scholarly journals Music Iconography, Opera, Gender and Cultural Revolution – The Case Study of the Kwok On Collection (Portugal)

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 365-398
Author(s):  
Luzia Aurora Rocha
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Mao Zedong ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Feminine ◽  
New Vision ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Indispensable Tool ◽  
Music Iconography

Abstract This study aims to revisit the creation of opera, symphonic versions of opera and ballet (yangbanxi) during the period of the Cultural Revolution of Mao's China. Beginning with the Kwok Collection (Fundação Oriente, Portugal), I aim to establish a new vision of the yangbanxi (production and reception) by means of an analysis of sources with musical iconography. The focus of the study is on questions of gender and the way in which the feminine was an indispensable tool for the construction and dissemination of the idea of a new nation-state. This study thus aims to make a new contribution to the area, showing how the construction of new opera heroines, communist and of the proletariat, is built on the image of the first “heroine-villain” constructed by the regime, Jiang Qing, the fourth wife of Mao Zedong. The title chosen demonstrates the paradox of the importance of woman in opera and in politics at a time when the only image to be left to posterity was that of a dominant male hero, Mao Zedong.

The Witch-Hunting Vanguard: The Central Secretariat's Roles and Activities in the Anti-Rightist Campaign

2011 ◽  
Vol 206 ◽  
pp. 391-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-lin Chung
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Chinese Communist Party ◽  
Mao Zedong ◽  
The Political ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
The People ◽  
The Witch ◽  
Witch Hunt

AbstractWhen the king went astray, the people suffered for it. Just as a wayward king needed loyal and capable courtiers to implement his wishes, so too did Mao Zedong in the People's Republic of China. The Anti-Rightist Campaign was one of Mao's controversial policies, and involved him delegating his trusted followers to implement his political initiatives. This article examines how the Central Secretariat, led by Deng Xiaoping, effectively implemented and strictly supervised the process, as well as the negative influences of the Central Secretariat on this witch-hunt-like campaign. It thus provides a case study of how the Central Secretariat operated and functioned as a powerful political apparatus in the political processes of the Chinese Communist Party during the pre-Cultural Revolution period.

scholarly journals Oil Paintings and Politics: Weaving a Heroic Tale of the Chinese Communist Revolution

2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang-Tai Hung
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Fine Arts ◽  
Mao Zedong ◽  
Oil Painting ◽  
Tiananmen Square ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
Art And Politics ◽  
Oil Paintings ◽  
New Nation ◽  
The Cultural Revolution

“In my entire life I did not produce a single painting that was uppermost in mind to create,” the celebrated painter Dong Xiwen (1914–1973) reportedly lamented on his deathbed. Dong may not have produced the dream piece that he would truly cherish, but he did create, albeit unwillingly, a deeply controversial work of art in his 1953 oil painting The Founding Ceremony of the Nation (Kaiguo dadian) (Figures 1 and 2), for it epitomizes the tension between art and politics in the People's Republic of China (PRC). In this famous piece, Dong portrays Chairman Mao Zedong (1893–1976) in Tiananmen Square on 1 October 1949, with his senior associates in attendance—Liu Shaoqi (1898–1969), Zhu De (1886–1976), Zhou Enlai (1898–1976), Gao Gang (1905–1954), Lin Boqu (1886–1960), and others. They are surrounded by huge lanterns, a Chinese symbol of prosperity, and a sea of red banners that declare the founding of a new nation. When first unveiled in 1953, the painting was widely hailed as one of the greatest oil paintings ever produced by a native artist. In just three months more than half-a-million reproductions of the painting were sold. But the fate of this work soon took an ominous turn, and the artist was requested to make three major revisions during his lifetime. In 1954 Dong was instructed to excise Gao Gang from the scene when Gao was purged by the Party for allegedly plotting to seize power and create an “independent kingdom” in Manchuria. During the Cultural Revolution in the mid-1960s Liu Shaoqi was accused of advocating a “bourgeois reactionary line” and subsequently was purged, and Dong was ordered in 1967 to redo his painting again and erased Liu from the inauguration scene. Then, in 1972, also during the Cultural Revolution, the radicals, commonly labeled the “Gang of Four,” ordered a third revision, namely, that Lin Boqu be eliminated from the painting for allegedly opposing the marriage of Mao and Jiang Qing (1914–1991) during the Yan'an days. By this time Dong was dying of cancer and was too ill to pick up the brush, so his student Jin Shangyi (b. 1934), and another artist, Zhao Yu (1926–1980), were assigned the task. These two artists, afraid of doing further damage to the original piece, eventually produced a replica of the painting, with the ailing Dong brought from the hospital for consultation on his embattled work. Though Dong died the following year, the ill-fated story of The Founding Ceremony of the Nation did not end: in 1979, with the demise of the Gang of Four and the Party's official rehabilitation of Liu Shaoqi, the images of Liu, Gao Gang, and Lin Boqu were restored in the painting. Because Jin Shangyi was on a foreign tour, Yan Zhenduo (b. 1940), a graduate of the Department of Oil Painting at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), was called upon to help reinstall the three leaders.

