Representing Atrocity in Taiwan

The 2/28 Incident and White Terror in Fiction and Film

Nonfiction, History, Asian, Southeast Asia, China
Cover of the book Representing Atrocity in Taiwan by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D., Columbia University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D. ISBN: 9780231512817
Publisher: Columbia University Press Publication: November 30, 2007
Imprint: Columbia University Press Language: English
Author: Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
ISBN: 9780231512817
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Publication: November 30, 2007
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Language: English

In 1945, Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China, and after two years, accusations of corruption and a failing economy sparked a local protest that was brutally quashed by the Kuomintang government. The February Twenty-Eighth (or 2/28) Incident led to four decades of martial law that became known as the White Terror. During this period, talk of 2/28 was forbidden and all dissent violently suppressed, but since the lifting of martial law in 1987, this long-buried history has been revisited through commemoration and narrative, cinema and remembrance.

Drawing on a wealth of secondary theoretical material as well as her own original research, Sylvia Li-chun Lin conducts a close analysis of the political, narrative, and ideological structures involved in the fictional and cinematic representations of the 2/28 Incident and White Terror. She assesses the role of individual and collective memory and institutionalized forgetting, while underscoring the dangers of re-creating a historical past and the risks of trivialization. She also compares her findings with scholarly works on the Holocaust and the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Japan, questioning the politics of forming public and personal memories and the political teleology of "closure." This is the first book to be published in English on the 2/28 Incident and White Terror and offers a valuable matrix of comparison for studying the portrayal of atrocity in a specific locale.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1945, Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China, and after two years, accusations of corruption and a failing economy sparked a local protest that was brutally quashed by the Kuomintang government. The February Twenty-Eighth (or 2/28) Incident led to four decades of martial law that became known as the White Terror. During this period, talk of 2/28 was forbidden and all dissent violently suppressed, but since the lifting of martial law in 1987, this long-buried history has been revisited through commemoration and narrative, cinema and remembrance.

Drawing on a wealth of secondary theoretical material as well as her own original research, Sylvia Li-chun Lin conducts a close analysis of the political, narrative, and ideological structures involved in the fictional and cinematic representations of the 2/28 Incident and White Terror. She assesses the role of individual and collective memory and institutionalized forgetting, while underscoring the dangers of re-creating a historical past and the risks of trivialization. She also compares her findings with scholarly works on the Holocaust and the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Japan, questioning the politics of forming public and personal memories and the political teleology of "closure." This is the first book to be published in English on the 2/28 Incident and White Terror and offers a valuable matrix of comparison for studying the portrayal of atrocity in a specific locale.

More books from Columbia University Press

Cover of the book Hollywood's Censor by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book India's Israel Policy by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Our Forest, Your Ecosystem, Their Timber by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book The Story So Far by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Community Practice Skills by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Slow Boat to China and Other Stories by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Green Capital by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Human Trafficking Around the World by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book How They Got Away With It by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book The Tale of Genji by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Wild Kids by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book The Cinema of Terry Gilliam by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Lifting Our Voices by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Intimate Strangers by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
Cover of the book Apoha by Sylvia Lin, , Ph.D.
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy