追蹤「田野照片」檔案的社會傳記：顯影中央研究院民族學研究所草創期的臺灣原住民族研究

Tracing the Social Biography of the Archives of“Field Photos”: A Study of Taiwan’s Indigenous Peoples duringin the Founding Period of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica

中央研究院民族學研究所自1955年8月至1965年4月，經歷10年的籌備、規劃到正式成立，期間曾動員全所人員、實施多次百科全書式的臺灣原住民族實地調查，並拍攝近5000張的黑白田野紀錄照片。參與田野調查的人員隨後亦積極彙整田野各種類型材料，並藉由研究論文或民族學專誌，進行學術發表。單篇專題研究論文多發表在《民族學研究所集刊》；由參與集體實地調查人員共同撰寫的民族學專誌，則歸屬在民族所專書專刊甲種類別的出版品。無論是臺灣原住民族專誌，或發表於《民族學研究所集刊》以臺灣原住民族為主題的研究論文，皆立基在前述實地調查蒐集而來的豐富田野材料進行撰述，並多方採納田野工作當下所拍攝的紀錄圖像。這一時期的研究著述透過文字書寫與照片圖像兩者的協力共作，程度不一地承載並揭示田野調查的過程及結果，並於分析撰述當中遞送人類學的議題思辨、概念探討以及理論鋪展。所有這一切紀錄並形塑了中研院民族所1950至1960年代期間的臺灣原住民族研究，以及該機構的社會文化人類學／民族學初期發展之樣貌。本文試圖回溯這一段學術構建之初始身影，並將從文字論述為中心的分析視角稍微偏移，轉而著重1950至1960年的「田野照片」社會傳記所涉及的事件與行動者及其互動效應，探析照片圖像於學科塑形以及知識形成的不同環節，所扮演的角色與發揮的功能，以及從中透顯的科學／學科願景。

From August 1955 to April 1965, the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, went through 10 years of preparation, planning and formal establishment. During this period, it mobilized all the staff and conducted many encyclopedic field surveys on Taiwan’s indigenous peoples, and took nearly 5,000 black and white field record photos. The personnel who participated in the field investigation also actively compiled various types of field materials, and published them in the forms of research papers or ethnological monographs. Most of the research papers were published in the Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology Academia Sinica, while the ethnological monographs co-authored by the field investigators were classified as publications in the A category of the IOE monographs. The monographs and research papers were all based on the rich field materials collected from the aforementioned field investigations, and they adopted the images taken during the fieldwork in many ways. The research writings of this period, through the synergy of text writing and photographic images, carried and revealed the process and results of fieldwork to varying degrees, and delivered speculation, conceptual discussion and theoretical development on anthropological issue in the analysis and writing. All of this recorded and shaped Taiwan’s indigenous peoples studies during the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the early development of the institution’s sociocultural anthropology/ethnology. From August 1955 to April 1965, the Institute of Ethnology at Academia Sinica underwent a decade of preparation, planning, and formal establishment. During this period, the Institute mobilized its entire staff to conduct comprehensive field surveys of Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples, resulting in nearly 5,000 black and white photographs. The personnel involved in these field investigations also diligently compiled various field materials, which were later published as research papers or ethnological monographs. Most research papers appeared in the Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, while the ethnological monographs co-authored by the field investigators were classified as category A publications in the IOE monograph series. These monographs and research papers were all based on the rich field materials collected during the aforementioned field investigations, and they incorporated images taken during fieldwork in many ways. The research produced during this period, through the combined use of written texts and photographic images, conveyed the processes and results of fieldwork to varying degrees. These works also offered insights, conceptual discussions, and theoretical developments on anthropological issues through their analysis and writing. This body of work documented and shaped the study of Taiwan’s Indigenous peoples during the 1950s and 1960s and contributed to the early development of sociocultural anthropology/ethnology at the Institute.
This article attempts to trace back the initial figure of this academic construction, and slightly shifts the analytical perspective from the textual discourse as the center, instead focusing on the events and actors involved in the social biography of“field photos”from 1950 to 1960 and their interactive effects, to analyze the roles and functions of photos and images in the shaping of the discipline and its knowledge formation, as well as the scientific/discipline visions that are revealed from them.
This article attempts to trace the early foundations of this academic construction, shifting the analytical focus from textual discourse to the events and actors involved in the social biography of“field photos”from the 1950s to 1960s and their interactive effects. It seeks to analyze the roles and functions of photos and images in shaping the discipline and its knowledge formation, as well as the scientific and disciplinary visions that they reveal.
Sociocultural anthropology and ethnology are the academic careers whose disciplinary identities and practices are tightly interwoven with the visual no matter what they experience in discursive trends, theoretical paradigm shift, and debate changes because of their emphases on face-toface communication and field observation methods. Therefore, by sorting out the social biography of the“field photos”of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, from the 1950s to the 1960s, this paper intends to examine the intentions and the purposes for which these photographs/ images were created and produced. Who photographed them, and how researchers at that time combined them, applied them to different contexts, developed their research ideas or completed their arguments, and in what framework/medium were they assembled to become archives are the main research questions of this paper. To sort out the social biographical bias of these batches of“field photos”, this article intends to tell not only how ethnographic photography and“field photos”as objects are involved and become active in social relations, but also how through them and bringing them into the center of analysis can academic activities and their development process obtain a kind of visualization, and then develop the research (slightly different from the text-center and discourse-based methodology) of Taiwan indigenous peoples studies in the initial stage of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica.
Sociocultural anthropology and ethnology are academic fields whose disciplinary identities and practices are closely intertwined with the visual, regardless of the discursive trends, theoretical paradigm shifts, and changing debates they experience. This is due to their emphasis on face-toface communication and field observation methods. Therefore, by tracing the social biography of the Institute of Ethnology’s“field photos”from the 1950s to the 1960s, this paper examines the intentions and purposes behind the creation and production of these photographs and images. It considers who took the photographs, how researchers of that time combined and applied them in different contexts, how they developed their research ideas or supported their arguments, and in what framework or medium these images were assembled to become part of the archives? By exploring the social biography of these“field photos,”this article not only reveals how ethnographic photography and“field photos”as objects become active participants in social relations but also demonstrates how centering these images in analysis offers a form of visualization that differs from textbased methodologies. This approach provides a distinct perspective on understanding the development of Taiwan Indigenous studies during the early stages of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica.