Multicultural Spectacle And Ethnic Relationship In Arts Festivals

Multicultural Spectacle and Ethnic Relationship in Arts Festivals: The Cases Studies of the Hakkas in Taiwan Li-jung Wang, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan Abstract: Festivals such as the Edinburgh Arts Festival in Scotland, the Nottinghill Carnival in London or the Music Festival in Salzburg are viewed as important sources of urban development, tourism and local cultural economies. In addition, festivals enrich cultures through the establishment of cultural identity, the production and consumption of cultural activities, the promotion of cultural capital, the representation of symbol and discourse, and the maintenance of cultural diversity. Therefore, there is a growing interest in researching festivals and their impact. In Taiwan, the government has established various councils to support ethnic cultural development through ethnic festivals called “Multicultural Taiwan.” Many ethnic arts festivals, such the Tung Blossom of the Hakka Festival, ‘A-ha’, and the Festival of Austronesian Cultures, are becoming the main cultural and arts activities in Taiwan. This paper focuses on the relationship between festivals and ethnic development, considering various perspectives. From the view of policy, this paper analyzes how the national Hakka policy has influenced the development of festivals. From the view of cultural production, this paper discusses how the festivals represent the identity and the self- concept of the Hakkas, and how the festivals combine the Hakka’s experience. With respect to audience, this paper explores how the festivals influence the participants’ identity, and how a cultural legacy is formed by the festivals. Finally, this paper intends to consider the general meaning and functions of ethnic arts festivals in contemporary Taiwan, and argues that the Hakka culture is moving toward the concept of cultural diversity. Keywords: Ethnic Spectacle, Identity, Festival, Cultural Policy, Cultural Diversity

Introduction N 2002, MORE than ten Hakka festivals were held in Taiwan; all were subsidized by the government. The promotion of Hakka festivals is viewed as an important cultural and ethnic policy with multiple purposes. First, the festivals represent a special ethnic culture, the Hakka culture, and support the development of a “multicultural Taiwan.”1 At the same time, the Hakka festivals provide opportunities to develop and perform Hakka arts, and to demonstrate Hakka culture for both the Hakkas and non-Hakkas. In addition, the Hakka festivals support local tourism and industries. Many Hakka villages use the festivals to attract tourists and sell commodities, such as Hakka tea, cakes, traditional woodcarvings, or foods. In this way, the Hakka festivals play an important role in the (re)construction of contemporary Hakka culture. This paper will examine the relationship between the Hakka festivals and official cultural policy, explore how the Hakka culture and arts are represented

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in festivals, discuss how the festivals affect the reconstruction of cultural identity for the Hakkas, and analyze the influences of Hakka festivals on the development of contemporary Hakka culture.

Festivals, Identity and Ethnicity Festivals have had various meanings and purposes over time. Malcolm Gillies points out that a festival “will say something about a special purpose series of events designed for some kind of celebration, spectacle or ritual” in earlier stage (Gillies, 2004:5). Currently, festivals seem to concentrate particularly on celebrating the performing arts, ideas, literature, nature and food (Ibid:5).In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Sadie points out: An generic term, derived from the Latin Festivitas, for a social gathering convened for the purpose of celebration or thanksgiving. Such occasions were originally part of a ritual nature

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Taiwanese society today is struggling with two problems that have deep historical roots. The first is a persevering lack of a common national identity, resulting in clashes between conflicting Chinese and Taiwanese identities and leads to broader social conflicts. The second relates to inequalities among Taiwan’s various cultural communities. Such inequalities have created crises in political legitimacy and social justice. In response to these challenges, multiculturalism has taken an increasingly important role in Taiwanese cultural policy, with a new national identity being constructed around the concept of a “multicultural Taiwan.” In 1997, the Tenth Article of the Constitution of the Republic of China (ROC, the state that currently governs in Taiwan) was amended to state that the government recognizes and supports multiculturalism. Moreover, in 2001, President Chen Shuibian publicly stated that, “the ROC is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. Multiculturalism is a basic national policy” (the Presidential Palace, 11 Nov., 2001). These and other actions by senior Taiwanese officials demonstrate that multiculturalism has emerged as a new force in Taiwan’s search for a common national identity. THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF DIVERSITY IN ORGANISATIONS, COMMUNITIES AND NATIONS, VOLUME 7, NUMBER 5, 2007 http://www.Diversity-Journal.com, ISSN 1447-9532 © Common Ground, Li-jung Wang, All Rights Reserved, Permissions: [email protected]