Transitioning Business for a Circular Economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan EVANS
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Virtual Space ◽  
Professional Experience ◽  
Operational Model ◽  
New Vision ◽  
To Come ◽  
Space Requirements

This case study explores the strategic business opportunities, for Lane Crawford, an iconic luxury department store, to transition in a circular economy towards sustainability. A new experimentation framework was developed and conducted among cross departmental employees, during a Design Lab, with intention to co-create novel Circular Economy business concepts towards a new vision: the later was a reframe of the old system based on the principles of sustainability; to move beyond a linear operational model towards a circular economy that can contribute to a regenerative society. This work draws on both academic and professional experience and was conducted through professional practice. It was found that innovative co-created concepts, output from the Design Lab, can create radical change in a circular economy that is holistically beneficial and financially viable; looking forward to extract greater value a)Internal organization requires remodeling to transform towards a circular economy; b)Requirement for more horizonal teams across departments vs solely vertical; c)New language and relationships are required to be able to transition towards a circular economy; d)Some form of physical and virtual space requirements, for cross-disciplinary teams to come together to co-create; e)Ability to iterate, learn and evolve requires agency across the business

Venice Between Fascism and International Tourism, 1911–45

Modern Italy ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.J.B. Bosworth
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Revolution ◽  
Political History ◽  
International Tourism ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Italian City ◽  
Fascist Regime ◽  
The Cultural Revolution

SummaryThis article uses Venice as a case study of the ‘cultural revolution’ urged by some historians as a feature of the totalitarianizing ambition of the Fascist regime. But Bosworth finds a Venice which, though plainly affected by Fascism, nonetheless preserved much that was its own and much that expressed a continuity with the liberal era before 1922 and the liberal democratic one after 1945. He shows that many of the rhythms of Venetian life moved in ways which were different from those of political history, and argues that such differences ensured that Fascism scarcely instituted an all-controlling and completely alienating totalitarian society, at least in this Italian city.

International Human Rights, Religious Pluralism and the Future of Chieftaincy in Ghana

Exchange ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 360-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abamfo Atiemo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Religious Commitment ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Nation States ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Religious Reasons ◽  
Customary Practices

AbstractA revolutionary development that resulted from Africa's experience of colonialism was the emergence of the nation-state made up of previously separate ethnic states. By the end of the colonial period the rulers of these ethnic states — the chiefs — had lost most of their real political and judicial powers to the political leaders of the new nation-states. But in spite of the loss of effective political power the chiefs continued to wield moral influence over members of their ethnic groups. The limited reach of the nation-state in the post-colonial era has also meant a dependence on the chiefs, in many cases, for aspects of local governance. This, for example, is the case of Ghana. However, in the modern context of religious pluralism the intimate bond between the chiefs and the traditional religion exacerbates tension in situations of conflict between people's loyalty to the traditional state and their religious commitment. In some cases, chiefs invoke customary laws in attempt to enforce sanctions against individuals who refuse to observe certain customary practices for religious reasons. But this has implications for the human rights of citizens. This article discusses the implications of this situation for the future of chieftaincy as well as prospects for the protection of the human rights of citizens who for religious reasons choose to stay away from certain communal customary practices.

