On the effects of Trauma, Cultural identity and ‘historical grievance’ within

A Brighter Summer Day (1991)

Film Research Seminar: Small National Cinemas in Transnational Constellations

Dr. Pei-Sze Chow

University of Amsterdam 2023

Lars Moreira Leonardo

27-10-2023

11915900

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Abstract: This paper seeks to relate the historical events of the White Terror period in Taiwan

during the second half of the 19th century, as they are represented within Edwards Yangs 1991

text: A Brighter Summer Day. Relating the representation of trauma and cultural identity

present within the film, in order to indicate that Yang’s text functions as a historical artifact,

with the goal of confronting the trauma that stems from this dark period in Taiwanese history.

Indicating that Yang’s text highlights the ‘historical grievance’ rippling out from this

cinematic representation.

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 Introduction

Within film studies, the discourses surrounding small national cinema’s, that focus on the

national cinema originating from Singapore, Denmark, or in the case of this paper, Taiwan,

are essentially important. This is due to the fact that they illuminate the innerworkings of its

country historical past, the intricate and often times damaged relation to their governments

policy on cinematic productions or they might signify the financial barriers that filmmakers

have to traverse in order to contribute to their national cinema. Therefore, this research strives

to achieve a careful and comprehensive answer to a manifold of core questions focused on A

Brighter Summer Day (1991). Which concentrates on the effects of Taiwan’s troubled period

during the “White Terror” period. This paper is interested in the representation of cultural

identity, trauma and highlighting how Yang’s text should be seen as an reflexive cultural

artifact, showcasing that Yang’s text deals with the effects of ‘historical grievance.’ Primarily

focusing on the question: How Edward Yang represents Trauma, Cultural identity and

‘historical grievance within Yang’s 1991 text. The relevance for this choice of research is

firstly attributed to the representation of trauma, Yang’s work depicts a representation of

historical events through a reflexive lens, that scrutinizes the traumatic relation Taiwan has

with China and as an extension, its own cultural identity. Secondly, it showcases specific

influences and effects that reflect on the cultural identity of the inhabitants of Taiwan, the

effects of the past are put through a transformative and reflexive prism, in order to illuminate

Taiwan’s past, in order to come to terms with the traumatic events of the past. The role of new

Taiwanese cinematic movement will be highlight, in order to connect the national importance

of Yang’s text and in order to substantiate the role that cinema holds within Taiwanese culture.

Thirdly, this specific text, constitutes a affective depiction of ‘historical grievance’ therefore

this paper will argue that A Brighter Summer Day (1991), could be considered as a cultural

artifact, exposing the trauma of the “White Terror” period through a historical reflexive lens.
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 Methodology and Theoretical framework

This paper depends on the use of the qualitative method, incorporating and analyzing primary

and secondary sources. Furthermore, this research is a conceptual approach that manifests

itself in the field of the small nation cinema of Taiwan, the representation of trauma, cultural

identity and historical grievance, in order to create an original and critical analysis of how

Edward Yang’s 1991 text could be considered as an cultural artifact, exposing the trauma of

the “White Terror” period through a historical reflexive lens. In order to further substantiate

this claim, the main research goal is to analyze the research object, namely: A Brighter

Summer day (1991). The source material serve as academic background and are intend to

situate this paper in the theoretical field of small national cinema’s and the relevant discourses

with regards to film studies, memory studies and representation theory. In order to relate the

specific focus of the research object it’s representation of trauma, prosthetic memory and

cultural identity. This specific object will be carefully observed and analyzed in terms of how

it relates to a larger academic framework, consisting of the concepts of ‘prosthetic memory’ as

described by Allison Lansberg and incorporate the work on trauma as laid out by Chris Berry.

Furthermore, analysis on Edward Yang’s text in relation to this papers focus points, opens up

the possibility of an original interpretation of Yang’s approach, highlighting refreshing

arguments, that are present in Yang’s text. This research main research question is: How does

Edward Yang represent Trauma, Cultural identity and ‘historical grievance’ in A Brighter

Summer Day (1991)?

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 1.1: The role of the New Taiwanese cinematic movement

“This film is dedicated to my father and his generation, who suffered so much for my generation to suffer less. I hope they,

the forgotten, can be made unforgettable.” - Edward Yang1

In order to better grasp the place of A Brighter Summer day (1991) within Taiwan’s national

cinema, the role of the new Taiwanese Cinema movement should be made clear. Taking place

between the 1980’s and 1990, is important to mention that there was no filmmaking taking

place in Taiwan until the 1950’s. The film industry in Taiwan was in crisis, due to the fact that

the films that were made were state controlled and spreading cultural propaganda. This was

done with the intention to reinforce a sense of Chinese national identity onto the Taiwanese

population. While most of the Taiwanese considered themselves to be more Japanese than

Chinese, because of the Japanese occupation from 1895 until 1945, this made the films that

were produced after 1945 unpopular and static. This is why the Taiwan’s Central Motion

