Cosmopolitan and Vernacular Dynamics in Creating Cultural Memory: A Review of Da jiang da hai: 1949 by Lung Ying-tai

In the autumn of 2009, when China was the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair,¹ Taiwan celebrity Lung Ying-tai (龍應台Long Yingtai) launched her book Big River, Big Sea: Untold Stories of 1949 (大江大海：一九四九).² For the People's Republic of China (PRC), the world's largest book fair was just another stage to take during the yearlong state celebrations marking the glorious 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC.³ Official political and cultural festivities had been taking turns to spread euphoria and convey national magnitude throughout the whole year; gigantic military parades had been showing off China's alleged power at home and on global stage.⁴ The mass campaign atrocities and political terror to which Chinese people had been massively exposed under CCP governance were strictly regulated to distant memories. At the Frankfurt Book Fair, however, mainland China's display of nationalist mainstream culture had to make room for cultural and political diversity of Chinese cultures and critical interventions. For Taiwan-born writer and cultural critic, former Director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau in Taipei (1999–2003), first Minister of Culture of Taiwan (2012–2014), and professor of literature, Lung Ying-tai, this was the stage and time to shine. Under the spotlight of international media attention, she presented her book Big River, Big Sea: Untold Stories of 1949, in itself a solid objection to the national grandeur and a critical piece of counterhistory.

Ever since Lung Ying-tai made a name of herself as one of the most outspoken and seemingly fearless public intellectuals in the Chinese speaking community, she has been balancing changing identities as political official on the one hand and critical public intellectual on the other.⁵ She is credited for having contributed to the democratization of Taiwan largely and has probably been the only Taiwan-born writer with a column in mainland Chinese newspapers.⁶ Lung Ying-tai is well-known for fearlessly challenging any politician and public authority, and her outspokenness has made her a controversial voice in the Chinese-speaking world. Her first essay collection, Wild Fire (野火集 Yehuoji, 1985), constitutes a fierce political critique of the Nationalist government at a time when Taiwan was still under Martial Law (台灣省戒嚴令 Taiwan sheng jieyan ling, 1949–1987);⁷ that work cemented her reputation as enfant terrible, and death threats ensued. A cosmopolitan herself, Lung Ying-tai has invariably engaged with the respective intellectual and cultural communities. During her 12-year stay in Germany she published in major German language newspapers and was frequently approached for interviews, panel discussions, and lectures on political and cultural issues regarding cross-Strait relations, Taiwanese/Chinese identity issues, and so forth.⁸ Between her two stints as government official (Director of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taipei, 1999–2004; Cultural Minister of Taiwan ROC, 2012–2014) she joined as a visiting scholar City University of Hong Kong and University of Hong Kong, where she notoriously shaped and stirred up Chinese political and cultural discourse, fiercely criticizing the governments of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and the PRC, most famously her "Open Letter to Hu Jintao" (請用文明來說服我—給胡錦濤先生的公開信 Qing yong wenming lai shuofu wo—gei Hu Jintao xiansheng de gongkaixin).⁹ Her declared mission to contribute to reconciliation within the Chinese-speaking world and to foster mutual understanding on a global scale is best reflected in her Lung Ying-tai Cultural Foundation 龍應台文化基金會(Lung Ying-tai wenhua jijinhui), a nonprofit organization established in 2005, aiming at "cultivating a civil society … developing partnerships among Chinese-speaking communities" and "fostering intellectual dialogues in a global context."¹⁰ Well established within international academic and political networks, Lung Ying-tai has been touring Europe, the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan to present her book and discuss its agenda. Big River, Big Sea can be said to merge her political, intellectual, and personal pursuits into...