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Colonial Project, National Game: A History of Baseball in Taiwan. By Andrew D. Morris. Berkeley; Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2010. xi, 271 pp. $49.95 (cloth); $49.95 (electronic).

2012; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 71; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0021911811002518

1752-0401

R. Kenji Tierney,

Asian Culture and Media Studies

Upon hearing the phrase “Taiwanese baseball,” many readers’ immediate thoughts will probably go to the dominant Little League teams of the 1970s and 1980s or the professional pitcher Chien-ming Wang. Viewed casually, these seem obvious sources of national pride for a small island nation. They are, but Andrew Morris takes us behind the scenes to complicate our understanding to show how national myths of triumph are never simple and straightforward, but often paired with failure and shame.Morris uses a variety of techniques and sources—historical archives, interviews, popular magazines, et cetera—to examine both key moments in Taiwanese history and larger questions of history and memory, identity, embodiment, post-colonialism, and globalization. While there have been many studies on the movement of global practices, especially those moving from West to East, Morris's examination of the history of baseball as a Japanese practice in Taiwan is unique and fascinating contribution to studies of East Asia, Taiwan, colonization, and popular culture. While the main story is in Taiwan, Morris admirably does not confine his analysis to national borders, showing how the meanings of Taiwanese baseball are contested far and wide.In chapter 1, Morris examines the introduction of baseball to Taiwan in 1895 with the start of Japanese colonization, arguing that it is best understood through the concept of “glocalization” for the “complicated cultural position. . . well represents this tension between imperialist and globalizing forces and the ‘expectations’ and demands of a Taiwanese population” (p. 9). Mirroring baseball's introduction in Japan, participation was first restricted to Japanese settlers, exemplifying embodied colonial modernity rather than a venue for the colonized to challenge the colonizer. Chapter 2 offers a fascinating analysis of how, as participation started to be allowed, the social roles and social understandings of Taiwanese aborigines have been shaped by baseball. Morris argues that their role in the Musha massacre of Japanese settlers and their subsequent suppression led to the development of a colonial policy of “racial harmony” that focused on the tri-racial image of Japanese, Chinese, and aborigines. “Colonial biology” was used to interpret their successes, reflecting the spread of eugenics discourses on racial abilities and intelligence. Chapter 3 examines the first two decades of Nationalist rule when the KMT “set about stripping Taiwanese culture of its Japanese legacies while simultaneously restoring an essential and timeless ‘Chineseness’” (p. 54). With its undeniable Japanese origins, baseball's popularity confounded the new rulers who attempted to promote soccer and basketball in its place. In the aftermath of the suppression of the “white terror” and implementation of martial law, baseball became a haven to resist KMT rule and assert a Taiwanese identity.Chapters 4 and 5 focus on the little league teams that came to dominate the World Series for two decades. The triumphs of the 1968 Maple Leaf team, primarily of Bunun aboriginal schoolboys, led to the development of Taiwan's legendary little league program. Ironically, Morris points out, the boys’ successes despite grinding poverty almost instantly became “a metaphor for the economic success that Taiwan's middle classes were starting to enjoy” (p. 84). Williamsport, PA, the site of the Little League World Series, soon became a battleground over Taiwanese identity with protesters and government-hired thugs battling it out in the stands. Significantly, at the heart of Taiwan's Little League domination were teams that consistently violated the rules (overaged, all-star teams, etc.). Citing Michael Herzfeld and Ernest Renan, Morris shows how this paradox of success while cheating serves both as a source of intense pride and deep shame. Through this process, national memories and identity are created through both acts of memorialization and active forgetting.In chapter 6, Morris examines the rise of professional baseball that eclipsed youth baseball but later collapsed, mired in cheating scandals and an overreliance on foreign players. Here again, Morris uses the idea of the “glocal” to examine how foreign players were “domesticated” for Taiwanese audiences. Attention and pride have now shifted to top players leaving for leagues in Japan or the United States. Morris ends the book by examining present-day Taiwan and how baseball is often used in very cynical ways to deploy nostalgia. Poignantly, Morris reveals that, no matter how much their baseball successes have been celebrated in Taiwanese society, it often does not translate into happiness for the individual players, especially the former youth stars who have graduated to menial jobs, lifelong injuries, and regrets (p. 162).Morris covers much ground in this book, offering compelling analyses of numerous topics that can act as roadmaps for future scholars not only of sports, but of globalization in general. This well-illustrated and accessible book will interest scholars of Taiwan, colonialism, East Asia, sports, and globalization. This book needs a paperback addition to allow both easier use in classrooms and the wider readership it deserves.