View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Duquesne University: Digital Commons Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fall 2012 Decolonizing Psychic Space: Remembering the Indigenous Psychology Movement in Taiwan Rong-Bang Peng Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Peng, R. (2012). Decolonizing Psychic Space: Remembering the Indigenous Psychology Movement in Taiwan (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1036 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DECOLONIZING PSYCHIC SPACE: REMEMBERING THE INDIGENOUS PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT IN TAIWAN A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Rong-Bang Peng, M.A. December 2012 Copyright by Rong-Bang Peng 2012 DECOLONIZING PSYCHIC SPACE: REMEMBERING THE INDIDENOUS PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT IN TAIWAN By Rong-Bang Peng Approved November 15, 2012 ________________________________ ________________________________ Leswin Laubscher, PhD Michael Sipiora, PhD Professor of Psychology Professor of Psychology (Committee Chair) (Committee Member) ________________________________ Bruce Fink Professor of Psychology (Committee Member) ________________________________ ________________________________ James C. Swindal, PhD Leswin Laubscher McAnulty College and Graduate School Chair, Department of Psychology of Liberal Arts Professor of Psychology Professor of Philosophy iii ABSTRACT DECOLONIZING PSYCHIC SPACE: REMEMBERING THE INDIGENOUS PSYCHOLOGY MOVEMENT IN TAIWAN By Rong-Bang Peng December 2012 Dissertation supervised by Michael Sipiora, Ph.D. This project is part of the historical struggle of the indigenous psychology movement in Taiwan. It turns a critical gaze back upon the movement itself in order to decolonize it from colonial cultural imaginary. The contribution of this project is two-fold. First, on the theoretical level, it introduces a critical perspective into the growing body of indigenous psychological research. The indigenous psychology movement risks repeating the vicious cycle of colonization and re-colonization without critically looking back at its own historical trajectory. Second, on the level of intervention, writing the history of the indigenous psychology movement will make this project a crucial first step toward relieving Taiwanese psychologists from the cultural aphasia resulting from the traumatic encounter between two worlds. iv DEDICATIONS To my dearest wife, Li-Shen Liao (1969-2010), who wholeheartedly believed in me and loved me; and to my mentor, Der-Heuy Yee (1951-2012), who was an inspiration in my search for a psychology that gives voice to the heart (xin) of the Taiwanese people. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My ―journey to the West,‖ so to speak, has finally come to an end with the completion of this dissertation. This journey, like many other journeys, involves a departure which, without guidance, friendship, and love, does not guarantee a fruitful return. First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Michael Sipiora for giving me the freedom to work on a project with which he might not be familiar. And along the way, especially during the time when I was unable to see myself finishing this dissertation, he gave me the firmest support and showed genuine appreciation of the importance of my work. Without his openness, enthusiasm, and friendship, this dissertation could not have been done. I would also like to thank Dr. Leswin Laubscher‘s willingness to take the committee chair when Dr. Michael Sipiora decided to leave for Pacifica Graduate Institute. His inspiring course on psychology and diversity inspired the incubation of this dissertation, and his thoughtful feedback during the dissertation process was a great reassurance to the significance of this work. I am also deeply indebted to Dr. Bruce Fink with regard to my understanding of psychoanalysis. He was the one who showed me the power of psychoanalysis, both theoretically and clinically. He was also a wonderful and careful reader, and I am grateful that he accepted my invitation to be a committee member of this dissertation. Other faculty members of the department deserve my thanks as well. Each of them inspired me and guided me in their unique way: Dr. Martin Packer was the one who helped me deepen the understanding of hermeneutic phenomenological psychology, Dr. Constance Fisher‘s warmth and openness helped build my confidence as a therapist, Dr. Eva Simm‘s course on human development reshaped my vision of developmental psychology from a phenomenological perspective, Dr. Daniel Burston introduced me to the amazing world of R. D. Laing, Dr. Paul Richer‘s guidance helped me to be a thoughtful and effective teacher, and Dr. Roger Brooke‘s erudite mind broadened my understanding of the different approaches in psychotherapy. I am appreciative of all vi those who are named here and those whom I forgot to name for making the psychologist/therapist I am. Friendship and love from friends and colleagues were essential to this journey: Joshua Gregson‘s warm welcome when I first arrived at Pittsburgh, Daniel Warner‘s witty conversations, Leora Berstein and Katerina Daniel‘s wonderful cooking, Sipho Mbuqe, Michael Miller, and Jamie Ghany‘s dedicated friendships… these were what made this journey worthwhile and memorable. I have suffered from tremendous loss in this journey, but I have also learned about the power of friendship and love from all who have supported and encouraged me during the darkest hours of my life. Most importantly, I would like to thank my parents Chun-Nan Peng and Shui-Mien Wu for their long-lasting and unconditional support, both psychologically and financially. They are the solid foundation of whatever I have accomplished. Finally, I would like to offer a special thank my partner, Chin-Yen Yang. Her love for me and my children has been indispensable to the completion of this dissertation. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv Dedications ..................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ vi Chapter 1. Indigenous Psychology: The Conjunction of Two Wor(l)ds ......................... 1 Chapter 2. At the Center: Psychology and Its Imaginary Relation with Others ............... 20 Chapter 3. At the Margins: A History Misrecognized and Misappropriated ................... 57 Chapter 4. Indigenous Psychology: A History Forgotten and Remembered ................... 86 Chapter 5. Remembering the Dream: Toward a Postcolonial Critique .......................... 122 References ................................................................................................................... 131 viii Chapter 1 Indigenous Psychology: The Conjunction of Two Wor(l)ds In more ingenuous times, when the tyrant razed cities for his own greater glory, when the slave chained to the conqueror's chariot was dragged through the rejoicing streets, when enemies were thrown to the wild beasts in front of the assembled people, the mind did not reel before such unabashed crimes, and the judgment remained unclouded. But slave camps under the flag of freedom, massacres justified by philanthropy or by a taste for the superhuman, in one sense cripple judgment. On the day when crime dons the apparel of innocence — through a curious transposition peculiar to our times — it is innocence that is called upon to justify itself. (Camus, 1991, pp. 3-4) Kuo-Shu Yang, the founder of the indigenous psychology movement in Taiwan, begins the story of his profound intellectual and professional transformation from a Westernized psychologist to an indigenous psychologist by revealing to readers his dream, the dream for a genuinely ―indigenous psychology‖ in Chinese societies: I have had a professional dream for about twenty years—to turn the unhealthily Westernized psychology in Chinese societies into a genuinely indigenous Chinese psychology. (Yang, 1997, p. 63) The rhetoric of relating one‘s dream to the collective destiny of the people to which one belongs easily reminds readers of the historic ―I have a dream‖ speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 in front of the Lincoln Memorial, in which he called for the nation to rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ―We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.‖ Indeed, Yang‘s story does bear resemblance to Dr. King‘s speech. However, the resemblance is more than in rhetoric; it is in the humbleness of their dreams as well as in the great agony involved to realize them. 1 What started as one man‘s dream eventually culminated in an academic movement. Over the past 30 years, the indigenous psychology movement advocated by Yang has become an undeniable phenomenon in Taiwan. More than half a dozen conferences directly related to or inspired by the movement have been organized since the