Chapter 2. Literature Review
2.2 Cultural Diplomacy and Case Studies
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promotional objective directly.” (Pigman, p. 124) New processes include websites, social networks and multiplayer online games, which allow for communication to occur across geographical boundaries. Technology has become more varied but representation and communication continues in this “burgeoning field of digital diplomacy.” (Ang, 379)
Public diplomacy facilitates relationships between nations, regions and “evolving transnational relationships.” (Lee, p. 252) Building and maintaining such relationships are vital to modern statecraft. Such relations build “mutual respect, deference, and understanding between states.”
(Freeman, p. 135) Maintaining these relations can create positive long-term relationships
between countries. Such committed relationships helps “win recognition” of a country’s “values and assets.” (Leonard, p. 11) Smaller countries with underdeveloped hard power can develop public diplomacy to improve their global reputation and to assist in communication with other states. For East Asia, public diplomacy is a valuable resource. Countries such as Indonesia, China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan have embraced public diplomacy in the form of “society-to-society relationships” which in turn help strengthen each countries’ soft power. (Lee, p. 261) Public diplomacy led by private actors is “particularly critical” where governments struggle with legitimacy issues. (Lee, p. 261) In the case of Taiwan, who lacks widespread official diplomatic recognition, public diplomacy has provided a means for the country to remain a valuable player in international relations. Taiwan has seen successful efforts with its “international public relations” and lobbying efforts, resulting in an “imaginative approach” in advancing its soft power. (Lee, p. 255)
2.2 Cultural Diplomacy and Case Studies
Culture is an important resource of power and cultural diplomacy is a “key component of the contemporary cultural policy landscape.” (Ang, 365) By utilizing cultural diplomacy, countries use their culture as a tool of soft power to communicate, educate and create new allies. As a subset of public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy employs representation and communication in cultural exchanges that can further a country’s attractiveness and legitimacy. Culture is one of the prime differences between “peoples, governments, firms and other organizations” and it is the aim of cultural diplomacy to bridge these differences. (Pigman, p. 180) By sharing one’s culture with other states, a country can diffuse negative stereotypes and create positive
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associations. For a cultural diplomatic tool to be effective it must “have a sophisticated grounding in the history and culture” of the country. (Freeman, p. 112) A nation’s culture can increase its soft power.
“In some contexts, culture can be an important power resource. Culture is the pattern of social behaviors by which groups transmit knowledge and values, and it exists at multiple levels. Some aspects of human culture are universal, some are national, and others are particular to social classes or small groups. Culture is never static, and different cultures interact in different ways.” (Nye, p. 84)
A state’s cultural attractiveness can be used by governmental agencies and private actors to
“achieve strategic imperatives” in international relations. (Lee, p.11) Private actors act as third parties that can perform representative and communicative acts outside government bounds.
Sharing these aspects of attractiveness builds familiarity between disparate states and creates a level of comfort between them. Affinities of values or interests between nations can create a compatibility as “important as the exercise of hard power to achieve a nation’s desired
objectives.” (Lee, p.11) Cultural exchanges may advance a state’s power but they also go “far beyond narrow national interest” by creating a trust foundation between peoples than transcends borders. (Ang, p. 368) If maintained, these new beliefs and levels of trust then become embedded into a country’s society.
Cultural exchanges serve different functions in diplomatic relationships. When countries have had strained or even absent relations, cultural diplomacy acts as a “universally acceptable vehicle for rapprochement.” (Ang, p. 368) By establishing an atmosphere of cooperation, cultural
exchanges establish a platform for communication. When relations are initially being established, or if two states are entering a thaw period after an “extended period of tension or alienation,”
cultural diplomacy represents an “essential precursor to communication and negotiation,”
especially when contention exists over complicated issues. (Pigman, p. 185) Once relationships are established, the role of cultural exchanges changes as they become a means of “sustaining mutual understanding between two peoples and governments.” (Pigman, p. 185) The resulting increased familiarity between cultures, peoples and governments contributes to present and
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future relations. Established relations still benefit from cultural diplomacy. Cultural exchanges maintain and sustain established mutual understandings.
One manifestation for bringing cultural diplomacy to a wider audience is the exchanges that involve artistic and creative productions. Art represents culture and could be considered the
“greatest single source of the impressions that people abroad form of a nation-state.” (Pigman, p.
