Revolutionary pedagogy: “Highest Directives” in textbook
The textbooks in the era of Cultural Revolution provide a unique perspective to the establishment of Mao’s cult. Although generally regarded a presentation of academic background and kept at a distant from political turmoil, textbooks didn’t escape from the politicization during the Cultural Revolution; rather it bore witness to the Maoists’ attempt of upraising Mao Thought to an omnipresent, universal and unchallengeable place. Similar to the banners, posters and flyers in the public places, the textbooks also carry the task of occupying the visual space and establishing a monopoly of political voice. Photographs of the preserved textbook have shown that Mao’s quotes, titled “Highest …show more content…
For instance, a short passage in an English textbook described …show more content…
The ridiculous “Criticize Einstein” movement, which labeled the theory of relativity as “reactionary subjectivism and relativism” , gave sufficient evidence to this statement. Yet back into the social context of China, the textbooks’ treatment to their subjects also corroborated the replacement of individual rationality and self-determinacy by an omnipresent, unified political judgment. In one case, the diary of a PLA soldier noted her deep remorse after inadvertently called a poorly printed Mao’s Selected work “shabby book”. “ ‘Shabby’ is my catch phrase. It’s not good, because catch phrases also have class nature.” She commented, “In whatever cases, I must take the view of class conflicts to treat every issue.”
Therefore accompanying the deification of Mao was the politicization of all aspects of personal life, and diminishing individuality. An easily manipulated populace thereby came to the stage—an intended goal of the propagandists who edited the textbook. The significance of such a unified crowed in maintaining the political order during the Cultural Revolution couldn’t be
The textbooks in the era of Cultural Revolution provide a unique perspective to the establishment of Mao’s cult. Although generally regarded a presentation of academic background and kept at a distant from political turmoil, textbooks didn’t escape from the politicization during the Cultural Revolution; rather it bore witness to the Maoists’ attempt of upraising Mao Thought to an omnipresent, universal and unchallengeable place. Similar to the banners, posters and flyers in the public places, the textbooks also carry the task of occupying the visual space and establishing a monopoly of political voice. Photographs of the preserved textbook have shown that Mao’s quotes, titled “Highest …show more content…
For instance, a short passage in an English textbook described …show more content…
The ridiculous “Criticize Einstein” movement, which labeled the theory of relativity as “reactionary subjectivism and relativism” , gave sufficient evidence to this statement. Yet back into the social context of China, the textbooks’ treatment to their subjects also corroborated the replacement of individual rationality and self-determinacy by an omnipresent, unified political judgment. In one case, the diary of a PLA soldier noted her deep remorse after inadvertently called a poorly printed Mao’s Selected work “shabby book”. “ ‘Shabby’ is my catch phrase. It’s not good, because catch phrases also have class nature.” She commented, “In whatever cases, I must take the view of class conflicts to treat every issue.”
Therefore accompanying the deification of Mao was the politicization of all aspects of personal life, and diminishing individuality. An easily manipulated populace thereby came to the stage—an intended goal of the propagandists who edited the textbook. The significance of such a unified crowed in maintaining the political order during the Cultural Revolution couldn’t be