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and were associated with mythological, religious and ethnic traditions. From the earliest times festivals have been distinguished by their use of music, often in association with some kind of drama. In modern times the music festivals frequently embracing other kinds of art, has flourished as an independent cultural enterprise, but it is still often possible to discover some vestige of ancient ritual in its celebrationof town or nation, political or religious philosophy, living or historical person (Sadie, 1980:505). Falassi offers a further definition of festival as “a periodically recurrent, social occasion in which, through a multiplicity of forms and a series of coordinated events, participate directly or indirectly and to various degrees, all members of a whole community, united by ethnic, linguistic, religious, historical bounds, and sharing a world view.” Therefore, the meaning of festivals is “related to overt values recognized by the community as essential to its ideology and world view, to its social identity, its historical continuity and to its physical survival which is ultimately what festival celebrates” (Falassi, 1987:1-2). Many researchers focus on the relationship between festivals and the construction of ethnic identity. Paul A. Bramadat used Canada as an example, pointing out that a festival is viewed as an “ethnic cultural spectacle” and may be defined as an organized event in which a group represents itself both to its own members and to non-members. “Ethnic spectacles” may facilitate the presentation of dramatic performances of identity directed not only by, but also at a particular ethnic group, in order to tell a certain kind of story about what it might mean for individuals and groups to combine various identities within themselves. Accordingly, festivals are viewed as sites of “dialogical self-definition,” by which individuals and groups may define or redefine their identities (Bramadat, 2001). Sandhya Shukla analyzes the “Cultural Festival of India” celebrated by Indian diasporas in the USA. Shukla’s paper explains/demonstrates that the “Cultural Festival of India” can been seen as an occasion for a new type of “imagined community,” or as an instance of diasporic nationalism; that is, it is produced by immigrant Indians intent on projecting a positive image of themselves and is steeped in romantic notions of the home country (Shukla,1997:296). The text of the “Cultural Festival of India” provides the concretization of “Indian-ness” and becomes a fashionable multicultural gesture. It also promotes peaceful ethnic relations (Ibid:300). From the view of globalization, Shukla also believes that “diasporic nationalism” produces an abiding sense of identity through the concretization and es-

sentialization of culture. The identity produced is national and transnational at the same time, with both the interests and more global referents (Ibid:309). Considering overseas Caribbean festivals, Keith Nurse points out that festivals are products of and responses to the processes of globalization as well as transcultural and transnational formations; and therefore, they are theoretically sites for the ritual negotiation of cultural identity and practice (Nurse, 1999:661). These festivals or carnivals are the outcomes of the hybridization of multiple ethnicities and cultures brought together under the rubric of colonial and capitalist expansion. New identities are forged and negotiated in the process. The overseas festivals have become a basis for “an-Caribbean identity, a mechanism for social integration into metropolitan society and a ritual act of transnational, transcultural, transgressive politics” (Ibid: 683). In addition, festivals play an important role in public representation to non-members, that is, public education. Members of ethnic minorities can determine how their ethnicity is portrayed. Some people think that the ethnic characters in festivals are likely to be fictitious; however, these characters are an expression of how the minority wishes to be recognized (Bramadat, 2001). In many festivals, members of ethnic memories desire to contradict the stereotypes placed on them by dominant groups establish a new image from themselves. Therefore, festivals can be seen as a specific form of cultural resistance. For example, Homi Bhabha believes that a festival is a site for the ritual negotiation of cultural identity and practice between and among various social groups (Bhabha, 1994). Mikhail Bakhtin shows “that festival employs an ‘esthetic of resistance’ and thus acts as a counter hegemonic tradition for the contestations and conflicts embodied in construction of class, nation, race, gender, sexuality and ethnicity” (Bakhtin, 1984). Similarly, Nurse argues that the arts and rituals of festivals “have operated as mechanisms for inverting, subverting and deconstructing the moral and philosophical bases of societal strictures, conventions and power relations for the depressed” (Nurse, 1999:665). Self-definition by the members of ethnic minorities is not long-lasting. Carl L. Bankston and Jacques Henry discuss the Cajun Festival in the USA (Louisiana), and point out that “ethnicity is a matter of interpreting and reinterpreting a putatively primordial collective past, the nature of ethnicity changes and specific ethnicities change in character as the social influences on interpretations change” (Bankston & Henry, 2000:378) Therefore, ethnic groups and ethnic boundaries constantly undergo redefinition and transformation as a consequence of “ the interplay between ethnic group actions and the larger social structures with which they interact” (Ibid:

