The Great Exodus from China: Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Modern Taiwan

Yang, Dominic Meng-Hsuan

ISBN 10: 110874687X / ISBN 13: 9781108746878

Published by Cambridge University Press, 2021

About this Item

xvi, 311 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm. Summary:"Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang examines one of the least understood migrations in modern Chinese history-the human exodus from China to Taiwan when Chiang Kaishek's regime collapsed in 1949. Peeling back layers of Cold War ideological constructs, Yang tells a very different story from the conventional historiography of the Chinese civil war that has focused on debating the reasons for Communist success and Nationalist failure. Yang lays bare the traumatic aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution for the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who were forcibly displaced from their homes across the sea. Underscoring the displaced population's trauma of living in exile and their poignant "homecomings" four decades later, he presents a multievent trajectory of repeated traumatization and the recurring search for home, belonging, and identity. This thought-provoking study challenges the established notions of trauma, memory, diaspora, and reconciliation"-- Provided by publisher.

Seller Inventory # BGCHIN93

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Great Exodus from China: Trauma, Memory, and Identity in Modern Taiwan
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 110874687X
• ISBN 13: 9781108746878
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New
• Seller catalogs:
  • China

About this title

Synopsis

Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang examines one of the least understood migrations in modern East Asia - the human exodus from China to Taiwan when Chiang Kai-shek's regime collapsed in 1949. Peeling back layers of Cold War ideological constructs, he tells a very different story from the conventional Chinese civil war historiography that focuses on debating the reasons for Communist success and Nationalist failure. Yang lays bare the traumatic aftermath of the Chinese Communist Revolution for the hundreds of thousands of ordinary people who were forcibly displaced from their homes across the sea. Underscoring the displaced population's trauma of living in exile and their poignant 'homecomings' four decades later, he presents a multi-event trajectory of repeated traumatization with recurring searches for home, belonging, and identity. This thought-provoking study challenges established notions of trauma, memory, diaspora, and reconciliation.

About the Author

Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang is Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia.