新疆現代史研究述評

Research on the History of Modern Xinjiang: A Survey

本文回顧並討論1950年代以來的新疆現代史研究。處在民族主義立場兩端的中共官方與維吾爾民族主義者，都依賴歷史書寫，為各自的政治訴求尋找合理化或合法化的依據；1980年代以來，中國大陸以漢語文進行的相關研究有令人矚目的進步，但仍未擺脫政治框架的約束。台灣研究者的相關研究，正逐漸擺脫傳統的反共情結，但又面臨能否抗拒簡單模仿西方視角及方法、保留有價值的中文思維傳統的新問題。英文學界對民國新疆史和中共治理新疆時期的研究，既發掘了認同和衝突的政治層面，也廣及文化層面的問題，成績斐然，但也一直存在東方主義傾向與對抗論述的角力。而且，在各方對新疆現代史的研究中，仍存在某種以政權更替為分期標準，切斷歷史連續性的狀況。無論如何，一甲子以來的新疆現代史研究，經歷了由青澀步向成形的過程。

This essay reviews studies of the history of modern Xinjiang since the 1950s. Both official Chinese historians and Uygur nationalist historians have relied on historical arguments to justify their political demands. The last three decades have witnessed some progress in studies conducted in the Chinese language in Mainland China, but those studies still reflect a certain degree of political influence. Studies in Taiwan are breaking away from anti-communist biases, but, again, face certain new challenges in dealing with how to resist or follow Western historiography and methodology, and how to preserve certain valuable elements of the traditional ”guoxue” or Han studies. With their concentration on the issues of identity and conflict from both political and cultural perspectives, English Chinese-studies circles have made some significant achievements in research on Republican Xinjiang and Xinjiang under PRC control; at the same time, Orientalism and counter-discourses have coexisted in these research projects. Finally, this essay shows that studies on the history of modern Xinjiang still follow the old political periodization so that 1911 and 1949 are treated as historical tuning points by most of researchers, yet this results in neglect of the historical continuity of this relatively isolated area.