Affect and emotion interact rather than sit in separate domains of body and mind.
- Sensations can become named emotions and repeated emotions can create new bodily feelings, Momesso shows.
Fifteen Years Of Ethnography
- Momesso conducted longitudinal ethnographic work from 2008 onward including participant observation and life-story interviews.
- She interviewed about 150 people across migrants, spouses, children, officials and NGOs to trace long-term change.

