From Ah Q to Lei Feng: Freud and Revolutionary Spirit in 20th Century China

When Freudian sexual theory hit China in the early 20th century, it ran up against competing models of the mind from both Chinese tradition and the new revolutionary culture. Chinese theorists of the mind--both traditional intellectuals and revolutionary psychologists-- steadily put forward the anti-Freud: a mind shaped not by deep interiority that must be excavated by professionals, but shaped instead by social and cultural interactions.

Chinese novelists and film directors understood this focus and its relationship to Mao's revolutionary ethos, and much of the literature of twentieth-century China reflects the spiritual qualities of the revolutionary mind. From Ah Q to Lei Feng investigates the continual clash of these contrasting models of the mind provided by Freud and revolutionary Chinese culture, and explores how writers and filmmakers negotiated with the implications of each model.

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Author: Wendy Larson
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 10/16/2008
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.30w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9780804700757

Review Citation(s):
Reference and Research Bk News 02/01/2009 pg. 275
Choice 06/01/2009

About the Author
Wendy Larson is a Professor of Modern Chinese Literature at the University of Oregon. She has published extensively on 20th century Chinese culture, including Women and Writing in Modern China (Stanford, 1998).