Taiwan under Japanese Rule. Showpiece of a Model Colony? Historiographical Tendencies in Narrating Colonialism

Abstract

AbstractThere is a tendency within research on Japanese Colonialism to idealize Taiwan under Japanese rule as a “model colony.” This paper questions such narratives and asks what implications this assumption has for historiographical studies on colonial Taiwan. Research based on the idea of Taiwan as a “model colony” promotes the idea of a linear modernization during colonial rule in Taiwan and leads to the assumption that uprisings or colonial violence occurred only at the beginning of colonial rule. With a few exceptions, most recent studies use cultural‐historical approaches and focus on colonial modernity or colonial governmentality, agency, and hybridity on the basis of postcolonial studies and their theoretical agenda. Therefore, the so‐called scientific colonialism – often seen as the specific characteristic of colonial rule in Taiwan – is not linked to colonial violence. The thesis of this paper, however, is that scientific colonialism as a form of rule did not exhaust itself in ‘civilizational achievements’ such as the introduction of contemporary medical treatments or road construction. Rather, a reciprocal relationship emerged between knowledge production and the use of violence. On the one hand, the aim of knowledge production was to pacify the island and keep violence in check. On the other hand, however, the government instrumentalized the knowledge it had gained, subsequently using it to perpetrate further violence. Taiwan, therefore, did not see a linear civilizing progression and, moreover, violence did not decline steadily.