2008年臺灣史研究的回顧與展望

Taiwan Historical Research 2008: Retrospect and Prospect

由於臺灣史研究者的共同努力，最近兩年連續召開臺灣史研究的回顧與展望研討會，希望樹立學術批判的傳統，指引未來研究方向，並形成學術討論社群。本文以政治大學臺灣史研究所、中央研究院臺灣史研究所、臺灣師範大學臺灣史研究所共同舉辦的「2008年臺灣史研究回顧與展望研討會」為基礎，分總類、政治、經濟、社會文化類四大部分說明研究成果。其次，進行研究成果評論，最後並展望未來的研究方向。2008年臺灣史研究成果豐碩，但也出現若干缺失。本文指出，未來有待努力的方向包括：一、加強開展大視野、大區域、縱時性、比較性的研究，使臺灣史研究與鄰國、東亞、甚至世界史有所連繫與對話。二、跨學科研究成為臺灣史研究的特色之一，但如何確立歷史研究的主體性與邊界，是有待思考的課題。三、透過適度的學術批判與評價，將高度爭議的課題轉化為學術對話，減少歷史研究政治工具化的現象。

Under the concerted efforts of researchers in Taiwan history, the Conference on Taiwan History Research had been held in the past two years, with the objectives of establishing the tradition of scholastic critique, exploring directions for future research, and forming communities for academic discussion and exchange. With reference to the '2008 Conference on Taiwan History Research' organized by the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, National Chengchi University; Institute of Taiwan History, Academia Sinica; and Institute of Taiwan History, National Taiwan Normal University, this article describes the research findings of 2008. They are classified into four main categories, namely general works, politics, economics and social culture. The article also makes comments on the results obtained and proposes directions for future historical studies. The research results of Taiwan history in 2008 are plentiful, though there are still flaws and deficiencies. Three possible directions for future research that merit consideration and exploration are as follows. (1) Historical studies should be conducted over a larger region and with a wider perspective using a longitudinal or comparative approach. Research on Taiwan history should also be connected with studies of neighboring countries and the East Asian region as well as world history. (2) Taiwan historical research should be a trans-disciplinary research and with distinct boundary and autonomy from different disciplines. (3) Controversial issues should be transformed into academic exchange, the pattern of academic critique and evaluation should be established, thus ameliorating the situation of historical studies being used as a political instrument.