The Visual Politics of Taiwanese Nationalism: Contested National Identities in the Imagery of the Sunflower Movement Robin Verrall A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate program in Political Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario March 2021 © Robin Verrall, 2021 ii Abstract This dissertation explores how national identity is constructed and contested in visual media by analyzing the use of national symbols in the visual materials produced by the 2014 Sunflower Movement in Taiwan. Through comparison with imagery published by the government’s Mainland Affairs Council, I examine different conceptions of national identity circulating in contemporary Taiwanese society. I also consider how visual materials contribute to the construction and reproduction of national identities. My analysis of the imagery produced by the Sunflower Movement indicates a reformulation of Taiwanese national identity. While these images frame Taiwan primarily in opposition to a Chinese identity promoted by the ruling Nationalist Party (KMT), they also selectively appropriate symbols typically associated with Chinese identity. This re-signification indicates the need for fine-grained, contextual analyses of the construction and contestation of conventionally ‘national’ symbols. I develop a method of visual analysis based on social semiotics, demonstrating its usefulness in analyzing the visual reproduction of implicit attitudes and beliefs, including national identity. I apply this method to a range of visual materials produced by participants in the Sunflower Movement – photographs, drawings, paintings, and posters – and compare these with government imagery. Chapter 2 presents the rationale for a visual analysis of national identity. I then review the dominant conceptions of Chinese and Taiwanese identity over the past 150 years, highlighting how the Sunflower Movement imagery both adopts and adapts existing conceptions of national identity. The subsequent chapters analyse three themes in the Sunflower Movement’s imagery. First, I examine how these images appropriate the Republic of China flag, resignifying it from a symbol synonymous with KMT’s Chinese nationalism to one associated with a local Taiwanese identity. Next, I consider how symbols conventionally associated with ‘Chinese’ history are variously evoked to critique or legitimate different conceptions of the nation in Taiwan. Finally, I explore how maps and map-like logos combine spatial and affective imagery to frame Taiwan as political territory distinct from ‘China’. My conclusion considers opportunities and limitations of using visual analysis to study national identity, and situates the project in the literatures on Taiwanese identity and on national identity more broadly. iii Dedication For my Grandad, Peter Verrall, whose stories about China planted the seed for this dissertation decades ago. And for his great-granddaughter, Nadia Jane Rose-Verrall, who held off being born just long enough for her father to finish writing it. iv Acknowledgments A number of organizations made this this project possible. I would like to thank the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy for their generous financial support and for sharing their expertise, both of which contributed immensely to my fieldwork. I sincerely appreciate the support I received from the York Centre for Asian Research (YCAR) through the Vivienne Poy Asian Research Award. I am also deeply grateful to the Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology, which provided a welcoming and stimulating intellectual home during my time in Taiwan. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Susan Henders, for her invaluable advice, attention to detail, and for her patience as I endlessly mulled over what I was trying to say. I would also like to thank the members of my supervisory committee, Dr. Laam Hae and Dr. Lily Cho, whose feedback made this project richer and more well rounded with each draft. Although it has evolved over time, this dissertation has remained true to the themes and questions raised by colleagues during my time in Taiwan in 2017. I am especially indebted to Dr. Hsaiu A-chin, Dr. Ho Ming-sho, and Dr. Chang Mau-kuei for their insights and suggestions on my provisional findings. I would also like to thank Keith O’Regan, who gave me the much-needed encouragement to push through the final stages of writing, and Alicia Filipowich, whose great humour and administrative savvy made YCAR a haven on campus. On a personal level, I am deeply grateful to my mother, father, and my and sister, Janna. Without their encouragement and support I would never have started this process, much less finished it. Finally, I cannot express in words my gratitude to my partner, Erin Rose. No one else would have listened to me ramble about panda-graffiti for years on end. Her support has covered the entire gamut, from intellectual to emotional to editorial. I am immensely grateful that we’ve travelled this long, long road together. v Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................ ii Dedication ................................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents .......................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................................vii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................................. viii Note on Copyright of Figures ...................................................................................................................... xiii Note on Romanization and Use of Chinese Characters ................................................................................ xiv List of Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................... xv CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................... 1 The 2014 Sunflower Movement .................................................................................................................... 1 Social, political, and economic context of the SM ...................................................................................... 5 Impacts of the SM..................................................................................................................................... 8 National Identity in Taiwan ......................................................................................................................... 11 National identity in the SM ..................................................................................................................... 13 Approaches to studying national identity in Taiwan................................................................................ 14 Limitations of current approaches .......................................................................................................... 15 Project Overview ........................................................................................................................................ 17 Research questions ................................................................................................................................. 17 Methodology: visual analysis .................................................................................................................. 19 Research design and data collection ....................................................................................................... 22 Contributions .......................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 24 CHAPTER 2 – NATIONALISM THEORY AND VISUAL ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 27 Critical Theories of Nationalism .................................................................................................................. 28 Contemporary Approaches to National Identity in Taiwan .......................................................................... 31 Visual Analysis ............................................................................................................................................ 41 Data Sources and Selection ......................................................................................................................... 52 SM data sources ..................................................................................................................................... 52 MAC image sources ...............................................................................................................................