臺灣「象」心力：集體記憶中的大象溜滑梯

Taiwan’s Elephantine Cohesion: Elephant Slides in Collective Memory

本文旨在探討1960年代末期至1990年代，普遍於全臺校園及公園的磨石子大象溜滑梯，現今因不符合國家標準CNS公共兒童遊戲場設備的檢驗標準，逐一被罐頭遊具取代之現象。大象雖非臺灣原生物種，但隨著圓山動物園的明星動物們－瑪小姐、馬蘭與林旺的出現，同為制式化的大象溜滑梯卻仍因其造型與時代環境脈絡的關聯性，成為臺灣民眾集體記憶中的鮮明符號，從而抵抗政府的拆除政策，並從實用型公共藝術，化為承載臺灣戰後歷史脈絡的珍貴校園文化資產。同時，從近年來興起呼籲保存早期傳統遊具的趨勢，探求新時代臺灣民眾如何透過社群網絡媒體的傳播，共同為舊時代產物發聲並加以保護。

This paper investigates the terrazzo elephant slides that were ubiquitous in schools and parks across Taiwan from the late 1960s to the 1990s. In recent years, these slides have been gradually replaced by standardized modular playground equipment, as they no longer comply with the CNS national safety standards for public children’s playground facilities. Although elephants are not native to Taiwan, the popularity of the celebrity elephants from Yuanshan Zoo, such as Miss Ma, Malan, and Lin Wang has imbued the design of formulaic elephant slides with cultural significance closely tied to its era. As a result, the elephant slide has become a vivid symbol in the collective memory of the Taiwanese public, thus resisting government demolition policies and evolving from a utilitarian form of public art into a treasured cultural asset that embodies Taiwan’s postwar historical context. Furthermore, this study examines how, in recent years, the growing movement to preserve early traditional playground equipment has been amplified through social media, enabling contemporary Taiwanese society to collectively advocate for and protect the precious material culture of a bygone era.