Constructing Nature and the "Savage": Japanese Governance of Indigenous People and their Territory in Colonial Taiwan, 1895-1945

This thesis expands our discussion on the construction of indigeneity through the idea of “savagery” in Taiwan during Japanese colonial rule. Researchers who examine Japanese governance of Taiwan as an example of colonization outside of Europe and the United States argue that Japan aimed to be respected as a newcomer by demonstrating its ability to colonize Taiwan. Most studies focus on identity construction as a disciplinary tactic to control the indigenous population. By paying attention to the geographical projects expressed during Japan’s colonization of Taiwan in the forms of surveying and mapmaking, I complicate their analyses and turn to the ways that the construction of indigenous identities demonstrates the “production of nature.”