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Kerry Brown
ISBN 978-1-901903-49-2 - 192pp - Case
February 2006 - £50.00
| KEY FEATURE(S): The study closely examines the
language contained in a unique collection of
documents, including speeches, struggle-session
transcripts, self-criticisms and official
announcements, placing them in the historical and
social context in which they were produced. At the
heart of this ‘language war’ is the relationship
between the discourse and the exercise of political
power – the means by which the use of certain kinds
of language in political campaigns actively furthered
the power interests of those involved. |
The Cultural Revolution is a uniquely turbulent and controversial period in modern Chinese history, involving multiple power struggles throughout the People’s Party and at all levels. Amongst the most violent episodes was the purging of over a quarter of a million ethnic Mongolians in the Inner Mongolia area from 1967-69. For the first time, through an in-depth examination of the language used in documentation during the purges the author seeks to focus on discourse as the most meaningful way of understanding the complexity and in some respects mystery of this hateful campaign.
The key issue of what was a massive campaign was the conflict between a master narrative concerning class, which was supported by the central government in Beijing, and a local one based on ethnicity.
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