Rethinking the Cultural Revolution: Embracing New Perspectives and Narratives | CeMEAS Conversations

In this interview, Rebecca Karl discusses the significance of the Cultural Revolution in China and its impact on global history. She emphasizes how it marked a pivotal moment when Chinese society challenged hierarchical structures and bureaucratic dominance, advocating for democratic decision-making. Despite resulting in chaos and social upheaval, the Cultural Revolution inspired movements worldwide, resonating with anti-war, anti-colonial, and civil rights efforts.

Karl also explores the ‘cultural’ aspects of the Cultural Revolution, highlighting how cultural forms were not just influenced by politics but integral to revolutionary goals. Cultural production during this period aimed to transform consciousness and everyday life, reflecting Maoist ideals that linked culture directly with political and economic reform.

Regarding memory and narrative, Karl explains how different groups, including intellectuals, the government, and ordinary citizens, shape their recollections of the Cultural Revolution based on their experiences and perspectives. These narratives vary widely, from trauma and victimization to positive experiences of empowerment and social change, underscoring the contested nature of historical memory.

Karl underscores the role of memoirs in understanding the Cultural Revolution, noting how these accounts initially focused on trauma but evolved over time to include broader reflections on personal experiences and societal impacts. Memoirs thus serve as crucial documents in documenting and studying this complex period in Chinese history.

Moreover, Karl stresses the importance of reassessing the Cultural Revolution’s economic achievements beyond traditional capitalist metrics. She underscores the redistribution of wealth and advancements in education and healthcare as transformative, despite their basic nature by modern standards. Karl contends that these initiatives, often overshadowed by narratives of destruction, merit a more nuanced examination for their profound societal impacts.

Ultimately, Karl urges a broader perspective on the Cultural Revolution, one that embraces its multifaceted impacts beyond intra-party struggles or ideological conflicts. She encourages researchers to leverage existing archival resources, despite challenges, to pose more incisive questions and uncover overlooked aspects of this pivotal historical period.

She answers the following questions:

1. Can you explain the significance of the Cultural Revolution in China and its broader impact on modern world history?

2. What aspects of China’s Cultural Revolution are inherently ‘cultural,’ and how do these cultural dimensions intersect with its revolutionary objectives?

3. How is the Cultural Revolution remembered, and what factors contribute to the different ways these narratives are shaped?

4. Why are memoirs important for understanding the Cultural Revolution, and how have these accounts evolved over time and distance?

5. Do you think the legacy of the Cultural Revolution still exists in contemporary Chinese society? In what ways is it manifested?

Rebecca E. Karl teaches modern history at New York University in New York. She has studied and written widely on modern and contemporary China, social theory, feminism, twentieth-century political economy, and other related arenas. She is the President of the NYU chapter of the Association of American University Professors and works to protect academic freedom and the freedom to assemble and protest on campus; she is the co-founder of Critical China Scholars (https://criticalchinascholars.org/), a collective of Euro-America-based scholars who think critically about the legacies of the Chinese revolution and global China relations today; and she is co-founding co-editor of positionspolitics.org. The website connected to the print journal positions, which publishes on issues of contemporary concern in Asian Studies generally.

She is also on the editorial collective of positions, Notebooks: The Journal for Studies on Power, among others. During the summer term of 2024, Rebecca Karl will serve as a visiting lecturer at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Göttingen, where she will be responsible for the seminar titled “The Chinese Cultural Revolution in Global Context.”