ABSTRACT
The involvement of the individual in total war opened a Pandora’s box of desires, movements, and problems. On the one hand, it legitimated national movements and identities, and on the other hand, it fostered colonial subjectivity and shaped postcolonial legacies. Popular narratives on wartime Taiwan (such as oral history) testify to the extent the two discourses on ichigenka (as belated promises for political equality, highlighting the issue of class as well as ethnicity) and ko¯minka (of the Taiwanese as naturalized citizens) were constructed, abridged, and appropriated.
