David Blundell
National Chengchi University（國立政治大學）, Asia-Pacific Studies, Faculty Member
This paper is about research progress made since our last gathering here in Bangkok at the 1st International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization, and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities in 2003.... more
This paper is about research progress made since our last gathering here in Bangkok at the 1st International Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization, and Multilingual Education in Ethnolinguistic Communities in 2003. In the past five years, our collaborative Austronesia Team has continued development on Pacific Language Mapping accomplishing the digital geo-vectored edition of The Language Atlas of the Pacific Area (Wurm and Hattori 1981, 1983). The Australian Academy of the Humanities, which owns the copyright to the printed maps, has graciously permitted their reproduction and distribution in this form through the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI). The Pacific Language Mapping Website drew heavily on the commitment and
Research Interests:
Taiwan (Formosa) is a nation rife with contradictions. The people of Taiwan face the often difficult task of balancing their deep, traditional cultural influences with their roles as citizens in a modern liberal-and advanced... more
Taiwan (Formosa) is a nation rife with contradictions. The people of Taiwan face the often difficult task of balancing their deep, traditional cultural influences with their roles as citizens in a modern liberal-and advanced technological-society. Thus the question of the Taiwanese identity continues to be an elusive one. Their Chinese heritage looms great in the minds of the Taiwanese, and Daoism historically advises commune with nature. Yet in today's world, the 'built and virtual' are taking over the ecology of the mind, situating nature at a distance rather than as something in which we are immersed. In the midst of this trend, Taiwanese people are normalizing electronics and media in their lifestyles, which risks distracting them from the imperative to confront how their identities are bound up with nature. Nevertheless, in Taiwan nature beckons from the mountains, valleys, plains, shores, and neighbouring islands. Indigenous peoples have been inspired by these landscapes and over the past four centuries this understanding of the environment was transmitted and blended as folk beliefs with emigrant populations from China. Today, this orientation of knowledge could be passed on to generations to come or it could be forgotten. This study has sought to give examples of how Taiwanese have either failed to conserve their heritage or how they have developed the processes by which to select ecological resources and integrate them into their local cultural repertoire. Later in this chapter, I will propose revisiting a continuance of knowledge by using technologies applied to museums of ethnology encouraging the current generation of App users to make sense of their heritage for themselves. Such strategies may enhance local public awareness, education, and heritage conservation.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
CH 2.--GEOMORPHOLOGY OF TAIWAN; CH 3.--ANTHROPOLOGY ORIENTATION; CH 4.--PREHISTORY OF TAIWAN; CH 5.--INDIGENOUS PEOPLES; CH 6.--(GUIDED TOUR) MUSEUM OF INSTITUTE OF ETHNOL...; CH 7.--REFLECTIONS ON FIELD TRIP; CH 9.--CONDUCTING ETHNOLOGY;... more
CH 2.--GEOMORPHOLOGY OF TAIWAN; CH 3.--ANTHROPOLOGY ORIENTATION; CH 4.--PREHISTORY OF TAIWAN; CH 5.--INDIGENOUS PEOPLES; CH 6.--(GUIDED TOUR) MUSEUM OF INSTITUTE OF ETHNOL...; CH 7.--REFLECTIONS ON FIELD TRIP; CH 9.--CONDUCTING ETHNOLOGY; CH 12.--REFLECTIONS AND DISCUSSION; CH 13.--HAKKA PEOPLE; CH 14.--PREPARATION FOR GROUP PRESENTATIONS; CH 15.--GROUP PRESENTATIONS & REFLECTIONS (1); CH 16.--GROUP PRESENTATIONS & REFLECTIONS (2)
Research Interests:
The aim of the proposed 360-degree virtual reality (VR) documentary explores questions of identity in the multi-ethnic environment of Taiwan, the connection to perception, tradition, and globalization, as well as how these in turn... more
The aim of the proposed 360-degree virtual reality (VR) documentary explores questions of identity in the multi-ethnic environment of Taiwan, the connection to perception, tradition, and globalization, as well as how these in turn characterize culture in Taiwan as distinct in the region. The VR framework presented here was conceived by Richard Cornelisse for providing an installation of multi-dimensional experiences of a diverse Taiwanese milieu, that captivates and transports the viewer to a subtle, yet heightened, awareness of local nuances between people, location, and religious rituals. These experiences are meant to re-contextualize how one can understand Taiwan in terms of the people, culture, diversity, and landscape of as both viewer and participant. Our interactive platform activates viewer participation and allows them to engage the subject matter in a unique individualized experience of people and place: one that not only questions how one can understand issues of identity and traditions in a rapidly changing globalized cultural landscape, but also how one can experience local culture and geography through a malleable, immersive, non-linear narrative.