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2000:381). Both the groups themselves and their cultural associations shift as members negotiate with the society sounding them. Although ethnic festivals in Taiwan are intended to promote a new ethnicity for the Hakkas, we can also see the various tensions inherent in their development. The following section discusses the experience of the Hakka festivals? and considers the problems involved.

Hakka Festivals in Cultural Policy Hakka policy is a recent development. Prior to the 1988 “Return My Mother Language to Me” movement, the Hakkas, similar to the other “invisible” minorities in Taiwan, received little government recognition or support. However, with rising Hakka consciousness, a strengthening Hakka movement, and the development of Hakkaology, Hakka issues have gained widespread public attention. Under the rubric of “Multicultural Taiwan,” the Hakka people today receive significant support from the government, as political parties are forced to adopt “Hakka policies” in order to win Hakka votes during elections. Since 1995, the Hakka Cultural Festival has been held annually in Taipei. Festival sponsorship has become a key element in forming Hakka policy, and today many other cities and counties hold Hakka cultural festivals of their own. These festivals have several functions. For example, the Hakka Cultural Festival combines Hakka traditions with contemporary lifestyles?, thus helping to add new cultural elements to traditional Hakka culture. At the same time, people can learn about traditional Hakka culture through modern cultural activities (Dai Biaochu, 1998:161-2). In addition, for the generations of Hakkas who were born and raised in Taipei, the Hakka Cultural Festival helps them better understand “what it means to be Hakka” (source: Lin Xiaofang, 2001, interview). Aside from the Hakka festivals, the Council on Hakka Affairs (CHA, the main official institution dealing with Hakka issues at the central government level, established in 2000) outlined policies aimed at improving cultural participation. In their “Six Year Plan to Promote Hakka Culture” (2002a) the Council on Hakka Affairs included such measures as helping to set up Hakka cultural workshops and artist villages; establishing Hakka cultural centres to help the local governments and communities promote Hakka culture; and rejuvenating Hakka cultural life through Hakka cultural activity promotion, documenting Hakka traditional life, and reintroducing aspects of Hakka traditional culture (CHA, 2002a:6-12). Cultural festivals are viewed as important ways to promote Hakka culture. CHA pointed out:

The ‘invisibility’ of the Hakkas is one reason they are marginalized. The Hakka culture is already minimal in Taiwan; gradually, either it will be forgotten, or it will be seen as ‘alien.’ Therefore, the renaissance of the Hakka culture depends on whether the whole society can construct a friendly environment in which to present the Hakka culture. At the same time, the Hakka people should be aware of the threat to their culture, and begin to save it by ways of Hakka cultural movements (Ibid: 6). As described above, cultural festivals influence participants in many ways. For the Hakkas, cultural festivals will be the stage to communicate, transfer and construct the Hakka culture and identity. For the non-Hakkas, they will exhibit the special Hakka culture and increase understanding of the Hakkas. Many Hakka cultural festivals have been created and developed since the establishment of CHA. Over ten different festivals are held in one year by both central and local governments. One of them, the Tung Blossom of Hakka Festival, has become the fourth most popular festival in Taiwan after only three years. With the promotion of Hakka festivals, the Hakka culture is seen openly by Taiwan society, creating a new field for the reconstruction of Hakka culture. To sum up, the purposes of the Hakka festivals are asfollows: First, they provide an “ethnic spectacle,” exhibiting various forms of culture based on Hakka experiences and traditions. Second, they create a new space in which to develop the Hakka culture and arts, which were previously ignored and limited by the government. Third, they supply opportunities for the Hakkas to access and participate in their own culture, in order to understand the Hakka culture and keep it alive. Fourth, they enrich/popularize the Hakka identity through cultural activities and arts, which will enable the new generation to experience the Hakka culture more deeply. Ethnic Spectacle and the Hakka Festivals The Hakka festivals present a view of the reconstruction of Hakka culture and define the “Hakka experience” as follows: The experience of emigrating from China to Taiwan: many artistic works and performances describe the experiences of the ancestral Hakka people emigrating from mainland China to Taiwan. For example, the dance of “Seeing the Hakkas: from Headwater,” expresses how the

