Songshan Cultural and Creative Park — Attraction in Taipei

Edward Filene helped to establish the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) as a nonprofit, educational organ in October 1937 to educate the American public on propaganda and to analyse propaganda techniques (Filene 1937; Hobbs & McGee 2014; Propaganda Techniques of German Fascism 1938). ‘Fascist Germany illustrates how propaganda is used both to bring a dictator into power and to aid him in maintaining power’ (Propaganda Techniques of German Fascism 1938: 37).

Seven techniques, the common ‘tricks of the trade’ had been identified: Name Calling, Glittering Generalities, Transfer, Testimonial, Plain Folks, Card Stacking and Band Wagon (Hobbs & McGee 2014; How to Detect Propaganda 1938; Propaganda Techniques of German Fascism 1938; Sproule 2001). Publicists operate as frame strategists, ‘who strive to determine how situations, attributes, choices, actions, issues, and responsibility [- the seven models of framing] should be posed to achieve favo[u]rable outcomes for clients’ (Hallahan 1999: 224). ‘Fully developed frames typically perform four functions: problem definition, causal analysis, moral judgment, and remedy promotion’ (Entman 1993, 2004 as cited in Entman 2007).

Propaganda techniques and framing models are useful tools to analyse propaganda in relation to Resolution 2758. Name Calling is a device to form a judgment toward individuals, groups, nations, races, policies, practices, beliefs and ideals without examining evidence by appealing to hate and fear (e.g. heretic, communist, fascist, demadictator, Red, financial oligarchy, muck-rak outside agitator, economic royalist, Utopian, rabble-trouble-maker, Tory, Constitution wrecker, etc.); Glittering Generalities deploys virtue words (e.g. truth, freedom, honor, liberty, social justice, public service, the right to work, loyalty, progress, democracy, the American way, Constitution defender, love, generosity, brotherhood, etc.) to form judgment under emotional responses in the pursuit of shining ideals; Transfer extends authority, sanction and prestige to establish identification with an alternative national or religious symbol intended for recognition or acceptance; Band Wagon attempts to create a ‘follow the crowd’ scenario and to accept the ‘programs en masse’ by appealing to nation, religion, race, region, sex, or occupation based on common fears and hatreds, prejudice, biases, convictions and ideals, etc. (Hobbs & McGee 2014; How to Detect Propaganda 1938; Propaganda Techniques of German Fascism 1938; Sproule 2001).

Issue framing is founded on interpretation: ‘[i]ssues frequently result in extensive public discussion and frequently require resolution within a public policy forum’ (Hallahan 1999: 217); responsibility framing: ‘the attribution of responsibility does not always reflect the objective facts of a situation accurately and can be distorted based on how events are described’ (Hallahan 1999: 219); action framing: ‘describe action that might be undertaken by individuals to achieve a desired goal’ (Hallahan 1999: 215).

Sources: Entman, R.M. 2007. Framing bias... Journal of Communication 57, 163–173. doi:10.1111/j.1460-2466.2006.00336.x

Filene, E. 1937. Propaganda. EIU. https://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~bpoulter/2001/pdfs/propaganda.pdf

Hallahan, K. 1999. Seven models of framing... Journal of Public Relations Research 11(3), 205–242. https://sites.pitt.edu/~mitnick/BPweb/HallahanSevenModelsFramingJPubRelRes.pdf

Hobbs, R. & McGee, S. 2014. Teaching about propaganda... Journal of Media Literacy Education 6(2), 56-67. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1046525.pdf

How to detect propaganda. 1938. Bulletin of the American Association of University Professors (1915-1955), 24(1), 49–55. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40219502

Propaganda techniques of German Fascism. 1938. In Propaganda Analysis Vol.1(8), 37-53. https://archive.org/details/IPAVol1

Sproule, J. M. 2001. Authorship and origins of the seven propaganda devices... Rhetoric and Public Affairs, 4(1), 135–143. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41939653

I really enjoyed my walk around this park, which uses an old Japanese colonial era tobacco factory as its center piece. The sprawling factory has been lovingly restored and houses both private and public efforts in promoting Taiwanese design and made in Taiwan products. The factory in itself is a rather fascinating place to walk through, and was probably a notable landmark in its time (the road around it is called Tobacco Plant Road in Chinese). Besides the factory floor, the company also had live in quarters for their staffers, complete with bathhouse, park (complete with very cute penguin and sealion water features - must have been a delightful sight in the 1930s as it is for me, even now) and schooling facilities. The management put in office furnishings that were standard in that era, and it was interesting to imagine in that physical space what life could have been in that factory. Products on sale in the park were kinda standard type stuff you can get in lifestyle shops peppered across the island in places like Eslite (in fact, the park is adjacent to Eslite Spectrum and Eslite hotel), but I rather enjoyed the creative take that they had on Mosaic and ceramic tiles used in that era in items such as notepads and bags. The place is free to visit, but there are poorly marked exhibits (usually on tour from other countries) that need you to purchase tickets for. I would rate this place as a great place to dream away a bit leisurely afternoon (and soak in what it could have been like during the Japanese colonial era), but personally, if this were your first time in Taiwan, there are other places where I would visit as a priority, such as the Palace Museum and the magnificent Taipei 101.

One of the heritage factories converted into an attraction, as is common around all of Taiwan, where many historical sites are cleverly converted and converted as design and cultural parks, with retail offerings promoting the culture of Taiwan. This cultural park at SongShan was converted from a cigarette factory and plays host to different exhibitions and events each week. Weekends usually see a design and arts themed flea where nano brands hawk their wares.

Usually it’s a combination of crystals, tarot readings, petite homemade pastries, fashion jewellery, pets toys, clothing, natural foods and drinks, and so on. It depends on your affinity with the store and their wares to find something that suits your taste.

In the cultural park itself there also exists several retail areas, one curating various brands of Taiwan, including leather craft, fruit wines, taichung tea and various forms of art and design. The design store also stocks interesting specialised brands that add a high class design element to everyday products as part of home decor. As is often the case, there is a design premium added to the pricing of most products available here. Still, it’s fun to browse the trends and ideas of emerging brands and who knows, one could find something that really catches your eye too.

Personally i just had a can of tea-beer and picked out some postcards from the yuanzhuming products store, and mainly ‘window-shopped’ in my time here, though the fruit wines were interesting too. Would recommend as a place to spend a lazy afternoon.