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Faculty of Graduate Studies

Bryce Bartsch

  • B.A. (University of Victoria, 2021)
Notice of the Final Oral Examination for the Degree of Master of Arts

Topic

The Afterlife of Former Shinto Shrines in Democratic Post-Colonial Taiwan: Narrating Taiwan’s National Identities Through Colonial and Authoritarian Remnants

Department of Pacific and Asian Studies

Date & location

  • Wednesday, August 12, 2026
  • 3:00 P.M.
  • Clearihue Building, Room B007

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

  • Dr. Sujin Lee, Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
  • Dr. ann-elise lewallen, Department of Pacific and Asian Studies, UVic (Member)

External Examiner

  • Dr. Neilesh Bose, Department of History, UVic

Chair of Oral Examination

  • Dr. Aditya Mojumdar, Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, UVic

Abstract

In the years since Taiwan’s democratization, culminating in its first democratic election in 1996, Japanese colonial sites that had previously been marginal or repurposed by the authoritarian government for practical or ideological reasons have been rediscovered as heritage resources for tourism and public history. This trend has been spearheaded by local and national government ministries, including the Ministry of Culture. The newfound importance of restoring and preserving colonial buildings in Taiwan has sparked scholarly debate over whether this represents a pro-colonial celebration of Japanese rule or a post-colonial articulation of Taiwanese identity. This research examines the physical sites of former Shinto shrines, places of significant ideological importance in empire and nation-building, to explore the tension between pro-colonial celebrations and post-colonial articulations of Taiwanese identity. This research examines three main case studies, Hayashi Department Store, Koxinga Shrine, and the National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine, as representative of broader trends in heritage practices towards Japanese colonial buildings. Through this examination, this thesis argues that political changes in Taiwan have enabled the commodification of these sites as tourist resources and that multiple modes of Taiwanese nationalism are expressed through the process of contesting their meanings from the colonial and authoritarian periods. Beyond Taiwan, this research is relevant to other former colonial nation-states where colonial remnants have become increasingly important sites of tourism and public history, including South Korea, China, and beyond.

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