文化、歷史與國家形構：近代中國族群邊界與少數民族的建構歷程
Culture, History, and State Formation: Creating Minority Nationalities in Modern China
中國近代國族形成與建構幾乎是所有人文社會學科關注的問題，但是帝國到民國轉型過程中，國族觀念如何進入社會場域，少數民族地區如何認識和想像民國這個現代新政體，而不是中華帝國的新朝代，還有相當大的研究空間。尤其關鍵的是國族觀念傳遞過程與方式，鄉土或少數族群如何詮釋與形構來自政治、知識菁英建構的抽象國族觀念，又是如何透過日常語言與空間地景具象化，轉換為生活當中能夠感受，感官經驗能夠理解或想像的文本、行為、表徵。這些都是中國近代轉型的關鍵，也是本計畫的核心問題。
本計畫希望跳脫以往著重族群認同視野、瑣碎的族源考據，或是抽象、概念性的少數民族研究，透過歷史的深度與跨地域、跨文化的廣度，從中原王朝或中央政府的統治政策，到少數民族社會文化結構的回應與變遷，以及少數民族自我文化覺醒的動力。透過這個過程，最終試圖理解國族觀念傳遞過程與方式，少數族群如何詮釋與形構來自政治、知識菁英建構的抽象國族觀念，又是如何透過日常語言與空間地景具象化，轉換為生活當中能夠感受，感官經驗能夠理解或想像的文本、行為、表徵。
The formation and construction of a modern nation-state in China is a topic that practically all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences have addressed. But some questions remain largely unanswered. For example, in China's transition from empire to republic, how did the concept of the nation-state enter into the realm of society? How did regions inhabited by so-called minority nationalities come to know and imagine the new and modern body politic of the republic, which was not a new Chinese imperial dynasty? The aim of this research plan is to answer questions such as these. In contrast to previous textual studies that placed emphasis on ethnic identity or ethnic origins, and in contrast to abstract or conceptual research on minority nationalities, this research will involve both deep historical analysis and broad assessments of trans-regional and trans-cultural phenomena related to the nation-state in modern China. It will address the governing policies of dynasties and central governments, changes in the social and cultural formations of minority nationalities, as well as the motive power of their cultural self-awakening. The ultimate goal of this research is to understand how the concept of the nation-state was transmitted to minority nationality areas, and how minority ethnic groups explained and formulated the abstract concept of the nation-state that had come from the political and intellectual elite. I also seek to understand how the concept of the nation-state became concretized in the language and practice of everyday life, and how it became formalized in texts, signs, and actions which could be comprehended or imagined through sensory experience.
