Taiwan Through the Lens of its Museums - A Clear View?

Abstract

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Since democracy arrived in Taiwan with the ending of the Martial Law in 1987, the people of Taiwan found themselves with the freedom to determine what constitutes Taiwaneseness. With this freedom, the highly polarised nature of Taiwan society surfaced and characterised Taiwan politics. Central is the question whether Taiwan has a shared Chinese culture or a unique Taiwanese one. This is not an academic question. China bases its claim on Taiwan on a shared heritage. Despite this claim, Taiwan functions as an independent country aspiring to nationhood. An acknowledged nation-building institution is museums. These are venues where the “Authorised Heritage Discourse” is transmitted. It is through museums that a country’s identity is visualised, and the boom Taiwan has seen the establishment of museums reflects this. With this museum boom, and given Taiwan’s polarised politics, the questions arise as to what is the Authorised Heritage Discourse expressed by Taiwan’s museums, to what extent are they controlled, by whom, and for what purpose? To address these, 19 museums spread across Taiwan were visited. At these visits, the context of the museums rather than the content of the exhibitions was object of study, so not the individual displays, but the overall narrative shining through. Emphasis was on publicly-operated museums, including nine national museums, but a number of privately-operated museums were also visited for alternative perspectives. The museums have been categorised and discussed by museum theme, including ethnography, ecomuseum, archaeology, literature, human rights, and fine arts. The discussion is then capped by an analysis of dedicated history museums. When analysing the Authorised Heritage Discourse emerging from the museum exhibitions, it becomes apparent that it is the recent, post-World War II period for which there is the greatest disparity between museums. The deciding factor on the chosen discourse is not what one might expect, whether a museum is a national museum or not. Rather, the museum themes are more relevant. In general, museums that put Taiwan history on a timeline and aim to give a comprehensive account are prone to be lighter on social issues. This is also the case with ethnic museums and ecomuseums that focus on a group or locality. It is the human rights museums and the national museum of literature where dark heritage, authoritarian rule, strained inter-ethnic relations and the struggle for democracy are clearly articulated. The analysis shows the wide range of heritage discourse in Taiwan. The Authorised Heritage Discourse shows little sign of effective control, even between governmentally controlled museums. Research into the Authorised Heritage Discourse visualised at museums is especially relevant to Taiwan due to its history of rulers forcing identity onto its people. With democratisation, the people of Taiwan can now create heritage. Making the narrative of Taiwan museums explicit contributes to keeping this process transparent. The authority museums assume comes with accountability. Analysis such as in this thesis promotes this.