The Role of the Chularajmontri (Shaykh al-IslOEm) in Resolving Ethno-religious Conflict in Southern Thailand

2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-53
Author(s):  
Imtiyaz Yusuf
Keyword(s):  
Significant Role ◽  
National Level ◽  
Religious Conflict ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Religious Nationalism ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
Southern Thailand ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Set Up

The century-old conflict in southern Thailand, which began with Siam’s annexation of the former Malay sultanate of Negara Patani in 1909, reemerged viciously in 2004 – with no end in sight. The Thai state expected that its official head of the Muslim community at the national level, the chularajmontri (shaykh al-Islam), whose office was set up in 1945 to integrate all Thai Muslims into the new nation-state of Thailand (formerly called Siam), would lay a significant role in resolving the southern conflict. Thus, this office was entrusted with tackling the issue of ethno-religious nationalism among the southern Muslims, an important factor lying at the root of this conflict. The office was expected to address the Thai nation-state’s political and socio-religious needs via promoting a pro-integration religious interpretation of Islam. This paper contends that its failure to contribute toward the conflict’s resolution lies in the differences in the two parties’ historical, ethnic, and religious interpretations of Islam.

scholarly journals Straddling the Border: A Marginal History of Guerrilla Warfare and ‘Counter-Insurgency’ in the Indonesian Borderlands, 1960s–1970s

2011 ◽  
Vol 45 (6) ◽  
pp. 1423-1463 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL EILENBERG
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Guerrilla Warfare ◽  
Nation State ◽  
National Belonging ◽  
West Kalimantan ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Nation States ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Nation ◽  
International Border

AbstractPost-independence ethnic minorities inhabiting the Southeast Asian borderlands were willingly or unwillingly pulled into the macro politics of territoriality and state formation. The rugged and hilly borderlands delimiting the new nation-states became battlefronts of state-making and spaces of confrontation between divergent political ideologies. In the majority of the Southeast Asian borderlands, this implied violent disruption in the lives of local borderlanders that came to affect their relationship to their nation-state. A case in point is the ethnic Iban population living along the international border between the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan and the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. Based on local narratives, the aim of this paper is to unravel the little known history of how the Iban segment of the border population in West Kalimantan became entangled in the highly militarized international disputes with neighbouring Malaysia in the early 1960s, and in subsequent military co-operative ‘anti-communist’ ‘counter-insurgency’ efforts by the two states in the late 1960–1970s. This paper brings together facets of national belonging and citizenship within a borderland context with the aim of understanding the historical incentives behind the often ambivalent, shifting and unruly relationship between marginal citizens like the Iban borderlanders and their nation-state.

scholarly journals DOMINANT OR DIFFERENT? GENDER ISSUES IN COMPUTER SUPPORTED LEARNING

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathy Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Educational Opportunity ◽  
Technology Literacy ◽  
Dominant Male ◽  
Interaction Style ◽  
Cultural Complexity ◽  
Interaction Styles ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Electronic Channels ◽  
Better Than

A significant increase in the use of computer-supported learning (CSL) within schools and universities across the world gives rise to concern about gender-related differences in performance and interaction style in these environments. Research has shown that initial perceptions of CSL environments as democratic and offering equal opportunities to all students were flawed because interactions that take place through electronic channels lose none of the socio-cultural complexity or gender imbalance that exists within society. Much of the recent literature states that women are disadvantaged because of inferior levels of access and technology literacy and dominant male behavior. However, the assumption that difference implies disadvantage is challenged by evidence that variable factors such as professed confidence and apparently dominant interaction styles do not necessarily lead to better educational opportunity and performance. This paper contains a summary of gender-related issues identified by international research and academic practice together with supportive case study examples. The conclusion is that women often perform better than men despite the observable differences in interaction style.

scholarly journals Imagining a Borderless Future: Methodologies for Multimodal Remix in Pan-terrestrial People’s Anthem

Media-N ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Haik Demirjian
Keyword(s):  
Visual Design ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Core ◽  
Emotional Bonds ◽  
False Sense ◽  
Closed Door ◽  
Music Lyrics

Flags and national anthems, as symbols of the nation state, frequently rely on music, lyrics and visual design to enlist and manipulate emotional bonds. Can these same tools be used, alternatively, to disentangle connections to our concepts of country, notions of borders or even the idea of the nation state itself? This is the question at the core of Pan-terrestrial People’s Anthem, an interdisciplinary remixing of the lyrics and music of 195 countries’ national anthems and their corresponding flags to create a body of poetry, music and videos. In an era of increasing closed-door nationalism, this article proposes that remix strategies can be used to unravel our concepts of nations, which traditionally magnify differences between countries and overemphasize a false sense of uniqueness, and to point instead to the interconnectedness between populations. In this context, remix strategies become a model for a future imaginary, a world that emphasizes the interdependence of beings and spaces that transcend established geopolitical boundaries. Through the case study of Pan-terrestrial People’s Anthem, I argue that remix strategies are particularly well suited as an aesthetic structural tactic for engaging with pressing issues where intertwined and entangled futures are at stake. 

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