Using the Old to Serve the Present, and the Foreign to Serve China: Chinese Nationalism and Chinese Identity in Cultural Revolution Media

Advisors: Charles K. Armstrong (Columbia), Taylor C. Sherman (LSE)

The present work seeks to situate and explicate the idea of “Chinese” identity that was portrayed in media produced during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). A brief survey of the history of Chinese national identity shows a complex relationship with traditional nationalisms, as identified by Benedict Anderson, and the development of China’s various “national” projects, and the identities they created. Taking a cue from Prasenjit Duara, this dissertation complicates linear, constructivist and evolutionary models of modern Chinese history. In doing so, it demonstrates how contemporary modes of presentation often draw upon and readapt the ancient and non-local ideas, organically creating new syntheses, which are often dismissed, due to politicization or the perception of being “propaganda”. The media and culture of the Cultural Revolution, while being political propaganda par-excellence, are indicative of the creativity of both the Chinese state and its subjects in “using the old to serve the new and using the foreign to serve the Chinese”.