Agnes Smedley between Berlin, Bombay, and Beijing

This chapter examines how the global circulation of sexology intertwined with communism and national independence by focusing on the writings of American journalist Agnes Smedley as well as the letters written to her by the Indian revolutionary Bakar Ali Mirza. More specifically, it considers sexual science's connections to leftist psychoanalysis and to the Indian independence movement during the 1920s. It discusses Smedley's self-conscious mobilization of the language of sexual science as a path toward revolution and modern selfhood, doing so by shuttling between India, Germany, China, and the United States. The Berlin–India nexus and Mirza's correspondence with Smedley highlight the intrinsic interrelationships among the liberational rhetoric of leftist politics, feminism, sexual rights, national independence, and psychoanalytic introspection. The chapter also considers how Smedley and her Indian revolutionary interlocutors negotiated new definitions of femininity, masculinity, and sexuality emerging from the global movements of sexual science, radical politics, and psychoanalysis.

Representing China: Lin Yutang vs. American “China Hands” in the 1940s

In the 1930s and 1940s, American representations of China were divided between pro-Nationalist groups, notably Henry Luce's media enterprise, and a host of “China Hands” accused of being pro-Communist. Though these “China Hands” came from diff erent professions – journalists (Edgar Snow, Theodore White), academics (Owen Lattimore, John Fairbank), political activists (Agnes Smedley) – they formed a distinct group of American liberal cosmopolitan intellectuals. They achieved their cultural capital through their writings on China as “China experts.” Unlike their predecessors, they were Progressive liberals who allied themselves with the cause of China's modernization. But their vision ran against that of a Chinese cosmopolitan intellectual – Lin Yutang. With the initial support of Pearl Buck, Lin became the most well-known liberal intellectual from China and the self-styled cultural and political spokesman on U.S.-China relations in the 1940s America. Lin's debate with the “China Hands” over American representation of China spelled the end of his “American success.” By revisiting this debate, I do not want to re-invoke the issue of “Who Lost China?” Instead, this article maps out a critical terrain for understanding and questioning liberal cosmopolitan diff erence over American representations of China.

Clandestine Agent: The Real Agnes Smedley

This essay reviews a new biography of Agnes Smedley, a radical American writer and journalist who secretly worked for the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communist Party on various endeavors, including espionage. When Smedley was accused in the late 1940s of having been a Soviet spy, she staunchly denied the allegations and depicted herself as an innocent victim of a McCarthyite smear. Ruth Price, the author of the new biography, initially expected to find that Smedley had indeed been unjustly accused of spying for the Soviet Union. But as Price sifted through newly available materials from Russia and China, she made the disconcerting discovery that Smedley had in fact eagerly served as an agent of influence and spy for the Soviet Union and the Chinese Communists. This case illustrates some of the complexities that arise when assessing why certain Western intellectuals and government officials decided to become spies for the Soviet Union.

Bearing Witness: Maoism as Religion

The role of foreign witnesses in describing exceptional historical events can contribute to the way those events unfold. Three examples serve to illustrate this: Edgar Snow, Anna Louise Strong and Agnes Smedley. At the start of the Chinese communist revolution each of these commentators offered personal testimony to and validation of what became a political myth and was elevated to the status of a state political religion with Mao the central figure. This paper discusses the differences between political religion and religion tout court. It suggests that the former is more ephemeral while the latter is more capable of self-replenishment, leading to the ritualization of the first in the exercise of state power. It also deals with the question of socialism as proto-religion and the problems posed by its disappearance.