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ancestors left their hometowns, faced difficulty and danger on the seas, and settled in Taiwan. The creators of the dance intend to provide a historical perspective of the Hakka people in Taiwan. Those in power always control the writing of history. The writing of Taiwanese history was dominated by the Hokkiens2 in the earlier stages and by the mainlanders after 1949. For example, the two main books on Taiwanese history, Taiwan 's General History by Lian, Heng, and Four Hundred Years of Taiwanese History by Shi, Ming, are written by Hokkien writers. Thus, the Hakkas are described as “others” and as an “accessory” of the dominant groups during periods of ethnic conflict between the Hakkas and the Hokkiens3. These views have led to a stigma being attached to the Hakkas, and also to continuing misunderstandings between the Hokkiens and the Hakkas. Until the present time, most county histories, like those of Taoyuan/Hsinchu/Miaoli, where the Hakkas are in the majority, were written by Hokkiens. Recently, in response to this situation, Hakkas have sought to produce a new version of their history.4 Farming Experience is portrayed in various art forms, such as dance, theatre and music. These portrayals present the difficulties faced by the Hakkas in their early history in Taiwan, around two or three hundred years ago. Farming work displays the Hakka character: hard-working and frugal labourers. For example, Hakka dances display the farmers tilling land, herding cows, and weeding. Farming experience is seen as an important part in the Hakka experience; however, some people feel that it is a common historical experience for all ethnic groups (two or three hundred years ago). Thus, farming experience is not unique to the Hakkas. Stories of Hakka women are also presented in Hakka cultural activities. Compared with the women of other ethnic groups, the Hakka women make more

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contributions to family finances. Historically, most of them had to go out to work like men because the Hakka faced many difficulties earning money.One of their unique characteristics is that the Hakka women did not bind their feet like other women. Therefore, Hakka women were often described as having “big feet” (tianzu). One woman dancer uses “big feet” to explore the destiny of the Hakka women. She has said: “Big feet” are special gifts for the Hakka women. We know the Hakka women should do farm work or pick tea at any age. It is really hard for them; however, the Hakka women feel happy to contribute themselves to family. They are so thrifty and are striving for their children. I want to praise these mothers, grandmothers and all women in my dance (interview with Xu Mengyue, Hakka dancer, 2005). The experience of the Hakka women is not strange for the young generation. Most of the young Hakkas hear similar stories within their families. For example, one young Hakka girl has told us that her grandmother had childbirth when she was working on the farm. But she has no idea about her grandfather (interview with Hu Mingchun, Hakka undergraduate student, 22 years old, 2005). The experience of the Hakka women is seen as unique among the various ethnic groups in Taiwan. The Tung Bloom is also significant in the new construction of the Hakkas through festivals. The Tung bloom is a common tree in Taiwan. Most of the Hakkas are unaware of the link between the Tung bloom and the Hakkas. However, after the establishment of the Council on Hakka Affairs (CHA, 2001), the officers decided to use the Tung bloom as a symbol of the Hakka people. Linked the Hakkas and the Tung bloom in three ways: the Tung bloom is found around the hills, grows in poor soil, and has a white color; the Hakka people live in the hills, are poor, and are clean.

