TY - JOUR
T1 - The selected representation of contested prison history
T2 - Memorial exhibitions and tourist experiences
AU - Lin, Hui Wen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Hui-Wen Lin.
PY - 2015/9/14
Y1 - 2015/9/14
N2 - The Jing-Mei Detention Centre, Taipei, is one of the primary sites associated with the 'White Terror', which took place during the imposition of Martial Law in Taiwan (1949-1987), by the authoritarian post-war regime of Chiang Kai-shek. Taiwan's intelligence agencies violated civil rights and liberties. Suspects suffered arrest, interrogation, torture, trial, and imprisonment. The former detention centre has become Jing-Mei Human Rights Memorial and Cultural Park, which is one of two penal facilities dealing with the processing of political prisoners and for the suppression of activists who struggled for human rights. This study focuses on the interpretation by visitors of exhibitions at the site and the process of historical representation at the memorial park. The roles of the relevant parties were identified through interviews with former prisoners. The selection criteria, and the approaches to interpretation employed by the exhibition planners to represent a contested history, were examined. An analysis of visitor experiences and interaction with historical interpretation and layout in the exhibition demonstrated the visitors' disoriented, yet unified, perceptions. A model of prison history has been developed that selects the memories and materials used to depict the past, unifying the multiple layers of histories during the 'White Terror'.
AB - The Jing-Mei Detention Centre, Taipei, is one of the primary sites associated with the 'White Terror', which took place during the imposition of Martial Law in Taiwan (1949-1987), by the authoritarian post-war regime of Chiang Kai-shek. Taiwan's intelligence agencies violated civil rights and liberties. Suspects suffered arrest, interrogation, torture, trial, and imprisonment. The former detention centre has become Jing-Mei Human Rights Memorial and Cultural Park, which is one of two penal facilities dealing with the processing of political prisoners and for the suppression of activists who struggled for human rights. This study focuses on the interpretation by visitors of exhibitions at the site and the process of historical representation at the memorial park. The roles of the relevant parties were identified through interviews with former prisoners. The selection criteria, and the approaches to interpretation employed by the exhibition planners to represent a contested history, were examined. An analysis of visitor experiences and interaction with historical interpretation and layout in the exhibition demonstrated the visitors' disoriented, yet unified, perceptions. A model of prison history has been developed that selects the memories and materials used to depict the past, unifying the multiple layers of histories during the 'White Terror'.
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U2 - 10.1080/13527258.2015.1028960
DO - 10.1080/13527258.2015.1028960
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84938738969
SN - 1352-7258
VL - 21
SP - 805
EP - 819
JO - International Journal of Heritage Studies
JF - International Journal of Heritage Studies
IS - 8
ER -