Workshop: Mediating Historical Authenticity in China and Taiwan
Time: June 22 – 23, 2023
Venue: Kleiner Seminarraum, D1
Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
Hartmannstr. 14, 91052 Erlangen, Germany
The storytelling – and meaning-making – of the past builds its authority on the claim to historical authenticity. In this workshop we invite scholars of Chinese and Taiwan Studies to explore how historical authenticity is created, circulated, and consumed to make the past relevant to the present.
Our investigation delves into the epistemology and art of the real, medial and aesthetic strategies of authentication in narrating the past. How do media technologies mediate and remediate the past? How do various forms of tourism curate and cash in tourists’ on-site consumption of the past? How do autobiographical narratives obtain its authority of telling “true” experiences and thereby transfer stories of the past across generations? Last but not least, what role do affects play in shaping senses of the real and relatable past?
Join us for the exciting talks and discussions:
June 22 (Thursday)
| Time | Speakers | Topic |
| 14:00-15:00 | Introduction | |
| 15:00-15:30 | Coffee Break | |
| 15:30-17:00 | A-Chin HSIAU (Academia Sinica) | From Authenticating the Local to Authenticating the National: The Ocean, Fishing Village Tourism, and National Imagination in Taiwan |
June 23 (Friday)
| Time | Speakers | Topic |
| 9:00-10:30 | Marc MATTEN (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg) | Anecdotal Evidence in the Marketing of 20th Century Chinese History |
| 10:30-12:00 | Sebastian VEG (EHESS Paris) | From Individual Guilt to Public Remorse: The “Confessions”(chanhuilu) Column in the Journal Yanhuang Chunqiu |
| 12:00-14:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:00-15:30 | Jie LI (Harvard University) | Socialist Soundscapes: Radio and Loudspeakers in Contemporary Chinese Cinema |
| 15:30-17:00 | Rui KUNZE (FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg) | Homey Foods: Domesticating Memories of the Martial-Law Era in Taiwan’s Heritage Tourism |
| 17:00-18:00 | Conclusion |
To register for the workshop, please briefly email Prof. Marc Matten (marc.matten@fau.de) or Dr. Rui Kunze (rui.kunze@fau.de).
This workshop is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).