Book Title

Image, Imagination and Imaginarium:
Remapping World War II Monuments in Greater China

Publisher

Palgrave MacMillan

Year of Publication

2021

ISBN

9789811596742

Introduction

This book explores five cases of monument and public commemorative space related to World War II (WWII) in contemporary China (Mainland), Hong Kong and Taiwan, all of which were built either prior to or right after the end of the War and their physical existence still remains. Through the study on the monuments, the project illustrates past and ongoing controversies and contestations over Chinese nation, sovereignty, modernism and identity. Despite their historical affinities, the three societies in question, namely, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, vary in their own ways of telling, remembering and forgetting WWII. These divergences are not only rooted in their different political circumstances and social experiences, but also in their current competitions, confrontations and integrations. This book will be of great interest to historians, sinologists and analysts of new Asian nationalism.

Table of Contents
Introduction

Between Iconic Image and (Artificial) Ruins: Shanghai Sihang Warehouse and Chinese Modern Visuality of World War II

(Forgotten)Landscape of Imperial War Memories in a (Post)Colonial City: Hong Kong’s Cenotaph and Beyond
Imagining Imaginarium in Taipei: From Taiwan Jinja to National Revolutionary Martyrs’ Shrine

The Monument That Became Public Toilet: The New 1st Army Cemetery in Guangzhou

Renaming Monument, Rewriting History: Chongqing’s War Victory Stele/Liberation Stele

Conclusion

* Owners of respective book covers are credited. Book covers are for reference only. FH is unable to accept responsibility of any inaccurate information.