4.3 Comparison
4.3.1 Nationalism
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The Threshold
Guardians The warlords The British Generals
This section compares the implicit values of the narratives from the two textbooks through the monomyth framework in two parts. The first compares the major themes implicit in the two narratives when analyzed through the monomyth. The second part compares the virtues and vices presented in them which effectively prescribe a moral framework for the citizens of the two nations.
4.3.1 Nationalism
The structure of the two narratives hold a wealth of insight into the type of nationalism they promote. Nations, according to Anderson (1991), are created by human imagination through a sense of shared culture, language, and history. This study provides evidence that the shared history upon which those nations are founded are also constructed through an imaginative process. The heroic cycle of each nations’ origin is a narrative that is recreated in classrooms across both countries examined in this study, and those stories are instrumental in the synergetic cycle that defines the character of both countries’ particular sense of nationalism. The core conflict in the narrative is one thing which is central to both nations. Another relates to the question: who is considered the two nations’ peoples? This is specified to some degree, but both narratives leave the answer to this question dangerously incomplete. Finally, both narratives hint at key anxieties that affect their societies. Each of these three issues will be addressed in the sections below.
National Conflict
Although the two narratives both depict a struggle for democratic rule and a more egalitarian nation, the conflicts are different in important ways. The main conflict in the
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ROC’s narrative comes after the overthrow of the ancient regime, whereas the USA’s main conflict is to break away from it. The ancient regime (The imperial dynastic system for the ROC, and the British monarchy for the USA) represents a parental figure in both stories.
The ROC is born through the death of its father, the ancient dynastic system of China, and the main conflict is over its inheritance; it is a civil war. The USA’s narrative, on the other hand, is that of a child coming of age, and casting off the yoke of an overbearing father.
Invoked in the classroom, these conflicts color the national identities presented to students. In this way, the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) is presented as the wrong-headed brother who stole the birthright of the ROC, and who may indeed be forced to return it someday since the conflict was ultimately never resolved. This birthright, however, is faded and obscure. The text does not even dwell on Sun’s vision long enough to explain what his three principles are. The obscurity of the boon reflects the status of Sun’s vision in contemporary society in the ROC. Claiming the birthright inherited by Chang Kai-shek and the KMT is no longer considered a realistic national goal, a fact that accounts for the decline of this national origin narrative in the most recent textbooks. Remembering history this way has implications reflected in the ROC’s present geopolitical reality, as well. How does the ROC move forward when it is bound by this memory?
The USA’s conflict, however, was resolved at the end of the war. The father, having lost the struggle, was forced to formally recognize the now mature child’s independence, and the two became capable of addressing each other as equals on the global stage. The success portrayed in the USA’s narrative reflects an immense sense of national self-confidence, perhaps even self-righteousness, and a perceived freedom to chart a destiny for itself and re-write the rules of national and international conduct. This reflects the widely
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studied phenomenon of American exceptionalism, a term originally coined by French writer, Alexis de Tocqueville, which has come to assert that the USA has a special and significant destiny among the nations of the world, (Onuf, 2012). This value is perpetuated by the narrative in this textbook.
National Community
The basis for membership of the two national communities is addressed to some degree in the ultimate boon in both narratives. Sun’s vision of a republican China is made only vaguely explicit in the ROC textbook through the slogan of his revolutionary organization,
“Expel the [barbarians; cockroaches; vermin], revive china, and establish a [government;
republic],” (Lín, 2007), and through the mention of his three principles. The most revealing of these clues into who the people of the nation are is the phrase, “expel the [barbarians;
cockroaches; vermin],” (Lín, 2007). The phrase is not sufficiently discussed in the text, thus leaving the specific identification of the barbarians open to interpretation. This would be problematic for any nation, and it is no different for the ROC, which contains legal citizens with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. The native peoples of Taiwan, for instance, are neither ethnically nor culturally Chinese, and have, in fact, been considered barbarians by the various settlers of the island for centuries. The issues of identity and otherness continue to be a controversial issue in ROC society and politics to this day, a reality which is reflected in the text’s failure to discuss this divisive but central component of Sun’s vision.
The USA’s people are also poorly defined, as the ideals of the Declaration of Independence presumes to apply to “all men,” (Holt, 2012). At first glance, the document seems to claim its universal relevance, but “all men,” immediately excludes the female half
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of the population. This problem in the declaration, however, is addressed in the text. In a section of text analyzing the declaration. It addresses this controversy, saying that at the time it was written, “It was not meant to embrace women, Native Americans, and African-American slaves—a large number of African-Americans,” (Holt, 2012). The text explains, however, that, “Jefferson’s words presented ideals that would later help these groups challenge traditional attitudes,” (Holt, 2012) – a bold understatement, considering that it would eventually lead to, among other things, a bloody civil war.
National Anxieties
The different ways in which the two narratives portray the corrupt use of power hint at key anxieties of the time in which the narratives were written. Whether it be an awareness of the growing wealth disparity or palpable anxiety about political corruption, the heroes, villains, and plot points in the two narratives provide a reflective insight into prevalent fears that plague their national communities.
There is an ever-present anxiety in the ROC regarding the PRC’s very public assertion that the ROC is not an independent nation, but a renegade province. Many citizens of the ROC, especially those who identify with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), regard politicians who favor closer ties with the PRC with suspicion, as was evident in the sunflower protests only a few years ago, (Rowan, 2015). On the other side of this debate, many citizens of the ROC, see the DPP’s efforts to distance the nation’s destiny from the PRC to be impractical or even a betrayal of the ROC’s heritage. This general distrust of politicians may be reflected in the narrative through the characterization of Sun’s betrayers.
When trusted with power, Yuan and Duan abused it, turning on Sun and the people of China. Yuan is also represented as a shrewd and experienced politician, especially at the
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beginning of his administration as president. He is, in fact, the only character in the narrative to be described this way. This hints at an acute distrust for politicians presented in the narrative. Although his skills as a politician are not directly condemned, the fact that he is the only character to whom this skill is attributed associates them with him, the primary antagonist of the narrative.
In the USA, on the other hand, there has been a rapid, well-documented increase in wealth disparity since the 1970s, (Stone, Trisi, Sherman, & Taylor, 2018). Anxieties regarding this trend may have an influence on the USA’s national origin narrative and the values held within it. All of the antagonists of the USA’s narrative are wealthy, privileged members of the British aristocracy except Arnold, who misuses American government resources to support an aristocratic lifestyle. This villainization of blatant corruption and entitlement is also hinted at when the text addresses the Declaration of Independence, saying that although it claimed all men were created equal, “It did not claim that all people had the same abilities or ought to have equal wealth,” (Holt, 2012). In this way, the text clarifies this specific value, implying that people ought to have equal opportunity to earn wealth, but that wealth should not be villainized. The way the narrative deals with wealth reflects the difficulty the USA has had in addressing its growing wealth disparity over the last half-century.