Wednesday 10 April 24, 11.30 -13.00, SIN 1

This project examines the accessibility of disclosed and undisclosed archival materials related to early modern Taiwan history over the past decades. The integration of digital humanities tools and methods has accelerated this accessibility within the academic community. However, it emphasizes the importance of methodological validity, and to formulate solid questions rather than solely relying on data availability. A key concern arises when analyzing historical data from the 17th century. For the historian these materials are part of the legacy of Dutch colonial history, and are revealing a male-centric perspective that shapes the discourse on women. This construction of discourse creates power positions that have come to inhabit different levels of privilege and obscure a more layered and intricate post/colonial historiography. The presentation adopts an intersectional lens to explore colonialism as an epistemological endeavor, highlighting the intertwining of gender and race. Utilizing archival data, the project aims to make visible the women histories that have been marginalized within dominant historical narratives. This will be illustrated with three types of materials: 1) an undisclosed manuscript Kerkboeck (Church Minutes of the Tayouan Consistory 1642-1649); 2) the 1980-2000s Dutch edited and annotated published version of De Dagregisters van het kasteel Zeelandia, Taiwan 1629-1662 (Daily Journals); and 3) the recent (2000-) Taiwan edited version of De missiven van de VOC- gouverneur in Taiwan aan de Gouverneur -Generaal te Batavia (Taiwan Missiven).

Ann Heylen is Professor at the Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature (TCLL) at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and currently serves as the Director of the International Taiwan Studies Center, College of Liberal Arts at NTNU. She holds a Ph.D. in Chinese Studies (Sinology) from Catholic University Leuven, Belgium. She is editor-in-chief of the East Asian Journal of Popular Culture (EAJPC, Intellect). Her publications cover the history and historiography of Taiwan, with special attention to Dutch Formosa, the Japanese colonial period (1895-1945).