The Reach of the Revolutionary Propaganda State in Beijing, 1950-1953

This presentation explores the range of anti-official and unofficial voices that drew scrutiny from the Communist government during the Korean War campaign (1950-1953). The voices of revolutionary propaganda were mobile, formless, ephemeral, and spread quickly by word of mouth, and they had origins that authorities found difficult to trace and ramifications hard to control. Their unknown and mysterious quality may have irritated the revolutionary state, but they bring to light the volatile urban informational space where the informal (and sometimes illegal) channels and practices competed with and contested the official propaganda. Official, anti-official, and unofficial voices coexisted, overlapped, and even intermixed. Together, these voices, as well as the system that produced and suppressed them, provided a crucial setting for the battle between the rising revolutionary propaganda state and people’s efforts to evade it in the formative years of the PRC.

When 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm on Tuesday, March 21, 2023
Building Pardee School of Global Studies, 121 Bay State Road
Room 1st Floor
Contact Name Maria Elena Rivera-Beckstrom
Phone 617-358-2109
Contact Email meprb@bu.edu
Contact Organization BU Center for the Study of Asia
Fees Free
Speakers Prof. Zhao MA (Washington University-St. Louis)