Contested colonial modernity: the controversy and political struggles surrounding the Kanan Taishū irrigation system, 1922-1937
Jiang, Yuwei
This item is only available for download by members of the University of Illinois community. Students, faculty, and staff at the U of I may log in with your NetID and password to view the item. If you are trying to access an Illinois-restricted dissertation or thesis, you can request a copy through your library's Inter-Library Loan office or purchase a copy directly from ProQuest.
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/116114
Description
Title
Contested colonial modernity: the controversy and political struggles surrounding the Kanan Taishū irrigation system, 1922-1937
Author(s)
Jiang, Yuwei
Issue Date
2022-07-19
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Wilson, Roderick Ike
Committee Member(s)
Chow, Kai-Wing
Shao, Dan
Department of Study
E. Asian Languages & Cultures
Discipline
E Asian Languages & Cultures
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Colonial Taiwan
Kanan Taishū
Irrigation
Modernity
Abstract
This Master’s thesis, drawing on Japanese and Chinese news articles, travelogues, and pamphlets authored by activists on different ends of the Taiwanese political spectrum, examines the controversies and debates around the construction of the Kanan Taishū irrigation system as initiated by the Japanese colonial government in the 1920s and 30s. By looking at how Japanese colonizers and Taiwanese local elites each viewed and experienced the visions of modernity as embodied by the construction project differently, I argue that while the majority of Taiwanese local elites had criticized the project and the state’s colonial policies, they nevertheless tended to endorse on the discursive level Japanese visions of modernity as characterized by economic, scientific, and hygienic advances, with a small minority of Marxist and anarchist elite groups embracing alternative visions of colonial modernity in pursuit of distinctive political and economic agendas of their own. Studying this complex entanglement of discursive struggle is crucial to not only our discussion of Taiwanese politics from the colonial period through to the present day, but an understanding of how visions of colonial modernity was negotiated and contested in areas peripheral to the heart of the Japanese empire as well.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.