Transcending Whose Past? A critical view of the politics of forgetting in contemporary Taiwan

Abstract

The repeated renaming of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and ensuing debates (2007–2009), reveal the multiple presences of collective memory and the ongoing ideological struggles between the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party in contemporary Taiwan. This paper examines the dynamic and intertwined relationships between collective memories and competing histories which are exposed by the renaming and its aftermath. An emphasis on forgetting as well as ‘transcending the past(s)’ (chaoyue guochu) have become common strategies that function to incorporate the two contradictory versions of national history in contemporary Taiwan—implying not only amnesia about the other side’s past but also the suppression of diverse voices. Moreover, both parties compete to narrate a ‘national history’ from victimized perspectives, resulting in the adoption of different periods of Taiwan’s past to support their political assertions. Keywords: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, collective memory, national history