Before the 1990s, the main ethnic distinction in was between Benshengren (i.e., multigenerational ethnically Chinese residents of ) and Waishengren (i.e., mostly post-1945 Mainland emigrants to the island). The distinction was clearly printed on ROC ID cards in the “” field. For purposes of classification, Hakkas and Hokkiens were grouped together as Benshengren. The “Province of Origin” field was removed from ID cards in the early 1990s, after which a new distinction focusing on the “Four Ethnic Groups” came into widespread use under the name of “Multicultural Taiwan” “Four Ethnic Groups” refers to the four main ethnic groupings in Taiwan: Taiwanese of Malayo-Polynesian descent (a.k.a. Taiwanese aborigines, around 3% in the whole population), Hakkas (15%), Hokkiens (65%) and post-1945 Mainlanders (12%). Taiwanese aborigines were the first ethnic group to settle in and arrived long before the first ethnically Chinese settlers. They are Austronesian and are of Malayo-Polynesian descent. ’s aborigines belong to over eleven different tribal groups, each with its own distinct language, culture, social system, lifestyle and physical attributes. “Mainlanders” mainly includes those who arrived in with the Guomintang (KMT) government between 1945 and 1949, as well as their descendants. This group includes KMT party administrators, government officials, military men and their families, and refugees from the war that had engulfed much of the Chinese mainland. “Hokkien” represents the largest ethnic group in --over 65% of the total population. The main wave of Hokkien immigrants came to from province (along the southeastern coast of ) during the seventeenth century.

During the events of “Lin, Shuang, Wen” (1786) and “Zhu, Yu-gui” (1721), which were two serious ethnic conflicts between the Hokkiens and the Hakkas, the Hakkas were described as an “accessory” of the Ching Dynasty in oppressing the Hokkiens. 4 Interview with Xu, Zheng-Quang.

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To foster this symbolism, the CHA began to construct “Hakka Tung bloom culture,” featuring: The Tung bloom festival: This festival was established to offer sacrifices to the Tung bloom in April or May every year. Tung bloom foods: Tung bloom rice and cakes are sold at the festivals. Tung bloom music and dance: Hakka writers, dancers and musicians are invited to create works based on the Tung bloom. Tung bloom crafts: Crafts such as woodcarving and pottery are produced. Tung bloom trips: Tourists enjoy the sight of the Tung blooms and experience traditional Hakka lifestyle and industry. The Tung bloom culture of the Hakkas is seen clearly. This case represents the successful creation of new Hakka culture in Taiwan. The new social problems of the city are also explored in the Hakka arts and cultural forms. With the development of industrialization and urbanization, the Hakkas leave their hometowns to find jobs in big cities. They lose their traditional ethnic networking and values, and face many new difficulties in work and family life. In particular, popular Hakka music represents these challenges. For example, the song “Half Piece of Pork Chop” criticizes the loss of the traditional Hakka duty to one’s parents. “Job” describes the difficulty of getting a job in the city. The Hakkas hope to redefine themselves with these arts and cultural activities. Some people question whether the genuineness of the ethnic image being defined, such as the relationship between the Tung bloom and the Hakkas; however, this image does express how the Hakkas hope to be seen and understood. Although progress has been made through the festivals, the process of self-definition or self-interpretation for the Hakkas is complex and confusing. Ethnic character is constructed by a group’s actions and social structure; therefore, that character changes over time. Before, the Hakkas lived together and could share a definite “Hakka culture.” Today however, many of the Hakka people have moved to the cities and live intermingled with other ethnic groups, making it difficult to maintain their traditional culture. Reconstructing or redefining Hakka culture within the context of life in the city is a difficult undertaking. More and more of the Hakka people have lived their entire lives in the city and have little or no understanding of Hakka culture because they have not experience life in the village. 5

At the same time, the newly defined culture is not really accepted by all of the Hakkas, in particular the portrait of the Hakka women. Young Hakka girls reject the notion of “traditional Hakka women” who are always obedient to their husbands or families. Thus, there are many challenges to reconstructing a common view of the Hakka people.5 The imagination of the Hakka culture is complex. As Chen Ban said: Most of the artists and cultural organizations are trying to find out what the Hakka culture is. We have no clear idea. But we are free to think about it and try to create things that are Hakka. The Hakka culture now is diverse, of course, with some excellent aspects and some negative aspects. We need more time to develop contemporary Hakka culture and arts. (interview with Chen Ban, Hakka cultural worker, 2005).