Research Interests:
In the past year we have researched the extent of Austronesian voyaging and early historical Buddhism in terms of maritime transportation systems across Indonesia. This paper reviews the state of our Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative... more
In the past year we have researched the extent of Austronesian voyaging and early historical Buddhism in terms of maritime transportation systems across Indonesia. This paper reviews the state of our Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) Austronesia Team's research collection and mapping of selected regions in Eastern Indonesia, esp. Sulawesi. Our research relates to (1.) specific places connected to distant lands through sea travel featuring time-enabled layers of inter-connective place names in terms of self identification and social transformation, (2.) motivation for mariners, merchants, and monks to carry the dharma from South Asian harbors to other distant ports for religious, economic, and political exchange, and (3.) presenting notions of geographies as points and lines, not boundaries, as a tool for linking the significance of what seems to be unrelated elements, found to be connected in various ways leading to our better understanding of historical continuity, or discontinuity, at designated places. This work in turn becomes a contributing module to the ECAI Atlas of Maritime Buddhism.
Research Interests:
Abstract This chapter discusses inspiration and innovation through social transformation taking place in Asia through leadership utilizing concepts of Buddhism. In India, values of the Buddhist dhamma are grounded in a permeating esthetic... more
Abstract This chapter discusses inspiration and innovation through social transformation taking place in Asia through leadership utilizing concepts of Buddhism. In India, values of the Buddhist dhamma are grounded in a permeating esthetic system dating back to early historical times. It was lost there and revitalized in 1956. For Taiwan, inspiration came in the name of humanistic Buddhism that developed in late 19th century China. It offered a moral and practical value system for society at large. Buddhism became socially engaged as part of a cultural ethos for over a generation with underlying integrated roots in local beliefs, esthetics, and practices. The broader question to discuss is how Buddhist values influence policy leadership. Here, we feature engaged Buddhism that emphasizes awareness, compassion, and non-violence, while embracing modern ways of organizing and communication. Cases are provided where Buddhism has shaped leaders’ roles and aims, as well as those of followers guiding reforms for best governance. In India Dr. Ambedkar (1891–1956) embraced Buddhism as a platform for deliverance and championed social equality. His life’s struggle concerned issues of caste, as he was born “untouchable.” The second example is about Dhamma Master Cheng Yen (b. 1937) who established Tzu Chi in eastern Taiwan as a relief agency that became international. Both leaders helped life’s embetterment through Buddhism based on modernity, science, advanced technology, leadership, and democracy. These examples of engaged Buddhism have made tremendous impact pertaining to the people of their nation and serve a model for world development.
Research Interests:
序號. 20380. 題名. Visual anthropology and cultural preservation and revitalization：life visual account as community heritage document/ven. ...
Research Interests:
This paper covers work using historical geographic information systems (GIS) by the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) 2 to trace early navigation in Monsoon Asia. To open a scholarly Web-based platform to a broader audience, the... more
This paper covers work using historical geographic information systems (GIS) by the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) 2 to trace early navigation in Monsoon Asia. To open a scholarly Web-based platform to a broader audience, the ECAI Austronesia Team is collaborating with the Maritime Buddhism project conceived by Lewis Lancaster. The Maritime Buddhism project is being developed to reach general audiences with a high level of interactivity and 3D visualizations featuring historic timelines, ships, trade routes and trade winds, travelling monks, life at ports, and stories. To allow the information to be more accessible, mobile phone apps and multi-media museum displays are being developed. Austronesian speaking peoples made navigation a way of life across the Indian and Pacific oceans spanning thousands of years. The goal of this integration of content and technology is to enable our understanding of Monsoon Asia, its diffusion of culture, and oceanic navigation to become a...
Research Interests:
ARCHAEOLOGY, CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND THE PACIFIC: A LOOK AT THE EAST COAST OF TAIWAN David Blundell Department of Anthropology, National Taiwan University, Taipei 107, ROC ABSTRACT The following article is arranged in three ...
Research Interests: Geography and Archaeology
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This paper looks at aesthetics as a cultural system. This is to say that a culture will be viewed in terms of a worldview and preferences in life that form an identity of people within a society. The case I am exploring comes from a... more
This paper looks at aesthetics as a cultural system. This is to say that a culture will be viewed in terms of a worldview and preferences in life that form an identity of people within a society. The case I am exploring comes from a heritage the Sinhala people have shared ...
