Title: Schooling Taiwan's aboriginal baseball players for the nation
Abstract: Abstract One of the major challenges that faces nation-builders in postcolonial societies is the incorporation of subaltern groups, particularly aboriginal peoples, into a collective national project. One vehicle for addressing this challenge is sport with schools being amongst the most important venues. This article offers an empirical study of the role of aboriginal players in Taiwanese baseball. By examining the schooling and historic achievements of aboriginal players in the Nenggao and Hongye teams and the role of aboriginal players during the more recent post-martial law period, the study challenges some commonly held views concerning the relationship between baseball and Taiwanese national identity. In particular, the article analyzes the role of the state in its use of baseball to support the co-option of aboriginal players for the nation-building project. The study concludes that the state, regardless of which ruling elite is in power, has consistently manipulated Taiwan's indigenous peoples, not least through the education system, in order to achieve certain political objectives, specifically in relation to nation-building. Furthermore, although baseball remains an important avenue for the social and economic advancement of individual aborigines, recurrent scandals linked to exploitation have been consistent characteristics of state policy. Keywords: AboriginesBaseballNation-buildingIdentityScandals Notes 1. Yami is the only aboriginal tribe that did not practice head-hunting. 2. Although there were six players over-aged, there were nine players using false names. This is a mystery that remains to be solved. 3. Originally using false names was only an internal matter that the sporting body would deal with it by punishing or banning school's future participation. But these three people used photos of bogus players to apply residential copy and stuck them onto official documents, which violated state law. 4. Actually Yang () is a popular surname amongst Han Chinese but in different character. There are several aboriginal players with the surname of Yang (). Pro players, such as Yang Jieren, Yang Sen and Yang Jianfu are surnamed . 5. People often mistakenly regard Chen Jinfeng as the first Taiwanese as well as the first aborigine to reach the Major League. 6. The situation is similar in the military where only two aboriginals, Gao Weihe and Cao Mingsheng, were ever promoted to General rank, though many aborigines serving in the force voluntarily. 7. Canadian Bernie Beckman and Korean Kim Yong-woo coached Taipei Gida and Sinon Bulls in 1997, respectively. 8. As a matter of fact some aborigines were Han Chinese adopted by tribesman, who had killed their Han parents during head-hunting practice. 9. The Republic of China (ROC) flag composed of three colours: blue, white and red, referring to sky, sun and the blood of revolutionary martyrs that covered the soil, respectively. 10. In 2005, Huang Jiaan signed with the Seattle Mariners for a bonus fee of $700,00. As soon as Huang had received a substantial amount of money, however, he went on a wild spending spree and did not report to the parent club the following year.
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-02-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 14
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