Hakka Festivals and Identity As stated above, festivals are viewed as sites of “dialogical self-definition” where individuals and groups may define or redefine their identity, or theorized as sites for the ritual negotiation of cultural identity and practice. Furthermore, some overseas festivals have become a basis for pan-ethnic identity and a mechanism for social integration into metropolitan society (Nurse, 1999). The Council on Hakka Affairs believes that the importance of festivals is that they help people “understand what the Hakka culture is, improve the Hakkas’ cultural confidence, and never be shameful as a Hakka” (interview with Zhong Qingbo, the officer in CHA). The interviewees in this research study shared some ways that Hakka festivals influence cultural identity.

The Increase of Ethnic Confidence and Cultural Identity One Hakka interviewee said: The Hakka is an obedient ethnicity. When our government says that the Hakka culture is bad, and tries to limit the development of the Hakka culture, we will follow. When our government says that Hakka culture is good, and tries to improve the development of the Hakka culture, we feel confident from it. When our government oppresses the Hakka culture and language, many Hakka pretend that they can not under-

The reconstruction of the Hakka culture has been full of conflict. Another case is that whereas some of the older generation claim that Hakka tradition does not include dance, and that there is therefore no need to develop the Hakka dance, some of the young generation feel that they can use the Hakka experience to create their own Hakka dance.

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stand the Hakka language. But now, they like to show openly that they are Hakka. It means that the Hakkas have a stronger ethnic identity now (interview with Zeng Nianyou, Hakka cultural worker, 2005). The elder Hakka also feel that the Hakka identity is becoming stronger: We were an “invisible” ethnicity, and the “Hakka” image was smeared by the whole society. But now, the various Hakka festivals and cultural activities can help us to keep our dignity…..we like to recognize our ethnic status today. I also feel happy because our government provides these opportunities to develop Hakka culture. I like to participate in these festivals if I receive the relevant information (Interview with Chen Zhenghe, retired teacher, around 60 years old).

Festivals provide Content for Hakka Identity As the Council on Hakka Affairs points out, “the last generation of the Hakkas was not able to recognize their ethnic status because of political factors; however, the next generation will not know how to recognize their ethnic status because they do not speak the Hakka language and have no idea what the Hakka culture is” (CHA, 2003). Therefore, Hakka festivals try to provide the means to construct a Hakka identity. For example, one interviewee explains: I knew the mountain songs and Hakka theatre from my parents; however, I never saw it on my own in the past. However, I can really enjoy it from festivals. At that moment, I feel that, I am a real Hakka. I feel very close to some Hakka experiences in these activities. (Interview with Yeh Zuoling, engineer, 37 years old, 2005). In addition, for the young generation of Hakkas, who were born in Taipei, the Hakka Cultural Festival helps them to understand “what being Hakka means” (interview with Lin Xiaofang, Hakka photographer, 30 years old). The Hakka festival, while strengthening ethnic identity and cultural development, faces considerable challenges from the differences of generations. 6

Young Hakkas in their teens and twenties do not appreciate the Hakka festivals: I do not understand the Hakka language, and it is really tough for me to listen to Hakka music. It is easier for me to follow Hakka dance, but the stories expressed in the dances are still far from my life and experience (such as the poor Hakka women and working hard on farms). I grew up in a big city, and never learned about Hakka language and culture. My grandparents never speak Hakka language to me. Maybe they never tried to teach me what the Hakka culture is because I am a girl and not a boy (interview with Fan Yahan, undergraduate student, 22 years old, 2005). Whether or not the young Hakkas can understand the Hakka language is the most important factor in determining whether they enjoy Hakka cultural activities. Some of the young generation who can speak the Hakka language are quite interested in Hakka music and theatre. On the other hand, people who cannot understand the Hakka language feel isolated from these expressions of Hakka culture. Another problem is relative to urbanization, which has diminished many of the unique features of ethnic life. It is difficult for the Hakka performers to represent modern experience; therefore, they pay more attention to the earlier way of life for the Hakkas, such as farming and female labour. The gap between the Hakka cultural proponents and their young audience makes it difficult for the younger generation to enjoy and appreciate the Hakka festivals.

