英文摘要 |
In this essay I trace the circulation of ghost objects-hanging ropes, implements of accidental death, pieces of clothing, and paper money-showing how ghosts became entangled with urban redevelopment on Taiwan. During the last two decades, planners transformed Taiwanese cities as they repurposed unproductive urban spaces to make way for leafy parks, fine public buildings, and other markers of Taiwan's ”cultural” status. In Lukang, a large 18th-19th century cemetery was redeveloped as land for the new town hall, a hotel project, and a pubic park. When accidents and acute health problems beset contractors and administrators, rumors suggested that both the ghost objects and the new public spaces were out of place. Material practices of working with remains such as bones created the possibility of ethical relationships with the dead, which urban renewal disrupted. Yet, stances on this disruption do not follow a simple account of state projects and popular resistance. Rather, both desires for and anxieties concerning public amenities are entangled by the elided presences that act through haunting. |