University of Cambridge

Graduate Student, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

King's College

Thesis Title: The Politics of Art, the Intellectual Configuration of Individual and Nation-Building under Marxist Discourse in China, 1918-1930

About

My research interest lies in the study of the origin and practice of political propaganda in China since the establishment of the Republican China by political parties. From the highly influential cold-war perspective, political and ideological propaganda is normally treated as a form of indoctrination, which conveys nothing but negativity and jeopardises the recognition and the development of individuality. However, as I argue, political and ideological propaganda during the socio-political revolutionary period, functions as a channel that connects the political elites, intellectuals, and the general public.

I intend to investigate the intrinsic mechanism of the formation of political and ideological propaganda and its relations with the construction of modern Chinese national identity, individuality, citizenship, and society. I believe that the study of ideological propaganda provides a scope for us to better understand the historical origin and the structure of the above listed categories. Therefore, can help us to better understand the logic and problems of contemporary China, which is the consequence of a century long socio-political revolution.


My current PhD project focuses on the study of Chinese Marxist intellectuals. I look at their self-recognition based on the reception of Marxist ideology, and their conscious involvement of political activities functioning as the middle man between new ideologies and the mass during social and political revolutions from the late 1910s to early 1930s. Although the major research subjects are writers and cultural critics in China in the 1920s and 30s, this research is more of a interdisciplinary one. Heavily inspired by the works of the British social historians and scholars in Birmingham School, my work intends to understand the social dynamic of left-wing thought and its formation in as well as its influence on society. As this study elaborates, through the translation of international law in mid-19th century, "individual" and "sovereign nation", as legal and political concepts, were generally received by the reformists in China as bases for social reformation. More political writings began to address the issue of how to balance the relationship between the individual and society/nation in order to achieve a better future. Marxism, or the Marxist vision for social construction became dominate the late 1910s in China after the Russian October Revolution and the end of First World War.  The proletarian class was generally portrayed as the subject of history and the foundation for the well-being of a future society. The promotion and construction of the collective identity (i.e. the proletarian class) were in the hands of intellectuals who were also politically active. To them, the possibility of class transformation for individuals and the social construction of a class were two major theoretical questions which also had their political significance during the nation-building process and party conflicts in the 1920s and 30s.

I believe, Marx's own involvments in discussions on "Bewusstseinsformen" were a undertaking to reveal the political significances of philosophy, art, and history for understanding the position of man as well as the imposition in the social contexts. The cliche against Marxism and the stereotype against his observation on "ideology" leave these issues less studied and even forgotten today. However, the power of intellecutal movements since the late 19th century tremendously shaped today's socio-political structures and also created many of the major issues in today's intellectual sphere. My work aims to understand the theoretical and political reasons behind such intellectual involvement, as well as the socio-historical motivation for the emergence of such involvement in mainly East Asia in the early 20th century. This study also aims to demonstrate the coherent global connection of such a socio-political phenomenon.

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