The Possibility of Multiple Identities Due to the prevalence of inter-ethnic marriages, some of the younger generation of Hakkas live outside the traditional Hakka regions and have either abandoned their ethnic affiliations or been assimilated into Hokkien culture. These are the “Hokkien-Hakkas”. In some cases, the reverse is true, with Hokkiens living in Hakka areas being assimilated into Hakka culture and becoming “Hakka-Hokkiens.” This new development demonstrates how Hakka experience blurs ethnic boundaries and challenges traditional views of ethnicity. The Hakka come close to matching current definitions of a postmodernist “hybrid” culture (Young, 1995).6 Hybridity works simultan-

“Hybridity” and “hybrid culture” have been discussed in cultural studies by numerous researchers. Homi K. Bhabha, the first to use the term “hybridity” in cultural studies, transformed the term from Bakhtin's “intentional hybrid” into an active movement? of challenge and resistance against a dominant cultural power. Bhabha translated this movement? into a “hybrid displacing space,” which develops through the interaction between indigenous and colonial cultures. He has since extended his notion of hybridity to include “forms of counter-authority.” E. Said and S. Hall also use this term. According to Said, “hybrid counter-energies” challenge the centred, dominant cultural norms with their unsettling perplexities generated out of their “disjunctive, liminal space.” Hall used the term to discuss black cultural politics and the diaspora experience of black Africans. See Robert J. C. Young, “Hybridity and Diaspora,” in Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and Race (London and New York: Routledge, 1995).

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eously in two ways: organically, by hegemonising and creating new spaces, structures and scenes; and intentionally, by diasporising and intervening as a form of subversion, translating and transforming. The Hakka experience involves both organic and intentional hybridisation, with the processes of merging and dialogisation of ethnic and cultural differences set critically against one another. They operate dialogically together, in a double-voiced, hybridised form of cultural politics. The existence today of hybrid groups such as the “Hokkien-Hakka”, “HakkaHokkien”, “Pingpu-Hakka”, “Hakka-Saisiyat” and “Mainlander-Hakka” reveals the “organic hybridity” of the Hakka today. The increasing hybridity of the Hakka has occurred both intentionally and naturally as Hakkas have integrated into hybrid Taiwanese culture. For example, many Hakka writers have written important works on Taiwanese history, culture, society and future. The Hakka writers employ their cultural background and consciousness as part of larger Taiwanese culture. Examining the culture of “Hokkien-Hakka” is a good way to understand the hybrid culture that bridges Hakka and Hokkien, a hybrid culture most visible in terms of religion, architecture and food. Beginning in 2002, the Council on Hakka Affairs began sponsoring the “Hokkien-Hakka” Cultural Festival. Activities included an academic conference on “Hokkien-Hakka” issues, visits to sites important to “Hokkien-Hakka” cultural heritage, and an exhibit of cultural and historical relics. In other words, the “Hokkien-Hakka” Cultural Festival offers a new perspective on Hakka identity: multiple identity. It also demonstrates multiple possibilities for ethnic and cultural identity. People can be Hakka and Hokkien at the same time. As Yang Cong-rong points out: The more stable the ethnic relationship is in a society, the more people will recognize that they share more than one culture. At the same time, the more people who share more cultures, the more harmonious the ethnic relationship will be. On the other hand, more tension among the various ethnic groups will lead to the reduction of people who can recognize more cultures. People are forced to choose “one side” as their identity. Therefore, multiple identities show tolerance for ethnic differences (Yang, 2004:31). To sum up, the various Hakka festivals influence ethnic identity in several ways, such as the increase of ethnic conferences and cultural identity, the provision of content for identity, and the development of multiple identities. The “Hokkien-Hakka” Cultural Festival is an interesting case, presenting the recon-

struction of Hakka identity and the possibility to define and redefine Hakka culture.

