Loading the Matrix: Taiwanese in Historical Perspective Ann Heylen Introduction In 1895, Taiwan shifted from a Chinese province to a Japanese colony. This funda- mental change in ‘belonging’ gradually drew the attention to Taiwan as an entity, along with the awakening of the Taiwanese people who directed their opposition to the structural and cultural inequalities established by the Japanese colonial authorities. One of these colonial policies was linguistic centralization, mediated through formal education and literacy campaigns. Intellectual debates in the formation of the Taiwan- ese nationalist discourse in the 1920s and 1930s inspired calls for colonial reform for- mulated in the context of ‘elevating Taiwan culture’ (tíshēng Táiwān wénhuà 提升臺 灣文). Demands for educational changes not only pertained to structural and insti- tutional reform but also instigated a reflection on the inadequacy of the Chinese and Japanese languages in Taiwan in participating in the modern world that Japan prom- ised. Three language reform movements emerged: the Mandarin báihuàwén move- ment (白話文運動, the Romanized peh-ōe-jī movement (羅馬字運動) and the Written Taiwanese movement (臺灣話文運動). Each movement was driven by the search for a common language that was capable to mobilize the Taiwanese population, overcome the widespread problem of illiteracy, and make the masses receptive to change. The article intends to provide a historical perspective on the linguistic underpin- nings of present day Taiwanese nationalism, with special reference to the discourse of Taiwanese (táiyǔ 台語, táiwānhuàwén 臺灣話文) as a language within the colonial context. What facts and forces were incipient? Who were the proponents and oppo- nents of the Written Taiwanese movement, whose interests were served, and, what was achieved? Special reference shall be made to the model of language standardiza- tion embedded in the contemporaneous nation-state driven language ideology. I shall draw on one particular theory of socio-linguistics which discusses aspects of language development in a matrix form. Defining the Matrix In the cultural studies jargon, the term matrix fits well into the discussion of cyber culture, virtual reality and the inner psyche of the Net. 1 In socio-linguistics, a matrix model refers to an aggregate of variables mutually interdependent for understanding the interrelation between language and society. Used in this context, one can discuss 1 For a discussion, see SMELIK, ANNEKE, Het lichaam ontstegen, p. 73–84.