185) It is one of the earliest indicators of difference that children learn in school and carries an association of authenticity. Cultural features including “music, paintings, national costume or dress” are compared and contrasted with those of one’s own country. Information dissemination through educational programs, media and modern entertainment influence belief “through the potency of iteration.” (Russell, p. 113) Artistic works and performances communicate
authenticity and information. Successive generations learn about other countries through socialization. Cultural diplomacy establishes these learning opportunities to create “familiarity between peoples and cultures.” (Pigman, p. 185)
Individual states using cultural diplomacy are one strand in a larger web of “ intersecting cultural relations.” (Ang, p. 372) Small and larger players, both governmental and private actors, make up this larger global web. Within the web, nations collaborate with each other to promote regional cultural diplomacy. A country can move outside solely promoting its own national interest by joining efforts with other countries who have similar interests and goals. When several states collaborate by “strategically investing in popular culture” they can target other nations and regions as a unified region. This can help raise opinions about individual states but also regional areas by generating “new intercultural understandings.” (Ang, p. 379) Cooperation of this nature can benefit smaller nations or those with diminished power. Regional cooperation can improve the “targeting, timing, and substance” of an individual state’s advocacy. (Freeman, p. 120) Multiple sources can potentially project a smaller state’s culture, enhancing both
individual and regional soft power.
With Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation, it is necessary for the country to create new connections to the global community. By telling its own story on its own terms, Taiwan has the potential to shape current and future generations’ beliefs about the island. Combining cultural art with online
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networks broadcasts Taiwan to a wider audience, potentially creating a larger community that is emotionally invested in its future. Communicating the plight of Taiwan to a larger global
audience can increase the number of people invested in Taiwan’s political struggles and goals.
Maximizing its soft power is a valuable strategy to advance and protect Taiwan’s long-term interests and goals, both as a nation and as a member of the international community. The
combination of a unique history with both traditional and modern societal factors enables Taiwan to sustain a dynamic and vibrant culture. Taiwan is a “significant, responsible, and constructive player in East Asia and the world at large” and its rich culture can help increase its importance to not only the East Asian region but to the international community. (Lee, p. 135)
The ideas of soft power may have initially been formed by Western scholars but it “fits East Asia like a glove.” (Lee, p. 249) Specifically, Taiwanese glove puppetry can be utilized as an effective form of cultural diplomacy because not only has puppetry had a long history in Asia, it is deeply part of Taiwanese culture. From Asian puppeteers using their craft to satirize local officials and criticize taxation policies to troupes in Taiwan performing clandestine puppet shows despite Japanese colonialist bans, puppetry has long been a means to express political opinion and to explore cultural identity. As a form of cultural diplomacy, Budaixi represents an inherent connection to Taiwan’s historical cultural heritage but also to its present multiethnic culture.
Using an art form that is so bound to identity as a form of cultural diplomacy assists Taiwan in projecting not only its history and culture to the world but also its very identity. As a sense of Taiwan identity grows, puppet theater is increasingly seen as an “expression of Taiwanese grassroots culture.” (Fushiki and Ruizendaal, p. 13) Through its intrinsic ability to entertain and forge connections, puppetry is a useful tool that can effectively promote Taiwan and its interests.
Three case studies were examined to see how aspects of Taiwanese culture has been used as cultural diplomacy. The cultural arts have expressed political movements, sentiments and tensions throughout history, reflecting the zeitgeist of their times. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is associated with the art of theater and dance. Both Peking and Taiwanese Opera represent the genres of theater and singing. The third case study focuses on a deity and analyzes his journey from traditional Chinese roots to his current status as part of Taiwan’s popular culture. The Chinese god Nezha has been transformed into a Taiwanese pop cultural icon who travels the
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world encouraging others to join him in dance and is an example of religious art and dancing genres. These art forms are examples of Taiwan’s multifaceted culture. They have acted as symbols and as ambassadors of Taiwan.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is considered the first professional contemporary dance company in Taiwan. Established in 1973, Lin Hwai-min made a name for the company by developing a unique dance style that fuses elements of multiple cultures including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Western cultures. Cloud Gate refers to a ritual performed for the Yellow Emperor in ancient China. The fusion of dance styles reflects the hybrid nature of Taiwanese culture, making it an apt symbol to promote Taiwan abroad. With its integration of diverse elements, including traditional and modern dance styles, Cloud Gates has created a “unique dance style that is significant in the Chinese diasporic society.” (Chao, p. 9) In addition to domestic success, Cloud Gate has toured internationally to countries such as the United States, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Russia and China. Its overseas tours have brought awards and acclaim with some regarding Cloud Gate as the “most important cultural export the Republic of China has made in the past twenty years.” (Chao, p. 10) By taking Cloud Gate on tour abroad, Lin acts as a private actor bringing Taiwanese identity and culture to a larger international audience.