Picture Corporation (CMPC) Supported the New Wave movement, influenced by filmmakers

with a more western approach to film in Hong Kong, because of the CMPC’s support “Taiwan

filmmakers could circumvent domestic censorship” (Yeung 2020: 570). This led to the

decision of the CMPC to acquire new directors, who had a different artistic vision. leading to

the creation of the first New Wave film, In Our Time (1982), this collection of four short

films, made by four different Taiwanese directors, including Edward Yang. Furthermore,

Wilson Flannery makes a useful remark about the driving cultural forces behind the

Taiwanese films and about how the New Taiwan cinema movement is nothing like French

New Wave. He writes: “rather than seeing the 1980s Taiwanese films simply as a “new

wave”, as an artefact in film history, we should understand them as cultural and political

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1 Edward Yang, Director's Statement, 1991, Criterion booklet.
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interventions, as probing’s of Taiwanese society and history, and as self-consciously creating a

distinctly national cinema.” (Wilson 2014: 5).

New Taiwanese cinema differentiates itself from other forms of ‘New Wave’ in terms of their

progressive vision on the current state of society and the social issues. Whereas New

Taiwanese Cinema, is centered around the idea of restating or rethinking the modern history

of Taiwan as people had experienced it instead of how the government had presented it in

terms of the growth of urbanization, the existence of the individuals during and after that

process of transition. This is because of the influence of the Kuomintang government during

the 1960’s that only produced films that preached the importance of morals and traditional

values. Due to the nationalistic crisis that was rooted in the political turmoil of that time, the

government thought that these film might help in keeping the population satisfied. New

Taiwanese cinema breaks free from this and explores the reality and culture of Taiwan, all

tough each director develops their own style and approach to cinema. “Its emphasis on

“historically aware” filmmaking and “cultural self-determination” also resonated with a

widespread nativist literary movement then exploring particularly Taiwanese (rather than pan-

Chinese) conceptions of identity.” (Tweedie 2014: 143). This remark is especially important

for Yang, focusing on the effects of Taiwan’s history.

1.2: How is Taiwan’s cultural identity represented in A Brighter Summer Day (1991)?

A Brighter Summer Day represents the cultural identity of Taiwan during the national crisis of

identity that was taking place in Taiwan during the 1960’s. When the spirit of the Chinese

civil war was still very much alive. Yang positions the traditional values and way of life of the

past, with the upcoming modernization and capitalist interference, due to the influence of the

United States as a result of the cold war. The decay of the Taiwanese society as result of the

historical past is a central theme in Yang’s text. This is attributed to the fact that it deals with

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the effects of national disruption in multitude of ways. the “cultural domination that changes

from Japanese and mainland Chinese to a new culture primarily associated with the United

States.“ (Austerlitz 2003: 68).

Effectively giving the ‘soul’ of the nation away to the capitalist and modern US, during a time

that many of the fled inhabitants of mainland China still hoped for a return. This sentiment is

embodied by the father of the main protagonist; Mr. Zhang. As mentioned above, the

influence of the US is also made presented through the use of diegetic music, namely the

incorporation of Elvis Presly, functioning as both a role model for the protagonist, and as a

sobering reminder that the cultural identity of Taiwan is being pulled apart both eastward and

westwards. Furthermore, this constant sense of doubt and thread that is originating from the

communist government of mainland China (CCP). Therefore: “Yang’s bygone Taipei is a zone

of disquiet both culturally and politically. Taiwan had been ruled by Japan for a half century

before being ceded to China at the end of World War II.” (Cheshire 2016).

2.1: How is Trauma represented within A Brighter Summer Day (1991)?

The representation of Trauma that is present within A brighter summer day, is intertwined

with its protagonists sense of alienated cultural identity, following the coming of age of 14

year-old Xiao S’ir and his peers in this significantly difficult, bureaucratic and hostile

atmosphere, representing the unstable milieu of 1960’s Taiwan. S’ir, finds himself pulled

towards a growing conflict between two rival street gangs, The Little Park boys and the 271s.

Derived from the names of their neighborhoods and indicating their national origin as well.

Xiao Si’r’s friends are all members of the little park boys and they are all sons from mainland

China families. Their mortal enemies, the 271 gang are sons of soldiers and their name is

originating from the military housing estate they occupy. The children that originated from

mainland China and the children who are native Taiwanese, are unsure of their heritage and

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their subsequent place in the world. Considering that they are all members from the same

nation, but divided, in political terms. The further implications that occur during Yang’s epic

sociopolitical epos, are focused on a critical representation of historical significance.

Combining the fluctuating adolescent search for identity by Xiao Si’r with Taiwan’s own

search for cultural identity and freedom. Within this world, Xiao Si’r and the rest of the

prominent characters are all set up to fail in some way or another. Therefore it is essential to

understand that their failure, either socially or morally, is tied to their displacement and the

immense injustice that is surrounding them, due to their deeply alienated sense of national

identity. This invokes the role of Trauma in a multitude of ways. Firstly, the role of cultural

identity, important for the personal trauma that has build up during the film, leading to the

murder near the films climax. Secondly, Si’r should be considered as a representation of his

generations search for security and identity, the unstable and damaging political environment

that they have to maneuver having created an affective display of Trauma, that manifests itself

through an alienated sense of national identity, something that will brandish Si’r’s generation.

