UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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UC San Diego UC San Diego Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Fugitive Subjects of the "Mi-Yi" : : Politics of Life and Labor in Taiwan's Medical Modernity Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1mf0t1bw Author Lin, Chien-Ting Publication Date 2014 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO Fugitive Subjects of the “Mi-Yi”: Politics of Life and Labor in Taiwan’s Medical Modernity A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Literature by Chien-Ting Lin Committee in charge: Professor Lisa Lowe, Co-Chair Professor Ping-hui Liao, Co-Chair Professor Yen Le Espiritu Professor Ari. L. Heinrich Professor Todd. A. Henry Professor Jin-kyung Lee Professor Lisa Yoneyama 2014 Copyright Chien-Ting Lin, 2014 All rights reserved SIGNATURE PAGE The Dissertation of Chien-Ting Lin is approved, and it is acceptable in quality and form for publication on microfilm and electronically: Co-Chair Co-Chair University of California, San Diego 2014 iii DEDICATION For My Mother, Lin Weng, Nai And My Father Lin, Wen-Chin iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Signature Page .................................................................................................................. iii Dedication ......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. v Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... vii Vita .................................................................................................................................. xiii Abstract of the Dissertation .......................................................................................... xiv Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Biopolitical Modernity, Fugitive Subjects and Labor ..................................................... 6 Empire, Modern Medicine, and (Post)colonial Knowledge Production ....................... 14 Transnational Asian/American Articulations: U.S. Cold War Imperialism, Trans-Asia, and Alternative Possibilities ......................................................................................... 22 Main Arguments / Chapter Overviews ......................................................................... 27 Chapter One: The Threshold Figure of “Mi-Yi”: Medical Governance of Life, Labor, and Morality ....................................................................................................... 31 Whose doctors? Whose Secrecy? Anti-“Mi-Yi” Discourse and State Politics ............. 35 From the State Surveillance of “Mi-Yi” to the Biopolitical Form of Self-governance 43 Fugitive Subjects of the “Mi-Yi”: Erased Histories and Erased Labors as Secrecy ..... 49 When Literary Figure Meet with Social Figure of “Mi-Yi”: Chun-mei Ye and Ms. Huang ........................................................................................................................ 50 Where Have All the “Mi-Yi” Gone? Impossible Subjugation and Impossible Modern Knowledge Productions ............................................................................................ 55 Chapter Two: Juridical Modernity of Medicine, Colonial Exception, and the Production of Normative Medical Knowledge and Subjects ...................................... 67 Juridical Modernity of Medicine: New Normative Subjects and Colonial Power in the Making of the Midwife ................................................................................................. 71 Sanitizing the “Birth” of Modern Empire ................................................................ 72 Legal Standardization of Medical Professionalism: ................................................. 77 Colonial Exception: Two Cases of Power Operations in Han Medicine and the Area- designated Midwife ....................................................................................................... 84 “Dr. Snake”: Configuration of Colonial Power, Historical Critique, and the Alternative of Ethics ........................................................................................................................ 92 Chapter Three: Shaming “Secret” Cold War: Historical Knowledge Production of Medicine, and the Hidden Labor of the “Mi-Yi” ....................................................... 103 Narrative Out of “Secret” Cold War ........................................................................... 105 The Road Not Taken: Secrecy, Shame, and (In)humanity ......................................... 119 Chapter Four: From the Cold War Secrecy to the Queer Intimacies of (Un)likely Illegal Alliances: Zhao Nan-dong and Our Stories ..................................................... 141 v Medical Rights as Human Rights: Illegal Abortion, “Mi-yi,” and Women’s Rights . 142 “Mi-Yi” that Flees: Secret Doctors, Runaway Migrant Workers, and (Un)likely Illegal Alliances ..................................................................................................................... 161 Epilogue ......................................................................................................................... 177 Bibliography .................................................................................................................. 184 vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Coming to the Literature Department at University of California, San Diego is an incredible journey of self-exploration, and intellectual transformation. I owe a debt of gratitude to more than I could ever acknowledge here because this dissertation represents more of a collective effort than an individual accomplishment. The dissertation is an embodiment of various historical trajectories of my intellectual and personal encounter with numerous beautiful minds and souls at different stages of life across a wide range of disciplines. To many of them, I am indebted and wish my writing did the minimal fairness to their roles in shaping my thinking, and their contributions to the project with all due respect. In particular, I thank those who shared with me the stories, memories, and histories of being the “mi-yi” and their family. I appreciate their generosity and trust in me. Their stories are far more valuable than what can be accounted for in this dissertation. Without the unwavering support of my committee, this dissertation could not have been written. I am deeply indebted to them for their intellectual and affective labor that underlies the transforming power of my intellectual sensitivities and commitment. I offer my deepest heartfelt gratitude to Lisa Lowe for being an exceptional scholar, advisor, and human being. Her generosity, wisdom, and mentorship are unmatched. Words cannot express adequately how much I thank her for her most amazing intellectual inspiration, incredible guidance, and attentive care of me over the past six years. It is such a rare privilege to work with Lisa, and to gain the warmest, the most engaging, and unflagging support from her of my work. Her scholarship and mentorship has always been a force that sustains me in many important ways. I am very humbled and fortunate to have her as vii my co-chair, and will continue to carry the imprints for the future. I thank Professor Ping- hui Liao for showing generous support of my project about Taiwan’s medical modernity. I want to express my gratitude to him for advancing my understanding of Taiwan studies, and introducing me to those incredible scholars in Taiwan working on the topic. I also appreciate his important efforts to bring Taiwan studies to international attention, allowing a critical space for Taiwan studies to grow. I am very grateful for Lisa Yoneyama, whose intellectual integrity has always been an inspiration, and she probably did not know how much her seminars had transformed the scope of my intellectual formations. I appreciate a lot those stimulating conversations with her about my work among other important issues of politics, and life, whether by meeting at her previous office, or via email, which always showed beautiful colors of wisdom. I honor her brilliant scholarship and unfailing commitment to the field formation of pushing the disciplinary limits of knowledge production, to which I owe my very respectful debt. I thank Jin-kyung Lee for welcoming me to UCSD as my first year faculty mentor. I appreciate so much her warmth, and kindness to a first year international graduate student and her continuous support of my project and me all the years along. I also thank her for being an attentive and encouraging reader, who always offers me valuable suggestions to improve my work. I am dearly appreciative of Ari L. Heinrich for offering the seminar on Chinese body politics, which introduced me to the related fields of science studies and medicine history. I am also very thankful for the email correspondence with him to share thoughts, and reflections. I appreciate his incredible sparks of genius, generosity, and warmth. I express my sincere appreciation to Todd Henry for being such an engaging and sympathetic reader since my qualifying exam. I am also very impressed by the support viii and encouragement that he has very kindly offered.