Generational Conflict, National Narration and Cultural Trauma in the Discourse of Modernization in 1960s Taiwan: Revisiting the Debate on Sino-Western Culture

[[abstract]]The participants in the “Debate on the Sino-Western Culture” that broke out in Taiwan in 1962 were mainly exilic intellectuals of Chinese mainland origin. This Debate represented the first open conflict between the younger and older generation of mainlander intellectuals. Led by a radical student of history, Li Ao, the younger intellectuals appropriated the modernization discourse popular in Taiwan at that time to challenge the older intellectuals, making an assertion that China must embrace Western modern culture in order to create a strong and progressive Chinese nation. The younger mainlander intellectuals’ modernization discourse and challenge to their older counterparts displayed their keen sense of national identity shaped by the cultural trauma caused by China’s national humiliation in the past century. In the Debate, the exilic mainlander intellectuals, both younger and older, showed their anxiety and sense of frustration caused by migrating to a foreign land. Their anxiety and sense of frustration was informed with the memory of the past and the anticipation of the future. The dynamics of the Debate displayed an important part of the social life in 1960s Taiwan. The focus of this study is on the four important aspects of the Debate and their mutual relationships: 1) the generational conflict and identity, 2) national identity and historical narrative, 3) cultural trauma, and 4) modernization discourse. I argue that the dynamics of the Debate were shaped by the interplay of these four elements.[[fileno]]2040624030003[[department]]社會學研究