Military Landscapes and Border Identities: An Anthropological Case Study of Shuang-Kou Village in Lieyu Island
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Bai, Yi-Jiun
Abstract
Kinmen, better known as Quemoy to the West, was at the forefront in the standoff between communism and the free world since 1950s. A strong sense of boundary prevailed in the discourse of Kinmen''s recent history. This discourse is still evident after 1992 when the martial law ended and cross-strait communication resumed. eople of Kinmen are portrayed as loyal and brave in the fighting against the communists. However, this stereotypical view does not do justice to the daily living of the people, even during time of great tension. How they lived their lives in the "war zone" do not always correspond to the official, and the commercial version. his article examines the village of "Shuang-Kou" in Lieyu, an off-shore island of Kinmen. Shuang-Kou was designated as a "combat village" since1949, also described as a ‘spy village’ by the rumors. By using materials collected from the memories of the villagers about the military landscape along the coast and their daily life, this paper discusses why and what happened to Kinmen as a sort of "frontier society," and how the border landscape was constructed in order to maintain the tension of the boundary. My finding shows, rather than clear-cut rigidity, the border identities in the "combat village" is actually porous.
Subjects
identity
Lieyu
landscape
cross boundary
warfare memory
border region
SDGs
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