An International Conference
Organized conflicts and large-scale violence have commanded historical memory and literary imagination over the course of human history from the early settlements in antiquity to the current global communities. This conference aims to bring together studies on how, in the particular context of East Asia, individuals who were caught in the midst of war and violence and those who lived in the aftermath rebuilt their lives and remembered and reflected on the suffering and devastation. At the state level, the conference will also explore how governments rebuilt social structures, political order, and the cultural landscape, and more importantly, how physical ruins and psychological devastation led to short-term disruption and long-term displacement.
Issues to be discussed are designed to provide a localized perspective on experiences of war and violence in their respective local historical timelines and cultural nexus, such as the destruction and reconstruction of local order, the disruption and continuity of local traditions, the transformation and reinvention of cultural models, and the movements and interactions of people. Inquiries include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Recreating symbolic orders vis-à-vis national remembrance rituals, national narratives and symbols to cope with loss and to envision a new beginning;
- Local memory as counterdiscourse to national history;
- Impacts of war and violence on the production of historical narratives, literary expressions and art forms; Conversely, how modes of representation shape the historical event;
- The role of gender in memory (re)construction and social rebuilding;
- Comparative frameworks for the study of war, violence, memory, and trauma in the global context.
The conference focuses on various moments of significant transition and turning points in the history of East Asia, such as the Yuan-Ming and Ming-Qing transitions, the Imjin War, the Taiping rebellion, the battle of Sekigahara, the Republican revolution, Japan’s colonial rule of Korea and Taiwan, WWI and WWII in East Asia, the retreat of the Nationalist regime to Taiwan, the Korean war, and political campaigns and repressions during the Mao era.
“戰‧亂及其後──歷史記憶、文學想像與文化復興”
聖路易市華盛頓大學
國際會議，2012 年，4月6 – 7 日
破壞與重建、斷裂與接續，是人類歷史中悠久、普遍並且反覆的課題。本會議擬結合史學與文學研究的分析視野來探討個人或群體如何面對戰爭、動亂與集體暴力。身處於歷史暴風圈中以及經過殘敗隳墮的鉅變之後的個人，如何記憶與想像這些經歷。國家如何重建社會的基架、政治的秩序以及文化的場域。更重要的是，有形與無形的暴力，對歷史、文化所產生的暫時的斷裂以及長遠的人群的遷移與融合。研究主題將特別著重於具體的歷史脈絡，更細緻地探討個人、群體或國家在暴力與戰亂之後如何面對、因應時空情境的鉅變（劇變）及其所帶來的種種制度、思想與文化上的影響。從不同時代及地域的具體歷史和特殊文化經驗中，重新反思諸如秩序的崩解與重建，傳統的延續與斷裂、典範的轉型與創新、以及人群的遷移與融合等共通的關鍵議題。以下我們共同關懷的主題將包括（但不局限於）以下幾個子題：
(一) 官方正統與通俗文化：包括國家祀典的制定、語言政策的釐清以及戰後亂後秩序的重建等等，這些制度如何與地方活動、民間信仰、日常生活進行有機的連結甚或整合。
(二) 政權、階層與地緣政治：中央威權（朝廷、共和政體、殖民霸權）與地方基層（民間、邊陲與殖民屬地），學院與民間的互動與糾葛，協力與頡頏。
(三) 文本記憶：個人與群體如何面對歷史、回應創傷。當然也包括追憶與失憶、懷舊記憶或者重構記憶。
(四) 離散、錯置與認同：時代的鉅變往往撕裂既定的秩序、拆散原有的社群，迫使個體或族群遷徙。鉅變之後所產生時間的錯置與空間的離散，勢必衍伸出族群、地域與文化的認同問題，而此也關係到舊社群的崩解與新社群的重組。
(五) 文字敘事、文本再現與文化表現：包括歷史記憶的載體，文學與藝術表現的形式，在戰爭前後或作戰之際所產生的肆應策略、美學修辭與情感倫理。
(六) 時代鉅變中的文化、文學轉型：包括戰後、亂後相關文化、文學秩序的更新與調整，知識體系、論述規範與美學範式的重塑、變遷等。
在實際的實踐上，本會議聚焦於特定的時代轉型期或者創發期，包括：元明更迭、明清鼎革、壬辰戰爭，太平天國、関原之戰，辛亥革命、日據朝鮮、臺灣，一，二次世界大戰、國民黨遷台，韓戰等等。