Cultural Memory of Cheng Nan-Jung and Media Construction

The study mainly aims to explore ‘actors‘ to understand Cheng Nan-Jung’s process of cultural memory building, and to examine his cultural memory with respect to different time periods in Taiwanese culture and politics. The actors are divided into two groups: the ‘old generation’ who have witnessed Cheng Nan-Jung’s martyrdom first hand and noted his great contribution to Taiwan’s history and democratic ideals, and the ‘new generation’ who remain unaware of the events that took place during that era. The research method of this theis is critical discourse analysis developed by Fairclough. In order to continue building upon Cheng Nan-Jung’s cultural memory we must look to the social practices of the older generation, whom regarded Cheng Nan-Jung as a hero who fought for democracy. Furthermore, these cultural memory must also be passed down to the current generation in order to keep Cheng Nan-Jung’s legacy alive. The new generation must then merge the cultural contexts of past and present and distill them into a contemporary narrative for today''s generation. The results reveal that the old generation actors successfully construct Cheng Nan-jung as a democracy pioneer who die for Taiwan independence. from 2012 anti-media monopoly movement, 2013 Nan-jung square controversy, 2014 sunflower movement, it shows that because of national identity and the China factor. Cheng Nan-jung became a symbol of democracy for new generation actors.