AbstractsLaw & Legal Studies

World Heritage as a Discourse: A Study on Heritage Discourse in Taiwan under the influence of International Paradigms

by Abby Hsian-huan Huang




Institution: Leiden University
Department:
Year: 2015
Keywords: Taiwan, UNESCO, discourse, heritage, power
Record ID: 1263910
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/1887/33140


Abstract

This thesis explores how discourse of heritage has been constructed in Taiwan, under the great influence of the world-leading heritage organization, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and its affiliated international organizations. This thesis does not attempt to give a single definition of the heritage discourse being constructed, knowing there is no one discourse about “the heritage”, but focuses on the mechanism for making discourse and the power relations that underpin it. This thesis expects to answer three main questions as follows: to what extent can the definitions and values of heritage constructed by UNESCO be applied in the context of Taiwan? What actors can be identified in the process of discourse making? What are their motivations and interests? The discussion will be developed from three aspects: 1) the changes in heritage categories in the Taiwanese heritage preservation law, Cultural Heritage Preservation Act, 2) the reproduction of World Heritage system in Taiwan, and 3) the heritage discourse and power-relation shown in the text of the international declaration launched in Taiwan, Taipei Declaration for Asian Industrial Heritage (2012).