anthropologists and indigenous studies in Taiwan from 1950s to 1970s
Organizer:Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica
Curators: Chiang, Bien & Ho, Tsui-Ping
Exhibition Duration: April 23, 2014 –June 30, 2015
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Taiwan was under martial law, and “modernization” was at the top of the government’s priority list. The ruling philosophy of the government at that time, continuing the “New Life Movement” of the ROC government during WWII, was to foster frugal and rational citizens. Meanwhile, the ethnic policy emphasized “Sinicization” and “assimilation.”
It was in the ambiance of this era that the first and second generations of Chinese/Taiwan anthropologists conducted their research among the Austronesian speaking indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Based on the theoretical training of the mid20th century and honoring the intrinsic values of different peoples and cultures, these scholars upheld cultural relativism, a view that was at odds with the mainstream social atmosphere, as well as official policy. They learned from the indigenous peoples about their culture through long-term ethnographic fieldwork and gave public speeches to advocate the understanding of and respect for the indigenous cultures among the majority Han populace.
It was these persistent efforts and the resulting accumulation of ethnographic publications that prepared the ground for the burgeoning cultural pluralism of Taiwan in the 1980s.
This exhibition explores how the first and second generation anthropologists in Taiwan, adhering to their commitment to cultural relativism and humanism, pursued an understanding of indigenous cultures in an era when the attention of the majority of Taiwan society lay elsewhere.