This is underlined by the Confucian believes his father tried to teach him but due to his

immediate surrounding it “has been eroded or undermined, so that a young man like Xiao Si’r

can be hurled into the spiral of violence indicated by the film’s Chinese title.” (Cheshire

2016).

2.2 How is the notion of ‘historical grievance’ represented within the sociopolitical depiction

of 1960’s Taiwan?

The Chinese title is significant in order to unpack the notion of historical grievance.

Translated as: The Homicide Incident of the Youth on Guling Street. It refers to an actual

killing that took place. Similar to how Michael Berry describes the effects of Musha incident,

Yang “highlights the Chinese presence (…) in a highly critical and self-reflexive way” (Berry

2011: 81). Invoking this shocking incident within the narrative, exposes the influence of
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disrupted social order and connects the elements of alienated cultural identity to an historical

incident that shook the nation.

What makes Yang’s rendering self-reflexive is his use of time. Allowing to consider the

Traumatic events in retrospect, offers an extra layer of reflexivity. Portrayed by the political

effects of the US and its relation with Communist China, the focus on cultural important

artifacts, namely a samurai sword as forgotten or forlorn objects, highlighting the immense

‘historical grievance’ that has been born out of a generation of Trauma. Leaving Taiwan, with

a damaged national identity, Yang’s vison translates this to a highly aware cinematic artifact.

That focusses on processing the ‘historical grief’ with memories of its past, in order to remedy

the scars in the future. Moreover, the notion of ‘historical grievance’ can be most aptly be

illuminated by the concept of prosthetic memory. In order to engage an audience with the

experience of the past. Therefore: “Prosthetic memories are adopted as the result of a person’s

experience with a mass cultural technology of memory that dramatizes or recreates a history

he or she did not live. (Landsberg 2004: 28). The generations after those who have lived

through the events of the “White Terror” can sooth the wounds of the past that still linger in

the collective memory, through a mutual connection that crosses time and space. Making

Prosthetic memories (…) part of one’s personal archive of experience, informing one’s

subjectivity as well as one’s relationship to the present and future tenses. (Landsberg 2004:

26).

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 Conclusion

This research has been focused on the question How does Edward Yang represent Trauma,

Cultural identity and ‘historical grievance’ in A Brighter Summer Day (1991)? With the

transition that occurred during the 1980’s, helping solidify a more notable national cinema

production, gave young and visionary directors a chance to capture their personal vision of

Taiwan. With Yang’s 1991 text, he captured his vision of one of most tragic modern periods in

the history of Taiwan. Exposing the numerous sociopolitical tensions that erupted the daily

life of a generation, Yang delivers a self-reflexive and honest portrayal concerned with the

Traumatic and dislocated feeling of alienation of an entire generation. Creating a eulogy that

is both critical of its own past, Yang manufacturers a representation of an almost forgotten

time period, invigorating it, in order to share this piece of historical grievance with newer

generations, transfiguring a memo

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ry filled with pain and neglect, to a one that offers a shared relation. Therefore, A brighter

Summer Day should be considered as a cultural artifact, that represents a strong prosthetic

memory of an historical period, while simultaneously opening up a reflexive dialogue

concerned about Tawan’s past, as with its future.

In further research, the role of language would be an important point to consider but due to a

lack of space this was not incorporated. Another point that might lend itself to be interesting

in the future, is the connection between the distribution and reception of Yang’s Text.

Bibliography

Austerlitz, Saul. 2003. ‘Music and Modernity in A Brighter Summer Day’. Cineaction! (62):

68.

Berry, Michael. 2011. A History of Pain: Trauma in Modern Chinese Literature and Film.

Columbia University Press. 81.

Cheshire, Godfrey. 2016. ‘A Brighter Summer Day: Coming of Age in Taipei’. The Criterion

Collection. Accessed 25 October 2023. https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3981-

abrighter-summer-day-coming-of-age-in-taipei.

Alison Landsberg. 2004. Prosthetic Memory : The Transformation of American Remembrance

in the Age of Mass Culture. New York: Columbia University Press.

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https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&db=e000xww&AN=107227&site=ehost-live&scope=site. 26. 28.

Tweedie, James. 2014. The Age of New Waves Art Cinema and the Staging of Globalization.

New York: Oxford University Press. 143.

Wilson, Flannery. 2014. New Taiwanese Cinema in Focus: Moving within and beyond the

Frame. Traditions in World Cinema. Edinburgh: University Press.

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748682027. 5.

Yeung, Jessica Siu-yin. 2020. ‘Intermedial Translation as Circulation: Chu Tien-Wen, Taiwan

New Cinema, and Taiwan Literature’. Journal of World Literature 5 (4): 568–86.

https://doi.org/10.1163/24056480-00504005. 570.

Films

Yang, Edward, dir. 1991. Guling Jie Shaonian Sharen Shijian. Yang & His Gang Filmmakers.