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Selected Works of Reza Hasmath
Contribution to Book
Thought Reform, Re-education and the Politics of Language and Discourse in China
Discourse, Rhetoric and Shifting Political Behaviour in China (2023)
  • Mirjam Eggli, University of Oxford
  • Reza Hasmath, University of Alberta
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Abstract
This chapter looks at a Maoist era thought-reform model through the experiential prism of Deng Kesheng’s ‘Report Back’ – a series of confessional writings crafted from 1966 to 1969. The chapter analyzes the language utilized by Deng with reference to three main facets that continues to hold contemporary resonance in the Xi Jinping era: (1) the trust bestowed upon different political agencies; (2) an evolving Mao cult; and, (3) the distinction between the political and intellectual Self. 
Keywords
  • Cultural Revolution,
  • thought reform,
  • trust,
  • Deng Kesheng,
  • Mao Zedong
Disciplines
Publication Date
2023
Editor
Una Berzina-Cerenkova
Publisher
Routledge
Citation Information
Eggli, M. and Hasmath, R. (2023) “Thought Reform, Re-education and the Politics of Language and Discourse in China”, pp. 6-23 in U. Berzina-Cerenkova (ed.), Discourse, Rhetoric and Shifting Political Behaviour in China. New York and Oxford: Routledge.