A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture

Barbara Mittler

ISBN 10: 0674970535 / ISBN 13: 9780674970533

Published by Harvard University, Asia Center, 2016

About this Item

Cultural Revolution Culture, often denigrated as pure propaganda, was liked not only in its heyday but continues to be enjoyed today. Considering this art music, stage works, posters, comics, literature in its longue duree, Barbara Mittler suggests it builds on a tradition of earlier works, allowing for proliferation in contemporary China. Series: Harvard East Asian Monographs. Num Pages: 502 pages, 14 halftones, 113 line illustrations. BIC Classification: 1FPC; 3JJPK; HBJF; HBLW3; HBTB; JPVN. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 181 x 254 x 38. Weight in Grams: 936. . 2016. Reprint. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780674970533

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture
• Publisher: Harvard University, Asia Center
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674970535
• ISBN 13: 9780674970533
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Cultural Revolution Culture, often denigrated as nothing but propaganda, was liked not only in its heyday but continues to be enjoyed today. A Continuous Revolution sets out to explain its legacy. By considering Cultural Revolution propaganda art―music, stage works, prints and posters, comics, and literature―from the point of view of its longue durée, Barbara Mittler suggests it was able to build on a tradition of earlier art works, and this allowed for its sedimentation in cultural memory and its proliferation in contemporary China.

Taking the aesthetic experience of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) as her base, Mittler juxtaposes close readings and analyses of cultural products from the period with impressions given in a series of personal interviews conducted in the early 2000s with Chinese from diverse class and generational backgrounds. By including much testimony from these original voices, Mittler illustrates the extremely multifaceted and contradictory nature of the Cultural Revolution, both in terms of artistic production and of its cultural experience.

About the Author

Barbara Mittler is Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.