Cold War Cultural Diplomacy in Outward State Translation of Chinese Literature in the PRC (1949–1966)

This chapter explores the blossoming of America's fascination with Thai cuisine during the Cold War. The informal postwar U.S. empire in Thailand vacillated between "hard" and "soft" power, consisting of state-sponsored dictatorships, militarization, modernization projects, and cultural diplomacy. The chapter traces how this neocolonial relationship established circuits of exchange between the two countries, making it possible for thousands of ordinary Americans (non-state actors) to go to Thailand and participate in U.S. global expansion through culinary tourism. Many, especially white women, treated Thai foodways as a window into Thai history and culture and into the psyche of the Thai people. The chapter argues that these culinary tourists constructed an idealized image of Thailand and a neocolonial Thai subject by writing "Siamese" cookbooks and teaching cooking classes to suburban homemakers back in Los Angeles, whetting Americans' appetite for an exotic Other’s cuisine.

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Soviet Cultural Diplomacy in Denmark during the Cold War: The Case of the Society for Cooperation between Denmark and the Soviet Union Kim Frederichsen

The Baltic Sea Region and the Cold War ◽

10.3726/978-3-653-01760-1/11 ◽

2016 ◽

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Soviet Union ◽

Cultural Diplomacy ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

The Cold War

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The “Natural Ally” of the “Developing World”: Bulgarian Culture in India and Mexico

Slavic Review ◽

10.1017/slr.2018.204 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 77 (3) ◽

pp. 661-684

Author(s):

Theodora Dragostinova

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Developing World ◽

Cultural Diplomacy ◽

Global South ◽

Cultural Relations ◽

The Third ◽

The Cold War ◽

The Relationship ◽

Second World

This article examines Bulgarian cultural relations with India and Mexico in the 1970s to explore the role of cultural diplomacy in the relationship between the Second and the Third Worlds during the Cold War. In 1975, Liudmila Zhivkova, the daughter of the Bulgarian leader, became the head of the Committee for Culture; under her patronage, Bulgarian officials organized literally hundreds of exhibitions, concerts, academic conferences, book readings, cultural weeks, and visits that involved the three countries in an intense cultural romance. Even though Bulgaria was known as the “Soviet master satellite,” culture provided a considerable level of independence in Bulgarian dealings with international actors, which often caused Soviet irritation. In the end, by using culture, in addition to political and economic aid, Bulgaria managed to forge its role as an intermediary between the Second World and the Global South, and to project its notions of development on a global scene.

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“I Am Afraid Americans Cannot Understand”: The Congress for Cultural Freedom in France and Italy, 1950–1957

Journal of Cold War Studies ◽

10.1162/jcws_a_00927 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 89-124

Author(s):

Andrea Scionti

Keyword(s):

Cold War ◽

Cultural Diplomacy ◽

Central Intelligence Agency ◽

International Organization ◽

The Political ◽

Intelligence Agency ◽

Congress For Cultural Freedom ◽

Political Spectrum ◽

Cultural Freedom ◽

The U.S

This article examines the nature and significance of the activities carried out in France and Italy by the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF), an international organization that was secretly funded by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to support anti-Communist intellectuals, including those on the left end of the political spectrum. These two West European countries, with their large and politically influential Communist parties, were central to the CCF's work in Europe. The organization's task was complicated by domestic concerns and traditions that forced local intellectuals to stress their autonomy from the CCF International Secretariat and its U.S. patrons. The article uses the cultural Cold War and the competing interpretations of anti-Communism and cultural freedom within the CCF as a lens to explore the limits of U.S. influence and persuasion among the intellectual classes of Europe. By repeatedly asserting their independence and agency, the French and Italian members of the CCF helped redefine the character and limits of U.S. cultural diplomacy.

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