Hakka Experience in Cultural Policy: Towards Cultural Diversity? Modern Hakka festivals demonstrate the new trend in cultural policy toward cultural diversity, because of the hybrid culture and multiple identities of the Hakkas. Cultural diversity aims to rectify the problems of multiculturalism in cultural policy. As in the case of multiculturalism, it addresses two main problems. The first is to encourage the diversity of culture, living, imagination and creativity among individuals. For example, UNESCO’s statement on “Our Creative Diversity” stresses the crucial importance of cultural self-definition and the value given to the individual voice (The Arts Council of England, 1998:11). The second problem is concerned with the equal cultural opportunity of all people regardless of their social background (The Arts Council of England, 1997:19), as in the conception of multicultural citizenship. Cultural diversity has replaced multiculturalism and become a key concept in cultural policy because “it does not necessarily link culture to sexual origin, race or ethnicity, and thereby avoids the danger of ghettoisation lurking in some versions of multiculturalism and ethnic arts” (East Midlands Arts, 1996). According to this definition, the first point of difference between cultural diversity and multiculturalism is that cultural diversity refers to different forms of ethnically-based expression (The Arts Council of England, 1997: 33). Secondly, it rejects “ethnic arts” as a meaningless term that implies a form of homogeneity that has little bearing in reality. But the next problem for cultural diversity concerns the “diverse cultures” to which it refers. What exactly are the different connotations of culture in “cultural diversity” and “multiculturalism?” The official report of The Arts Council of England indicates several cultural classifications, such as disability culture, women's culture, youth culture, gay or lesbian culture, and hybrid culture. Hybrid culture is an important concept in cultural diversity because it highlights the direction of cultural development in a global age: culture is always formed by interaction across a boundary, not only a national boundary but also an ethnic or subcultural boundary. As Bennett shows, cultural diversity is desirable not only for its own sake but as a means of achieving social cohesion, and it is a necessary means of overcoming social exclusion (Bennett, 2000). Cultural diversity tends to emphasize the intersection and intermixing of, and crossovers between, different cultural perspectives and traditions that produce the social dynamics for forms of cultural

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diversity that constantly interpenetrate one another with new and unpredictable consequences.

Conclusion: The Hakka Festivals in Taiwan From the literature review and interviewee experiences with the Hakka festivals, we find that festivals are sites of self-definition, the construction of ethnic identity, cultural resistance, and ethnic spectacle. Accordingly, the purposes of the Hakka festivals are as follows: First, they provide an “ethnic spectacle” to exhibit the various cultural forms based on Hakka experiences and traditions. Second, they create a new space in which to develop Hakka culture and arts, which were previously ignored and limited by the government. Third, they offer opportunities for the Hakkas to access and participate in their own culture, in order to understand and inherit the Hakka culture. Fourth, they enrich the Hakka identity with cultural activities and arts, which will provide the new generation opportunities to increase their Hakka experiences. Although the Hakka festivals provide many positive outcomes, the Hakka experience illustrates the diffi-

culty of constructing a homogenous, unified identity, both in national and ethnic terms, in Taiwan today. The hybrid Hakka culture and the reality of multiple Hakka identities pose a direct challenge to discourse on “Multicultural Taiwan.” The relationship between Hakkas and “Multicultural Taiwan” is dialogic and dynamic. While “Multicultural Taiwan” redefines the identity and culture of Hakkas, the Hakkas themselves infuse greater hybridity, heterogeneity, diversity, dynamics and negotiated identity into “Multicultural Taiwan.” This paper presents characteristics of hybrid culture and multiple identities in the case of Hakka festivals. These festivals also point toward new possibilities of cultural diversity in Taiwan. Interviewee List Zhong Qingbo, officer of CHA, 2005 Xu Mengyue, Hakka dancer, 2005 Chen Ban, Hakka cultural worker, 2005 Zeng Nianyou, Hakka cultural worker, 2005 Lin Xiaofang, Hakka photographer, 30 years old, 2005 Chen Zhenghe, retired teacher, around 60 years old, 2005 Yeh Zuoling, engineer, 37 years old, 2005 Fan Yahan, undergraduate student, 22 years old, 2005 Hu Mingchun, Hakka undergraduate student, 22 years old, 2005

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About the Author Dr. Li-jung Wang Dr. Li-jung Wang, Associate Professor, Department of Social and Policy Science, Yuan Ze University, Taiwan. PH.D, Centre for Cultural Policy Studies, University of Warwick, UK.

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