TheLandscapeofHistoricalMemoryexplorestheplaceofmuseumsandmemorialcultureinthecontestationoverhistoricalmemoryinpost–martiallawTaiwan.Thebookisparticularlyorientedtowardtheroleofpolitics―especiallypoliticalparties―intheestablishment,administration,architecturaldesign,andhistoricalnarrativesofmuseums.Itisframedaroundthewranglingbetweenthe“bluecamp”(theNationalistParty,orKMT,anditssupporters)andthe“greencamp”(DemocraticProgressiveParty,orDPP,anditssupporters)overwhatfacetsofthepastshouldberememberedandhowtheyshouldbedisplayedinmuseums.Organizedintochaptersfocusedonparticulartypesofmuseumsandmemorialspaces(suchasarchaeologymuseums,historymuseums,martyrs’shrines,warmuseums,memorialhalls,literaturemuseums,ethnologymuseums,andecomuseums),thebookpresentsabroadoverviewofthestateofmuseumsinTaiwaninthepastthreedecades.ThecaseofTaiwanmuseumstellsusmuchaboutColdWarpoliticsanditslegacyinEastAsia;theroleofculture,history,andmemoryinshapingidentitiesinthe“postcolonial”landscapeofTaiwan;thepoliticsofhistoricalmemoryinanemergentdemocracy,especiallyincounterpointtothepoliticsofmuseumsinthePeople’sRepublicofChina,whichcontinuestobeanauthoritariansinglepartystate;andtheplaceofmuseumsinaneoliberaleconomicclimate.
MEMORY MUSEUMS TAIWAN LAW POST administration HISTORY
