A Research on Taiwanese Protest Songs After the Lift of the Martial Law

• Main Authors: Chen, Yi-chun, 陳怡君
• Other Authors: 吳亦昕
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2013
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/85968333408491135482

碩士 === 國立中正大學 === 台灣文學研究所 === 101 === Protest songs have a strong connection with social movements, containing strong anti-authority elements that challenge established systems, and are often aligned with the minor, suppressed groups of society. They speak for the poor and weak, and in effect have a profound and enduring impact on the society at large. Yet the topic is seldom studied in Taiwan. This article approaches the subject from the perspective of Taiwanese cultural study, and aims to analyze and reveal the status, development, characteristics as well as cultural significance of the most representative Taiwan Ho-lo protest songs prevalent after the abolition of martial law in Taiwan. Studies have shown that though there were traces of protest songs during the middle Japanese Colonial Period, due to the imposition of martial law in Taiwan, social movement saw virtually no further development. Liberals were left with magazines, underground organizations, and overseas Taiwan independence movements to express their anti-authority voice. Songs at the time were also largely censored by Government Information Office, creating a gap in the history of protest song development. In the 70s, the nationalist government of ROC was isolated diplomatically, and Taiwanese society after the events of Baodiao movement, the native literary debate, and the Formosa Incident was again retracing its roots, in search for a Taiwanese awareness that would embrace the native, the local; in the 80s, countermovements started to make use of the sorrowful ethos of the Japanese Colonial Period, adopting Taiwanese ballads as protest songs, and interpret them in new political contexts or rewrite their lyrics. After the abolition of martial law, social movements thrived, creating the second wave of Ho-lo protest song boom. Early after martial law abolition, social movements focused on three issues: a Taiwanese integrity, the rectification of the name of Taiwan; anti-annexation; and the pursuit of a new Taiwanese perspective; while also establishing Taiwan squarely as a maritime nation. The protest songs were still mainly in Ho-lo Language, lyrics however have seen a shift from the sorrowful and depressed in the early days, to the invigorating and inspiring in later stages; the genre has also moved from lyrical, to folk ballads, to lively and spirited march, symbolizing the release from imprisonment; on the other hand, “underground radio station” played an important role in the history of protest song. From the 90s to the 21st century, in line with the development of democracy and the change of political leadership, protest song has moved from political protest to concerns of environment, human rights, labor movement, peasant movement, anti-corporate and many other communal issues; as a result, its contents reflect increasing diversity in terms of language, musical instruments, as well as musical elements from both traditional Taiwanese music and Western rock ‘n’ roll, creating a distinctively local Taiwanese rock trend. Its lyrics are also moving away from politics, and into other fields that broaden its horizons; and benefiting from information society and the Internet, the creation and promulgation of protest songs have become much more free and diverse in nature, giving birth to countless readaptation of original songs. After the 2010s, in the face of the prevailing atmosphere of a restoration of authority, Taiwanese social movement is soon acquiring a new face under the cooperation of online communities that work together for common ideals and goals. The upcoming revolution is well worthy of further observation.