MASTER'S THESIS

Abstract

More than six decades have passed since former president Chiang Ching-kuo declared the lifting of martial law, yet White Terror continues as one of the most important historical periods in Taiwanese history. As the island embarks on a journey to define its own identity and seek for international recognition, White Terror becomes even more essential of a topic than ever because it is a solid proof that only a democratic, free nation like Taiwan can embrace one of the darkest, if not the darkest, past sufferings. This idea also expands to the film industry, where White Terror persists to be an inspiration for generations of filmmakers.

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Given the importance of White Terror in Taiwan cinema, this study will be examining the representation of White Terror in three different films from three distinct decades, including A City of Sadness (悲情城市, 1989), Super Citizen Ko (超級大國民, 1995) and On Happiness Road (幸福路上, 2017). From then, it argues that the persistent yet distinctive presence of White Terror in each film contributes to the building of Taiwanese consciousness, which is also one of the crucial constructs in the Taiwanization movement (本土化). In order to achieve the proposed objectives, this study identifies itself as a cultural studies project and adopts two primary methodologies including semiotics and textual analysis. In doing so, this research connects the classic and the contemporary films to create a comparative study that provides an outlook into the portrayals of White Terror in Taiwan cinema and its future prospects as a part of Taiwanization.