Place, Identity, and National Imagination in Post-War Taiwan

279 Pages·2015·3.017 MB·English

by  Bi-yu Chang

Place, Identity and National
Imagination in Postwar Taiwan
In the struggles for political and cultural hegemony that Taiwan has witnessed since
the 1980s, the focal point in contesting narratives and the key battlefield in the
political debates are primarily spatial and place-based. The major fault line appears
to be a split between an imposed identity emphasizing cultural origin (China) and
an emphasis on the recovery of place identity of ‘the local’ (Taiwan).
Place, Identity and National Imagination in Postwar Taiwan explores the ever-
present issue of identity in Taiwan from a spatial perspective, and focuses on the
importance of, and the relationship between, state spatiality and identity formation.
Taking postwar Taiwan as a case study, the book examines the ways in which the
Kuomintang regime naturalized its political control, territorialized the island and
created a nationalist geography. In so doing, it examines how, why and to what
extent power is exercised through the place-making process and considers the
relationship between official versions of ‘ROC geography’ and the islanders’
shifting perceptions of the ‘nation’. In turn, by addressing the relationship between
the state and the imagined community, Bi-yu Chang establishes a dialogue
between place and cultural identity to analyse the constant changing and shaping
of Chinese and Taiwanese identity.
With a diverse selection of case studies including cartographical development,
geography education, territorial declaration and urban planning, this interdisciplinary
book will have a broad appeal across Taiwan studies, geography, cultural studies,
history and politics.
Bi-yu Chang is Deputy Director of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at the School of
Oriental and African Studies, University of London, UK.
Routledge Research on Taiwan
Series Editor: Dafydd Fell, SOAS, UK
The Routledge Research on Taiwan Series seeks to publish quality research on all
aspects of Taiwan studies. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the books will
cover topics such as politics, economic development, culture, society, anthropol-
ogy and history.
This new book series will include the best possible scholarship from the social
sciences and the humanities and welcomes submissions from established authors
in the field as well as from younger authors. In addition to research monographs
and edited volumes, general works or textbooks with a broader appeal will be
considered.
The Series is advised by an international Editorial Board and edited by Dafydd
Fell of the Centre of Taiwan Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies.
1. Taiwan, Humanitarianism and Global Governance
Alain Guilloux
2. Planning in Taiwan
Spatial planning in the twenty-first century
Edited by Roger Bristow
3. Popular Culture in Taiwan
Charismatic modernity
Edited by Marc L. Moskowitz
4. Politics of Difference in Taiwan
Edited by Tak-Wing Ngo and Hong-zen Wang
5. Taiwanese Identity in the 21st Century
Domestic, regional and global perspectives
Edited by Gunter Schubert and Jens Damm
6. Taiwan’s Democracy
Economic and political challenges
Edited by Robert Ash, John Garver and Penelope B. Prime
7. Taiwan’s Economic Transformation
Leadership, property rights and institutional change
Tai-chun Kuo and Ramon H. Myers
8. Government and Politics in Taiwan
Dafydd Fell
9. Documenting Taiwan on Film
Issues and methods in new documentaries
Edited by Sylvia Li-chun Lin and Tze-lan D. Sang
10. Technology Transfer Between the US, China and Taiwan
Moving knowledge
Edited by Douglas B. Fuller and Murray A. Rubinstein
11. Migration to and from Taiwan
Edited by Kuei-fen Chiu, Dafydd Fell and Lin Ping
12. Political Changes in Taiwan under Ma Ying-jeou
Partisan conflict, policy choices, external constraints and security challenges
Edited by Jean-Pierre Cabestan and Jacques deLisle
13. Border Crossing in Greater China
Production, community and identity
Edited by Jenn-hwan Wang
14. Language, Politics and Identity in Taiwan
Naming China
Hui-Ching Chang and Richard Holt
15. Place, Identity and National Imagination in Postwar Taiwan
Bi-yu Chang
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Place, Identity and National
Imagination in Postwar
Taiwan
Bi-yu Chang
First published 2015
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business.
© 2015 Bi-yu Chang
The right of Bi-yu Chang to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Chang, Bi-yu.
Place, identity, and national imagination in post-war Taiwan / Bi-yu
Chang.
pages cm. – (Routledge research on Taiwan ; 15)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Nationalism–Taiwan. 2. Identity politics–Taiwan. 3. Political
geography. 4. Cultural geography–Taiwan. 5. Taiwan–History–1945- 6.
Taiwan–Civilization. I. Title.
DS799.42.C34 2015
951.24905–dc23
2014037824
ISBN: 978-1-138-78828-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-76566-2 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deer Park Productions
For Andy
(cid:84)(cid:104)(cid:105)(cid:115)(cid:32)(cid:112)(cid:97)(cid:103)(cid:101)(cid:32)(cid:105)(cid:110)(cid:116)(cid:101)(cid:110)(cid:116)(cid:105)(cid:111)(cid:110)(cid:97)(cid:108)(cid:108)(cid:121)(cid:32)(cid:108)(cid:101)(cid:102)(cid:116)(cid:32)(cid:98)(cid:97)(cid:110)(cid:107)
Contents
List of figures xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Note on romanization xv
List of abbreviations xvii
1 Introduction: nationalism, identity and geographical
imagination in postwar Taiwan 1
2 Building castles in the sand: the construction of national
imagination and territorial ownership in the ROC
Yearbooks (1951–2010) 24
3 Maps, modernity and the state: Taiwan’s postwar
cartographic development and changing national rhetoric 67
4 The rise and fall of Sanminzhuyi Utopia: the spatiality
of power in the construction and dismantling of
Chunghsing New Village 112
5 Home is a foreign country: the ‘national geography’
in postwar elementary education (1945–2000) 155
6 Postscript: home and beyond 207
Appendixes
I Glossary 217
II Analyzed textbooks 224
Bibliography 228
Index 252