Incriminated Writers and Their Wives: Gendered Memory and Oral History of Mao’s Campaign Years

S. Louisa Wei

Incriminated Writers and Their Wives: Gendered Memory and Oral History of Mao’s Campaign Years

School of Creative Media

Research output: Conference Papers › RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (without host publication) › peer-review

Abstract

The primary source of this study is 110 interviews concerning two interrelated political campaigns operated by the Chinese Communist Party: the Yan'an Rectification Movement (1942-1944) and the Anti-Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique Movement (1955- 1956). Both campaigns and the long incrimination of their respective central figures-Wang Shiwei (1906-1947) and Hu Feng (1902-1985)-have had a lasting impact on Chinese intellectuals and generated (auto)biographies, memoirs, and critical and scholarly writings. However, since the 1980s, victimized poets and writers managed to publish again, but the stories of their wives remained obscured and marginalized for years. Do the wives' memories matter? Where should we place their testimonies? Suppose memory can be inflected or shaped by gender-how can this pervasive social distinction be used to interpret personal and collective memory and achieve history writing on diverse platforms?

Original language	English
Publication status	Published - Jul 2023
Event	Memory Studies Association 7th Annual Conference (MSA 2023): Communities & Change - Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom Duration: 3 Jul 2023 → 7 Jul 2023 https://msa2023newcastle.dryfta.com/

Conference

Conference	Memory Studies Association 7th Annual Conference (MSA 2023)
Abbreviated title	MSA Conference
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Newcastle
Period	3/07/23 → 7/07/23
Internet address	https://msa2023newcastle.dryfta.com/

Bibliographical note

Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

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https://msa2023newcastle.dryfta.com/program-schedule/program/206/8-16-building-narratives-and-deconstructing-hegemony-in-northeast-asian-memorymaking

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1 RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

Incriminated writers and their wives: Gendered memory of a national campaign in Mao’s China
Wei, S. L., Feb 2024, In: Memory Studies. 17, 1, p. 39-55
Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Cite this

Wei, S. L. (2023). Incriminated Writers and Their Wives: Gendered Memory and Oral History of Mao’s Campaign Years. Paper presented at Memory Studies Association 7th Annual Conference (MSA 2023), Newcastle, United Kingdom. https://msa2023newcastle.dryfta.com/program-schedule/program/206/8-16-building-narratives-and-deconstructing-hegemony-in-northeast-asian-memorymaking

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title = "Incriminated Writers and Their Wives: Gendered Memory and Oral History of Mao{\textquoteright}s Campaign Years",

abstract = "The primary source of this study is 110 interviews concerning two interrelated political campaigns operated by the Chinese Communist Party: the Yan'an Rectification Movement (1942-1944) and the Anti-Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique Movement (1955- 1956). Both campaigns and the long incrimination of their respective central figures-Wang Shiwei (1906-1947) and Hu Feng (1902-1985)-have had a lasting impact on Chinese intellectuals and generated (auto)biographies, memoirs, and critical and scholarly writings. However, since the 1980s, victimized poets and writers managed to publish again, but the stories of their wives remained obscured and marginalized for years. Do the wives' memories matter? Where should we place their testimonies? Suppose memory can be inflected or shaped by gender-how can this pervasive social distinction be used to interpret personal and collective memory and achieve history writing on diverse platforms?",

author = "Wei, {S. Louisa}",

note = "Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.; Memory Studies Association 7th Annual Conference (MSA 2023) : Communities & Change, MSA Conference ; Conference date: 03-07-2023 Through 07-07-2023",

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Wei, SL 2023, 'Incriminated Writers and Their Wives: Gendered Memory and Oral History of Mao’s Campaign Years', Paper presented at Memory Studies Association 7th Annual Conference (MSA 2023), Newcastle, United Kingdom, 3/07/23 - 7/07/23. <https://msa2023newcastle.dryfta.com/program-schedule/program/206/8-16-building-narratives-and-deconstructing-hegemony-in-northeast-asian-memorymaking>

TY - CONF

T1 - Incriminated Writers and Their Wives

T2 - Memory Studies Association 7th Annual Conference (MSA 2023)

AU - Wei, S. Louisa

N1 - Research Unit(s) information for this publication is provided by the author(s) concerned.

PY - 2023/7

Y1 - 2023/7

N2 - The primary source of this study is 110 interviews concerning two interrelated political campaigns operated by the Chinese Communist Party: the Yan'an Rectification Movement (1942-1944) and the Anti-Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique Movement (1955- 1956). Both campaigns and the long incrimination of their respective central figures-Wang Shiwei (1906-1947) and Hu Feng (1902-1985)-have had a lasting impact on Chinese intellectuals and generated (auto)biographies, memoirs, and critical and scholarly writings. However, since the 1980s, victimized poets and writers managed to publish again, but the stories of their wives remained obscured and marginalized for years. Do the wives' memories matter? Where should we place their testimonies? Suppose memory can be inflected or shaped by gender-how can this pervasive social distinction be used to interpret personal and collective memory and achieve history writing on diverse platforms?

AB - The primary source of this study is 110 interviews concerning two interrelated political campaigns operated by the Chinese Communist Party: the Yan'an Rectification Movement (1942-1944) and the Anti-Hu Feng Counterrevolutionary Clique Movement (1955- 1956). Both campaigns and the long incrimination of their respective central figures-Wang Shiwei (1906-1947) and Hu Feng (1902-1985)-have had a lasting impact on Chinese intellectuals and generated (auto)biographies, memoirs, and critical and scholarly writings. However, since the 1980s, victimized poets and writers managed to publish again, but the stories of their wives remained obscured and marginalized for years. Do the wives' memories matter? Where should we place their testimonies? Suppose memory can be inflected or shaped by gender-how can this pervasive social distinction be used to interpret personal and collective memory and achieve history writing on diverse platforms?

M3 - RGC 32 - Refereed conference paper (without host publication)

Y2 - 3 July 2023 through 7 July 2023

ER -

Incriminated Writers and Their Wives: Gendered Memory and Oral History of Mao’s Campaign Years

Abstract

Conference

Bibliographical note

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Research output

Incriminated writers and their wives: Gendered memory of a national campaign in Mao’s China

Cite this