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"Just beat it!" Popular Legacies of Cultural Revolution Culture

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Thursday, November 06, 2014
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Barbara Mittler, University of Heidelberg and Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies

Why are the model works and revolutionary songs from the Cultural Revolution still so popular in contemporary China? Why is it that they reappear in Karaoke Bars and on Home-Videos? Numerous Chinese websites celebrate memories of Cultural Revolution propaganda art; people get married in "Cultural Revolution Style". For a while in the early 2000s, Mao's portrait dangled in almost every taxi and his portrait is ubiquitous in high art as well as on popular items. Why is it that the products of a period in Chinese history known for its radical politics and horrors inflicted on so many so appreciated? These are some of the questions addressed in an award-winning study by Barbara Mittler, A Continuous Revolution: Making Sense of Cultural Revolution Culture, to be introduced to you in this presentation. Professor Barbara Mittler is Chair, Institute of Chinese Studies, University of Heidelberg and Director, Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies

Contact: Debbie Hunt