The Chinese Cultural Revolution: A History

by Paul Clark

• ISBN13: 9780521875158
• ISBN10: 0521875153
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-03-24
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

A groundbreaking study of cultural life during a turbulent and formative decade in contemporary China, this book seeks to explode several myths about the Cultural Revolution (officially 1966-1976). Through national and local examination of the full range of cultural forms (film, operas, dance, other stage arts, music, fine arts, literature, and even architecture), Clark argues against characterizing this decade as one of chaos and destruction. Rather, he finds that innovation and creativity, promotion of participation in cultural production, and a vigorous promotion of the modern were all typical of the Cultural Revolution. Using a range of previously little-used materials, Clark forces us to fundamentally reassess our understanding of the Cultural Revolution, a period which he sees as the product of innovation in conflict with the effort by political leaders to enforce a top-down modernity.

Table of Contents

Figures	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Chronology of Cultural and Political Developments, 1949-1980s	p. xi
Introduction: A Revolution in Culture	p. 1
Modelling a New Culture	p. 10
Modernizing Chinese Opera	p. 11
The Start of the Cultural Revolution	p. 18
The First Five Model Operas	p. 26
The Art of the Model Operas	p. 43
Spreading the New Models	p. 55
Proclaiming the Model Performances	p. 56
Other Model Operas	p. 62
Transplanting the Models	p. 73
The Importance of the Model Performances	p. 88
Reorganizing the Ranks	p. 92
Fixing Culture on Film	p. 109
Films Besieged	p. 112
Cleansing the Ranks	p. 116
Fixing the Model Performances on Film	p. 123
New-Style Feature Films	p. 134
Growing the Industry, Pleasing Audiences	p. 145
Elaborating Culture: Dance, Music, Stage, and Fine Arts	p. 157
Dancing for the Revolution	p. 158
Scoring the Revolution: Music	p. 175
Staging Culture: Spoken Drama, Quyi, and Other Performance Forms	p. 192
Visualizing the Modern: Fine Arts and Architecture	p. 202
Writing Wrongs: Public and Private Fictions and Resistance	p. 217
Models on the Page: Official Literature	p. 218
Hidden Pleasures: Unofficial, Underground Literature	p. 226
Model Assertions: Criticizing Works	p. 231
Screening Resistance: Films under Attack	p. 240
Conclusion: Forcing Modernity	p. 249
Notes	p. 263
Bibliography	p. 325
Index	p. 339
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