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By David Pendery
today. Though the existence of a unique Taiwanese identity is a given for some
people, for others it is more problematic, not least because of the presence of strong
Japanese and Western culture alongside Taiwanese traditions and ethnicity, a number
of other Asian influences, and a sprinkling of intercalations from Europe and other
nations around the world, make the admixture of Taiwanese culture and identity yet
more complex.
This topic centers on complex political and cultural issues with national and
Unfortunately, I find that much of the dialogue I have seen surrounding it in media
outlets like the Taipei Times often tends toward ambiguous answers and the use of
facile formulae that dodge hard realities. At worst the argument descends into puerile
paeans celebrating all that is oh-so-cool about Taiwanese culture (Taiwan’s night
markets are always introduced into the discussion at this point), as if data like these
quandaries questions of identity give rise to. In the many years I have lived in Taiwan
I have seen most of these arguments going nowhere fast, and believe that new
approaches are needed to help lead the way toward more fruitful outcomes in today’s
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world for the Taiwanese people and nation.
difficulties that Taiwan faces. The very complexity of the situation(s) will in the end, I
feel, require variegated, flexible, creative, and probably very conciliatory solutions.
Thus, what I have to say is only one suggestion that might be incorporated into a
flourishing.
For me, “all history is contemporary history,” because the human historical
experience. As the great philosopher St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, human
experience is ever the “present considering the past […] memory,” the “present
considering the present […] immediate awareness,” and “the present considering the
future […] expectation.” The present thus functions as the fulcrum of historical
apprehension, with assessment and complete understanding of the past providing the
fodder for a nation’s present strength and stability, and given expectations of the
future guiding its development. These conditions, I feel, are most urgent and pertinent
in Taiwan’s case.
The question then becomes, “What history?” The first threat, to my mind, is the
temptation to write Taiwans history based on a standard model of “Great Man, Great
Event, Great Anything” history. Such narratives as these will no doubt be told, but too
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couching all peoples and nations in an inevitably archaic, often jingoistic and
for Taiwan, and could even play into the hands of those seeking to delimit the nation.
professional historians, who nowadays analyze and narrate a much broader and
of Sensibilities? On Cultural Histories, Old and New,” published in June 2007 by the
of perception and feeling, the terms and forms in which objects were conceived,
is “a concept that lets us dig beneath the social actions and apparent content of
sources to the ground upon which those sources stand: the emotional, intellectual,
aesthetic, and moral dispositions of the persons who created them.” It is through these
varied and intricate channels that we might genuinely excavate the lived experiences
of Taiwanese peoples, and these people would in turn be better able to construct a
well-rounded social and political consciousness, become more acutely aware of their
historical roles, and ultimately “enter fully into history,” to paraphrase E.H. Carr.
Indeed, from a foundation such as this we could work our way up into the Big
Anything historical topics, which could then be evaluated within a much more
outlets in Taiwan. But as often as note they are embedded in the above-noted
cheerleading, when what is needed is a more serious, inclusive, coherent and far-
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reaching effort to analyze and convey to the world contours of Taiwanese history,
current life and future potential. Considering Taiwan’s multi-faceted history, with its
fascinating fusion of cultures and elements, this may be a tall order. But then, good
A historical narrative like this may be exactly what Taiwan needs, as opposed to
the Great histories, the socio-economic focus of the French Annales school, much
discursive/representational (and heatedly political) history writing since the 1960s, or,
as noted above, rah-rah merriment. Again as Wickberg puts it, “the idea of a history of
primarily an instrument or object of action.” The way forward for Taiwan, in turn, is a
history of the peoples’ ideas, emotions, beliefs and values. These I feel are the
avenues by way of which Taiwanese people can more successfully and impartially
narrate their historical experience, and differentiate their aims and achievements from
other nations, opening up clearer pathways toward a national consciousness and even
nationhood, which I feel are not being well-forged at present. And you know what? It
those night markets will probably make their way into this Taiwanese history after
all…
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