Instutionalizing the Humanities in the P.R.C.: the 1950s / Die institutionalisierten Geisteswissenschaften im China der 1950er Jahre

Asien-Afrika-Institut, Universität Hamburg

Funded by the German Research Foundation

project beginning: 2006-2011

This project examines the content and rules of academic work in China during the 50s, specifically the then newly established fields of history, literary criticism, and philosophy. It focuses on the 1950s, as the legacy of those years still endures in present-day China. Firstly, this project will examine the interrelation between party line and academic discourse, both in terms of content and in terms of elements and patterns of ritual communication. As complementary source material, interviews with contemporary witnesses are conducted.

With regard to ideologizing the humanities, the role of the Chinese intellectuals is not seen as that of the victims nor the culprits of the process. Furthermore, Maoism is understood as a depersonalized process originating pre-1949.

The project also looks into the factors that may have contributed to the cooperation between the party and the intellectuals. In addition, both the Soviet and the pre-1949 Chinese influences on the development of the humanities in the 50s are examined, so as to better distinguish between the terms 'Maoism' and 'Stalinism'. This allows for a reconsideration of the orthodoxy and sinification of Marxist properties in Maoist China.

This project is based on research that analyzes the various discourses in China at the time, as well as theories of ritual and previous research on Stalinism. It aims to contribute to a greater sensitivity towards early signals of political change which - then as now - gradually appear and develop within academic discourse.

Responsible PI: Yvonne Schulz Zinda (philosophy)

Researcher: Marie-Theres Strauss (literary criticism)

Cooperation partner:

Wang Weijiang, Fudan University, Shanghai (historical sciences)

Christine Gölz (Soviet literature)

Sandra Dahlke, Bundeswehrhochschule Hamburg (Soviet ideology)

Wei Ling (literary criticism)