The evolution of Cloud Gate reflects Taiwanese society’s own cultural and political
transformations. The integration of Eastern and Western cultural aspects laid a foundation of cultural characteristics that later saw the “emergence of Taiwanese identity and nationalism.”
(Chao, p. 11) Both themes of culture and identity are regularly explored in Cloud Gate
productions. By synthesizing multiple cultures present in Taiwan, Cloud Gate creates a “complex picture of a diasporic culture” through its dance performances. (Chao, p. 60) This complex picture is an integration of multiple cultures that represents Taiwan’s multiethnic population.
Premiering in 1978, Cloud Gate’s Legacy production told the story of Chinese immigrants arriving in Taiwan. The socio-cultural significance of the dance performance was highlighted in its features of lineage succession, the Taiwanese characteristics incorporated into the dance, and the “spirit of struggle and the community of solidarity embedded” throughout the performance.
(Chao, p. 82) Though Legacy initially focused on Chinese nationalism, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s focus has evolved into one of Taiwanese nationalism. This shift in tone affects how
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successive dance performances have been interpreted. Earlier productions of Legacy used the ROC national flag and sang the national anthem to indicate Mainland China was the homeland.
Later productions featured ancient maps of Taiwan and headings of “Taiwan, Our Native Land”
to indicate that the idea of homeland had shifted to the island state. (Chao, p. 101)
Cloud Gate also has participated in academic events to further cross-collaboration within the dance world. New Trends in Dance was an international conference held in Taiwan in 1992 and was co-hosted by Cloud Gates’ Dance Foundation and sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Council for Cultural Planning and Development of Taiwan. Nine countries participated in the event which included dance performances, lectures, presentations and academic papers.
Themes covered included methods for the “preservation and transformation of traditional dance forms as well as the development of new, cross-cultural forms within a global context.” (Wang, p.
54) At the conference Francis Tao, Dimensions Dance Theatre’s founder, credited Cloud Gate as the “first turning point for dance in Taiwan.” (Wang, p. 54) Cloud Gate both promotes diversity and reflects contemporary trends. Lin’s original piece Cross the Black Water was discussed during a conference panel and was praised for its “cross-cultural performance.” (Wang, p. 56) International dance conferences hosted in Taiwan have led to greater dance scholarship. In 1998 the International Dance Theory and Technique Workshop was held in Taiwan and sponsored by the Bureau of Cultural Development and Planning and was considered a “promising
development” in the world of dance scholarship. (Wu, W., p. 135) Workshops were instructed by Western and Taiwanese dance scholars, reflecting the cross-cultural nature of the event.
Theater has expressed political movements, sentiments and tensions throughout history,
reflecting the zeitgeist of their times. Two operatic forms in Taiwan reflect the island’s political transformation from colony to democracy and both have been used as forms of cultural
diplomacy. During the reign of the Nationalists, the Republic of China sponsored international tours of Peking Opera hoping to strengthen its sovereignty claims to the whole of China. Labeled a “national essence” that was believed to “embody the essence of the Chinese national spirit,”
Peking Opera illustrated that the ROC were the rightful guardians of traditional Chinese culture and helped to legitimize their regime. (Guy, p. 47) Peking Opera became a tool of international diplomacy for the ROC government and accompanying goodwill tours encapsulated the regime’s
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attempt to woo the international community. It was fitting that a cultural performance was used to make an argument for legitimacy since both the ROC and PRC “based at least part of their claims to legitimacy on cultural grounds.” (Guy, p. 54)
These international tours had the goal of “advancing people-to-people diplomacy and entertaining overseas Chinese.” (Guy, p. 55) Cultural diplomacy of this form increased in importance as the ROC began losing international allies. As official diplomatic channels diminished, less formal ties increased in value allowing Taiwan to avoid isolation by finding outlets in the global community where it could still participate. Taiwan Legislator Li Gongquan captured this sentiment when he remarked, “the international situation has made it very difficult for us to advance diplomatically.” (Guy, p. 59) Stressing that Peking Opera should be promoted abroad, Li surmised that, “all promotion of national opera will help enable it to share the
responsibility in the cultural exchange effort.” (Guy, p. 59) As Taiwan became more diplomatically isolated the importance of these tours to create cultural exchanges remained highly significant and overseas tours continued through the 1980s and 1990s.
