1st Edition

The Politics of Locality Making a Nation of Communities in Taiwan

By Hsin-Yi Lu Copyright 2002
    206 Pages
    by Routledge

    206 Pages
    by Routledge

    During the mid-1990s, Taiwan witnessed a remarkable proliferation of historical writings and cultural movements pertaining to 'the local'. 'Place (difang)' and 'community (shequ)' became two ubiquitous terms in the lexicon of being Taiwanese. This book is a critical examination of the socio-historical condition in which the discourse of local diversity emerged and gradually permeated Taiwan's public culture. Interweaving ethnographic sensibility and theoretical insights across disciplines, including anthropology, cultural studies and cultural geography the study elucidates the complex relationships between localism, nationalism and globalism. Not only is it a rare type of ethnography in Taiwan studies, this book also enriches our understanding of the increasingly significant field of East Asia (post)modernity.

    Introduction Taiwan: Contested Identities Fieldwork Encounter On Ethnographic Positionality Framework of Chapters 1. Mapping the Local in a Global Terrain Reappraisal of Culture Workers by a Transformed State Globalization and Localization - An Issue for Contestation The Significance of Place in Anthropology Place and Structural Nostalgia East Asian Modernity Locality and Nation-state in the Global Terrain Spaces of Hope 2. The Emergence of Local Culture Cultural Transformation in 1990s Taiwan Cultural Policy in Taiwan before the 1990s The Rise of Community Culture The National Festival of Culture and Arts Textbook Reform Proliferation of the Local Culture Workers Concluding Remarks 3. Localizing the National Past: Historic Preservation in Tanshui A Geo-historical Sketch of Tanshui Hobei Cultural and Historical Society Tanshui Homeland Study Group and Missionary Nostalgia Tanshui Cultural Foundation and its Unfinished Project The Controversy over the Riverfront Express Highway Project Concluding Remarks 4. Localizing the National Future: Place-Making Movement in Ilan Ilan County - Geography and History A Brief Political History The Spiritual Homeland of Taiwanese People Creating a Space for Local History Colonial Nostalgia New Architecture Movement - Creating a New Landscape Ilan Residential House Project Community-building Policy Conflicting Visions, Contested Identities Creating a Cannon of Ilan Culture 5. Searching for an Authentic Community Invention of 'Local Culture' A Geographical Sketch of Baimi The Establishment of the Baimi Community Development Association The Intervention of the State and County Government Spectacle Consumerism The Divisions within the Community What is 'Community?' Conclusion 6. Enactment of a Nationscape: Travelling the Local DifferenceS Tourism in History Tanshui: National Historic Town - The Foreign is Our Past Mass Rapid Transit: Modern Time, Global Space Dadaocheng: History is an Exotic Place Ilan: History is in Our Future Tour of Ilan Conclusion Afterword Bibliography

    Biography

    Hsin-Yi Lu