عنوان

The face of free China :

TLets571482

The face of free China :

[Thesis]

Lee, Hui-Man

tourism, Cold War and nation building, 1945-1979

University of Essex

2012

Ph.D.

University of Essex

2012

This PhD is a study of the connections between tourism and nation-building and between tourism and the construction of national identity in Taiwan during the years when the Cold War was at its height starting in 1945 and taking the story up to around 1979. After 1949, Taiwan was positioned as "Free China" and this orientation in the larger struggle between Communism and the 'free world' profoundly shaped the development of tourism policies and practices and, in turn, shaped a less explicit project of nation-building within Taiwan itself. The thesis examines the discourse of tourism, the development of tourism policies, tourism institutions and tourism facilities, showing how these came to be defined by the concerns of the Guomindang government in Taiwan, respectively, to distance itself from the legacy of Japanese colonialism, to project itself as being at the forefront of the struggle against Communism and 'Russian' expansionism and, at the same time, to project itself as a bastion of 'freedom' and, in particular, as the protector of an authentic Chinese heritage. The thesis offers close readings of the ways that meanings were encoded in certain tourist sites and facilities. In the context of the Cold-War, "Free China", as constructed through tourism, was a project in which the GMD party-state collaborated closely with the USA, which provided financial aid and expertise, as well as military and moral support. Though it

Lee, Hui-Man

University of Essex

p

[Thesis]

276903

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