Research Interests:
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) rose from the dalit undercaste community (untouchables) in India. He educated himself in India and the West and became a national leader in India's struggle for equality and justice. Ambedkar... more
Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891-1956) rose from the dalit undercaste community (untouchables) in India. He educated himself in India and the West and became a national leader in India's struggle for equality and justice. Ambedkar framed the Indian constitution ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Japan Academy. Canberra: The Australian National University. Li, Lai-wang, Wu Ming-yi, and Huang Tung-chiu 1992 Heritage Transmission: Amis ... Y. Miyamoto. Trans./ed. from Japanese to Chinese by Sung Wen-shun and Lien Chao-mei.... more
... Japan Academy. Canberra: The Australian National University. Li, Lai-wang, Wu Ming-yi, and Huang Tung-chiu 1992 Heritage Transmission: Amis ... Y. Miyamoto. Trans./ed. from Japanese to Chinese by Sung Wen-shun and Lien Chao-mei. Taipei: Southern Materials. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This presentation is about reflections on what helps “shape our sense of identity” and local integrity among the indigenous people in Taiwan and the Vanniyaletto (Vedda) of Sri Lanka. At the International Seminar on Biological and... more
This presentation is about reflections on what helps “shape our sense of identity” and local integrity among the indigenous people in Taiwan and the Vanniyaletto (Vedda) of Sri Lanka. At the International Seminar on Biological and Cultural Diversity in South-Southeast Asia and the Development Consequence, of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, November 21st-23rd, 2007, Bangladeshi and speakers of India declared that indigenous people don’t exist in their countries. South Asian governments have official designation for tribal groups and scheduled tribes, not for indigenous peoples. In Taiwan, there are two problems with the word used for indigenous groups is translated as “tribe” from the Mandarin Chinese “tzu.” First, the word “tzu” in Chinese stems from a reference to “lineage” or “descent of clan,” not tribe. Second the indigenous groups of Taiwan are not necessarily defined as tribal or tribe in terms of their social organization.
2008 “Indigenous Culture Integrity: Vignettes in Taiwan and Sri Lanka.” Proceedings of the World Summit of Indigenous Cultures. Banqiao, Taipei. April 13. Published: http://indigenous.pristine.net/events/2008/wsic/presentations/david_blundell_paper.html
2008 “Indigenous Culture Integrity: Vignettes in Taiwan and Sri Lanka.” Proceedings of the World Summit of Indigenous Cultures. Banqiao, Taipei. April 13. Published: http://indigenous.pristine.net/events/2008/wsic/presentations/david_blundell_paper.html
Research Interests:
History is often elusive, reliant as it is on the vagaries of documentation and fickle memory. It is not what it seems—and new evidence changes out the old. Events of the ‘conjectured past’ are the matrix of the social consciousness and... more
History is often elusive, reliant as it is on the vagaries of documentation and fickle memory. It is not what it seems—and new evidence changes out the old. Events of the ‘conjectured past’ are the matrix of the social consciousness and heritage that create the present. The time frame and happenings of this chapter derive from vignettes of my experiences in Taiwan from the end of martial law to its current democracy. I will introduce a political debate, the rise of environmental action, conceptualization of local world heritage sites based on international guidelines, and eco-cultural traveling seminar interactions for developing a perception of Taiwan with its sense of place.
The people of Taiwan have chosen democratization from the mid-20th century. Public mobilization incubated within a climate of social frustration with abbreviated civil liberties, environmental degradation, and a government working officially toward the goal of saving China.
By the 1960s and 1970s, a grassroots ‘consciousness of polity’ emerged agitating through the folksong movement (minge yundong 民歌運動) of university campuses and freedom rallies in Kaohsiung in 1979, cumulating in the 1980s with popular rallies at the Presidential Office and National Assembly in Taipei.
In this emerging quest for liberties, a rapid shift from martial law began honoring the people’s right to govern themselves and decide their future. Taiwan transformed itself from military rule to a vibrant democracy. As the people of Taiwan have continued their democratization, their review of the island’s heritage became a guide for current determination.
2012 Taiwan Since Martial Law: Society, Culture, Politics, Economy. Chapter 1. Pp. 3-26
The people of Taiwan have chosen democratization from the mid-20th century. Public mobilization incubated within a climate of social frustration with abbreviated civil liberties, environmental degradation, and a government working officially toward the goal of saving China.
By the 1960s and 1970s, a grassroots ‘consciousness of polity’ emerged agitating through the folksong movement (minge yundong 民歌運動) of university campuses and freedom rallies in Kaohsiung in 1979, cumulating in the 1980s with popular rallies at the Presidential Office and National Assembly in Taipei.
In this emerging quest for liberties, a rapid shift from martial law began honoring the people’s right to govern themselves and decide their future. Taiwan transformed itself from military rule to a vibrant democracy. As the people of Taiwan have continued their democratization, their review of the island’s heritage became a guide for current determination.