As Taiwan became more liberalized and a “Taiwanese consciousness” began taking shape, the political climate shifted, resulting in the devaluation of cultural art forms derived from the Mainland. (Guy, p. 4) Taiwanese Opera, also known as Gezaixi, originally did not enjoy government support and, as Taiwan’s “only indigenous opera form”, it was suppressed by the Nationalist government. (Guy, p. 6) Though the Nationalists regarded Taiwanese Opera with suspicion, its popularity on the island steadily increased, eventually becoming the “most popular theater genre in Taiwan.” (Chang, p. 111) The KMT’s policies of suppressing Gezaixi as an outsider art helped create a sense of otherness and of a separate Taiwanese identity.
As Taiwanese identity and nationalism grows, Gezaixi has become an “identity symbol tightly bound to politics.” (Chang, p. 112) As Taiwanese identity matures, it is Gezaixi that steps into the symbolic spot once held by Peking Opera. President Lee Teng-hui helped legitimize Gezaixi by attending a Ming Hwa Yuan performance and afterwards declaring it was the “best that he had attended in 50 years.” (Chang, p. 125) The new political economy of Taiwan has taken emphasis away from Chinese culture and transferred attention to indigenous cultures and art
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forms. Much like the Nationalists financial support of Peking Opera troupes, the Democratic Progressive Party founded the first public Gezaixi troupe in 1992. With government support came funding that allowed troupes to organize existing scripts, interview aging Gezaixi performers and compose new Gezaixi plays based on Taiwanese history.
As Taiwan continues to refine its identity through cultural and political reforms, Gezaixi helps give legitimacy to the Taiwanese identity by presenting Taiwan’s unique history and cultural traditions to audiences both at home and abroad. Peking and Taiwanese Opera both survived Japanese colonization. Peking Opera thrived under KMT rule; Gezaixi endured in the shadows.
While Peking Opera has wilted under Taiwan’s democracy, Gezaixi has flowered. “Governments have long used and promoted music and other performing arts to advance political and social agendas, which shows the real-world belief in the power of cultural forms to shape their environments.” (Guy, p. 7) The politics and ideologies that have shaped Taiwan since World War II is reflected in both art forms and both have been used as cultural diplomacy.
The god Nezha has transformed from a traditional Chinese deity into a Taiwanese pop culture phenomenon who has spread far beyond Taiwan’s borders. Although still considered “one of the most important gods in Taiwanese folklore,” Nezha’s societal role has transitioned from more traditional religious duties at temples to performing at secular celebrations and promotional events in Taiwan and abroad. (Yuan, p. 28) Oversized Nezha costumes are worn around the world as performers are project this god as a symbol of Taiwanese culture. This form of cultural diplomacy is helping to raise awareness of Taiwan’s history and political plight while making valuable cross-cultural connections. Originally, the god featured prominently in annual Welcoming God festivals; positioned at the front of the parade, a performer wearing a Nezha costume led revelers along a route, visiting temples and religious shrines along the way. As technology evolved, neon lights were incorporated into the costume and techno music accompanied his dance routines. These technological upgrades led to him being renamed the Electric Techno Neon God. The hybridism of techno music and dance steps created an
“innovative cultural product that is favoured by modern audiences.” (Yuan, p.31) Nezha has transformed into a pop culture symbol so popular with the younger generation that they “even regard Nezha as a national icon.” (Sheng, p. 391)
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Nezha was broadcast to a wider audience at the 2009 World Games held in Kaohsiung when forty Nezha dancers performed during the opening ceremony. In addition to dancing, the gods also rode motorcycles, reflecting the connection between Nezha, his magical ring and the
motorcycle riders who pray to him for protection. By participating in events abroad, the Dancing Nezha has become a positive symbol that promotes Taiwan. The Nezha dance movements were a
“new kind of performance” that quickly became popular in Taiwan; this popularity gradually spread to the international level. (Sheng, p. 405) One notable performance was a Techno Nezha
“new kind of performance” that quickly became popular in Taiwan; this popularity gradually spread to the international level. (Sheng, p. 405) One notable performance was a Techno Nezha