Li-Jung Wang
National Central University
Taiwan
Ethnic Festival, the Politics of Identity and Nostalgia: The Hakka Experience in
Taiwan
Festivals such as the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland, the Nottinghill Carnival in
London or the Music Festival in Salzburg are viewed as important sources of urban
development, tourism and local cultural economies. Today, festivals clearly have a
higher concentration of visitors in areas of the country that are already established
tourist destinations, and festivals are often more accessible to the masses than other
art forms, as they provide an open forum for the celebration of life and the
continuity of living. In many cases they can also be an expression of local community
culture, traditions and identity. Therefore, there is a growing interest in researching
festivals and their impact on culture.
From the 1990s, the Taiwan government has established various councils to support
cultural development through ethnic festivals under its policy of ‘Multicultural
Taiwan.’ Many ethnic arts festivals, such as the Tung Blossom of the Hakka Festival,
the A-ha Hakka Arts Festival, and the Festival of Austronesian Cultures, are becoming
the main cultural and arts activities in Taiwan. Ethnic festivals enrich cultures through
the establishment of cultural identity, the production and participation of cultural
activities, the promotion of culture, the representation of symbolism and discourse,
and the maintenance of cultural diversity.
This paper focuses on the relationship among festivals and the politics of identity and
representation, considering various perspectives. Furthermore, the paper analyzes
how the national policy regarding the Hakka people has influenced the development
of festivals. From the view of cultural production, this paper discusses how the
festivals represent the identity and self-conception of the Hakkas, and how the
festivals combine the Hakkas’ historical experiences. Through interviews with Hakka
artists, this paper explores how the festivals create a Hakka image and identity based
on the concept of nostalgia, and how a cultural legacy is formed by the festivals.