2012 Taiwan Since Martial Law: Society, Culture, Politics, Economy. Chapter 1. Pp. 3-26
Research Interests:
This paper addresses potential folk life cultural heritage in Sri Lanka as a continuum in a country of magnificent UNESCO listed sites. If the Vedda (Vanniyaletto) of Sri Lanka are the heirs of an existence dating back to the Mesolithic... more
This paper addresses potential folk life cultural heritage in Sri Lanka as a continuum in a country of magnificent UNESCO listed sites. If the Vedda (Vanniyaletto) of Sri Lanka are the heirs of an existence dating back to the Mesolithic of Southern Asia to the present, then this community represents a sphere of cultural expression that requires world attention in conserving a folk diver-sity that is rapidly disappearing. These Vanniyaletto, continue living in a land of significant ancient world heritage, are struggling for years to have a museum or community center dedicated to their existence. While some critics proclaim they don’t exist as a people, I ar-gue the Vedda are not a primitive or non-existent ‘tribe’; they are an important heritage community in Sri Lanka laying a foundation, in part, for a plural nation (Blundell 2008). They are a people wrapped in the ma-trix of the Sinhala and Tamil communities from earliest times, yet since the 19th century relegated as a fringe people, curiosities at best, without acknowledgement as significant contributors in today’s ‘national program’.
Research Interests:
In anthropology, the past is considered a scarce resource (Appadurai 1981) for the present day people who treat it as a precious item or complex system important for a locality. Of course this process is a complex procedure based on... more
In anthropology, the past is considered a scarce resource (Appadurai 1981) for the present day people who treat it as a precious item or complex system important for a locality. Of course this process is a complex procedure based on government policies, local respect and conservation, along with language and culture education. Yet, what heritage is valued to preserve and sustain? I turn to Geertz’s model (1976) of interpreting cultural systems as combined set of aesthetic rules. The attributes of communication are not abstract ideas received through cognition, but a learned value system related to gesture, tone, manner, style, and context of the communication. This in itself makes an ethos of communication.
The language domain shelters truth as its own reality. This is a matter on negotiating cultural values based on a range of apprehensions. “Cultural difference … is a consequence of misapprehension, of failure to represent the world truthfully, which in turn creates a special task for anthropologists and other social scientists …” to explain, translate, and interpret the language and intent of world views. Based on the quotation above drawn from “Representation and Reality in the Study of Culture,” by John Bowlin and Peter Stromberg (1997), it is interesting to take the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and see if worldview and its “guiding language” or languages can be bridged. People build their languages around terrain, flora and fauna, food, cultural and personal social norms, personal memories, and construct society. Individuals frame a worldview in a mother tongue and other learned languages, each having “truthfully” conceived encounters via a local context.
2003 “In Taiwan and the Pacific, Lingua Franca, Multilingual Education and Endangered Languages. First Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization, and Multilingual Education in Minority Communities in Asia. Publication of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), UNESCO & Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. [2004 published, http://www.sil.org/asia/ldc/parallel_papers/david_blundell.pdf
The language domain shelters truth as its own reality. This is a matter on negotiating cultural values based on a range of apprehensions. “Cultural difference … is a consequence of misapprehension, of failure to represent the world truthfully, which in turn creates a special task for anthropologists and other social scientists …” to explain, translate, and interpret the language and intent of world views. Based on the quotation above drawn from “Representation and Reality in the Study of Culture,” by John Bowlin and Peter Stromberg (1997), it is interesting to take the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and see if worldview and its “guiding language” or languages can be bridged. People build their languages around terrain, flora and fauna, food, cultural and personal social norms, personal memories, and construct society. Individuals frame a worldview in a mother tongue and other learned languages, each having “truthfully” conceived encounters via a local context.
2003 “In Taiwan and the Pacific, Lingua Franca, Multilingual Education and Endangered Languages. First Conference on Language Development, Language Revitalization, and Multilingual Education in Minority Communities in Asia. Publication of the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), UNESCO & Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. [2004 published, http://www.sil.org/asia/ldc/parallel_papers/david_blundell.pdf
Research Interests:
This article explores the anthropologist's role in facilitating and guiding international educational traveling seminars through interaction with local people, based on my experiences with such seminars in Taiwan. Since the late 1980s,... more
This article explores the anthropologist's role in facilitating and guiding international educational traveling seminars through interaction with local people, based on my experiences with such seminars in Taiwan. Since the late 1980s, the Taiwanese authorities have reviewed restricted space, converting it into scenic areas and national parks. Martial law was lifted, allowing for changes in the society and introducing a “green” consciousness concerned with examining local roots. In 1992, a method of tourism was developed in which the participants of traveling seminars visited places in Taiwan or other world locations expecting to (1) explore, (2) learn, (3) interact, (4) respect, (5) share qualitative feedback with one another, and (6) enjoy the process. When addressing a topic for discussion, such as cultural heritage or the environment, each member of such traveling seminars speaks in his or her own language to share with the group. That is to say, participants explore through travel as a learning process, interacting with others with concern and respect for differences, sharing experiences, and conversing in their mother tongues with translation assistance.