Becoming Taiwanese: Ethnogenesis in a Colonial City, 1880s to 1950s

Description

What does it mean to be Taiwanese? This question sits at the heart of Taiwan's modern history and its place in the world. In contrast to the prevailing scholarly focus on Taiwan after 1987, Becoming Taiwanese examines the important first era in the history of Taiwanese identity construction during the early twentieth century, in the place that served as the crucible for the formation of new identities: the northern port city of Jilong (Keelung). Part colonial urban social history, part exploration of the relationship between modern ethnicity and nationalism, Becoming Taiwanese offers new insights into ethnic identity formation. Evan Dawley examines how people from China's southeastern coast became rooted in Taiwan; how the transfer to Japanese colonial rule established new contexts and relationships that promoted the formation of distinct urban, ethnic, and national identities; and how the so-called retrocession to China replicated earlier patterns and reinforced those same identities. Based on original research in Taiwan and Japan, and focused on the settings and practices of social organizations, religion, and social welfare, as well as the local elites who served as community gatekeepers, Becoming Taiwanese fundamentally challenges our understanding of what it means to be Taiwanese. Becoming Taiwanese: Ethnogenesis in a Colonial City, 1880s to 1950s Contents List of Figures, Tables, Maps Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note to the Reader Introduction 1. Building and Populating a Vanguard City 2. “Love of City and Love of Self ”: Constructing Identities in the Crucible of Jilong 3. “Civilization Enters Here”: Local Elites, Social Organizations, and the Reterritorialization of Jilong 4. Sacred Spaces: Religions and the Construction of Identities 5. Realms of Welfare: Social Work and Border Defense 6. Defining New Boundaries in the Reconstruction of Jilong, 1945–1947 7. Ethnicity, Nationalism, and the Re-creation of Jilong, 1945–1955 Epilogue: History, Memory, and the Usage and Utility of Taiwanese Ethnicity Glossary Bibliography Index HARVARD EAST ASIAN MONOGRAPHS