計畫名稱出自1923年署名無知的作者，於《臺灣》發表的小說〈神秘的自制島〉，小說為一喝醉的人在恍惚之間，到訪東海上「自制島」的隨筆，島上無論是婦孺或是紳士，每個人都戴著刻有「自制」兩字的枷，旅人請教了島上一名紳士，如果解放了那個奇怪的裝飾品不是很好嗎？紳士勃然變色，告訴旅人，這個東西大家求之不得，怎麼會想要解放，有了這種項具，人們就能「第一呢，是使人飢了不想食飯，寒了不想穿衣。第二呢，是使人勞不知疲，辱不知恥。第三呢，是使人不必需要甚麼新學位，不得感受新思潮」。

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小說發表的1923年，正是治警事件發生的那一年，在日本採取內地延長主義的統治政策之後，也標誌了台灣人的主要反抗方式轉向非武裝的路線調整。面對著舉起「日台融合」、「一視同仁」大纛的殖民母國，1920年代開始，許多行動及結社在檯面上，不再以政治作為訴求，而是以文化團體的形式出現，例如各種學術研究會、藝術研究會、體育會、讀書會等，但正如《臺灣總督府警察沿革誌》記載的，這些以啟蒙運動為主要內容的團體，儘管帶有濃厚的文化活動性質，卻也經常基於戰術需要，出現型態與實質的不一致。在所有「不是政治結社的政治結社」中，台灣文化協會的種種文化實踐，是最精彩的案例。在知識份子眼見武裝反抗不可行，並感受到同化政策帶來的危機感，面對著就學率不到百分之30的台灣人，文協的目標除了對抗殖民統治之外，也包含了以近代知識及思想啟蒙對抗「封建舊文化」，為了達成這兩種有時相互矛盾的標的，文協同時使用了複數的思想傳播工具，以跨媒介的組織行動，開闢出台灣史上特殊的言說空間。文協因應著由都市到鄉村不同溝通對象的組成，在嚴密的殖民治理中，透過辦報、讀報社、文化講演會、通俗講習會、電影放映、文化劇團等實踐，鑿出了無數孔徑。

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「神秘的自制島上辯士作聲」將著眼於文協以「辯士」為核心的多重文化實踐，進入展場，首先會看到劇場演員扮演的辯士，透過話語將1923年的〈神秘的自制島〉「臨場式本土化」。接續則以〈神秘的自制島〉的續寫，開啟「影像的說」、「戲劇的說」、「印物的說」與「事件的說」四個環環相扣的次展區，探討「辯士」——或是「說話者」 ——的變形。在〈神秘的自制島〉的續寫中，無知再次造訪了自制島，觀察到島上的政治動盪，並訪問了島上的島民、紳士、黃巾力士及祖師，四篇以第一人稱書寫的短篇，分別回應四個次展區開啟的言說課題，期待透過寓言的加入，補足上述實踐背後的政治脈絡，提供另一種閱讀檔案的管道，並在文協成立滿百的今年，呈現出文協如何透過不同言說技藝的操作，在獨立思考日漸不可能的「自制島」上，以言說打造一具內建反饋機制的啟蒙機器。

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策劃｜

書寫公廠

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研究顧問｜

三澤真美惠

石婉舜

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文本共作｜

施昀佑

曾伯豪

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辯士出演｜

魏雋展

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影片拍攝及後製｜

萬事屋影像制作

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翻譯｜

陳柏維

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特別感謝｜

林章峯

莊明正

​財團法人蔣渭水文化基金會

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The project title was inspired by the author named Ignorance in “A Mysterious Self-Shackled Island,” a novel published in Taiwan in 1923. The novel was essay about an individual visiting to “Self-shackled Island” on the Eastern Sea in a trance. On the island, be that a woman or a gentleman, each of them wears a shackle bearing the word of “self-shackled.” The traveler inquired a gentleman on the island isn’t it nice if he is liberated from that strange ornament. The gentleman raged and told the traveler that this is something everyone longs for, so how would one want liberation from it? With that neck accessory, “To begin with, it makes people eat no food despite hunger and wear no clothes despite coldness. Secondly, it allows one to labor without exhaustion and be insulted without shame. Thirdly, it allows us to acquire no new knowledge and learn no new trends of thoughts.”

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The year 1923, when the novel was published, was also the year the Peace Act Incident took place. After Japan adopted “the Extension of the Mainland Law Policy,” it marked the shift of the major mean of resistance by the Taiwanese to a non-violent approach. Facing the colonial home country that upheld the big banners of “fusion of Japanese and Taiwanese” and “equal treatment,” many movements and associations on the table no longer appealed to politics since the 1920s. Instead, they emerged as cultural groups, such as the numerous academic societies, art societies, sports societies, study groups, among other groups. Just as the Record of Police Reform in the Office of the Taiwan Governor-General, these groups with enlightenment as the main contents, despite their rich characteristics of cultural activities, their appearances and contents were varied out of the tactical needs. Among all the “political associations that are not political associations,” the cultural practices carried out by the Taiwan Culture Association (TCA) emerged as the most brilliant case. The literati learned that armed resistance was no longer viable and felt the crisis brought by the assimilation policy. In light of the Taiwanese with a school attendance rate less than 30 percent then, the goals of the TCA included not just the resistance against the colonial reign but also the resistance against the “old culture of feudalism” with modern knowledge and enlightenment. To achieve these two goals contradictory to each other at times, the TCA utilized multiple idea communication tools. Through the cross-media organizational actions, it created a unique space for speech in the history of Taiwan. Facing different targeted audience from cities to villages, the TCA chiseled out countless pores in the strict colonial reign via practices of newspaper publication, news reading clubs, cultural lecture event, general lecture event, film screening, cultural theatre, and so on.

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“On the Mysterious Self-Shackled Island the Benshi Makes Noises” shall center around the multiple cultural practices of the TCA with “Benshi”(弁士, orators or narrators) at the core. As visitors enter the exhibition, they will see “Benshi” played by theater actors, conducting the “impromptu localization” of A Mysterious Self-Shackled Island (1923). Next, with the sequel of A Mysterious Self-Shackled Island, four interlocking sub-topical exhibition sections, “Speech within Image,” “Speech within Theatre,” “Speech within Publishing,” and “Speech within Event,” are unveiled to delve into the transformation of “Benshi” – or “speakers.” In the sequel of A Mysterious Self-Shackled Island, Ignorance visited Self-Shackled Island again, observed the political turmoil, and interviewed the islanders, the gentleman, the Might Guards with Yellow Scarf, and the Patriarch on the island. The four short stories written in the first-person point of view correspond to the speech topics introduced respectively by the four sub-topical exhibition sections. The addition of the fables is expected to supplement the political context behind the abovementioned practices, offering an alternative mean to dossier reading. Meanwhile, in this year that marks the one hundredth anniversary of the TCA establishment, it sheds light on how the TCA, through its operation with various speech techniques, built a machine of enlightenment embedded with a feedback mechanism on the “Self-Shackled Island” where independent thinking is increasingly impossible.

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Research Consultants｜

Mamie Misawa

Shih Wan-Shun

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Writing Partners｜

Yunyu “Ayo” Shih

Tseng Po-Hao

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Actor｜

Wei Chun-Chan

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Cinematography｜

Lee Yi-Cheng

Lin Yong-Yi

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Post-Production｜

Onez Production

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Translator｜

Jasper Chen

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Special Thanks｜

Lin Chang-Feng

Chuang Ming-Cheng

Chiang Wei-shui's Cultural Foundation