Un villaggio cinese nella rivoluzione culturale: Nuovo rapporto da Liu Ling

by Jan Myrdal

Questo libro di Jan Myrdal e Gun Kessle è per molti aspetti la continuazione della ricerca da loro compiuta nel 1963 , quel Rapporto da un villaggio cinese che è ormai divenuto unclassico della sociologia politica e un testo fondamentale per comprendere la Cina. Ma Un villaggio cinese nella rivoluzione culturale è al tempo stesso un prezioso strumento per cogliere dal vivo i profondi mutamenti politico-sociali che la Rivoluzione culturale ha determinato anche al livello del villaggio. Jan Myrdal e sua moglie - autrice delle fotografie che illustrano il volume - sono tornati a Liu Ling e hanno parlato a lungo con i contadini, con la gente del villaggio. Da queste conversazioni emerge con chiarezza il fatto che, lungi dall'essere un dibattito astratto limitato alle grandi città, la Rivoluzione culturale ha suscitato conflitti radicali che hanno avuto importantissime ripercussioni anche nelle campagne, e ha messo all'ordine del giorno anche lí problemi come la struttura del potere locale, le finanze e gli investimenti, la riforma dell'insegnamento e della sanità, il ruolo dei vari gruppi all'interno della comunità, la liberazione delle donne. Anche questa volta Myrdal è riuscito a mostrarci uno dei momenti piú importanti della storia contemporanea cosí come l'hanno vissuto gli stessi protagonisti. Ancora una volta, le parole dei contadini di Liu Ling parlano in maniera piú diretta ed efficace di tanti resoconti di osservatori esterni.

Genres: China, Nonfiction

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Jan Myrdal (1927–2020) was one of the most prominent and controversial figures in modern Swedish cultural life. An internationally acclaimed writer, essayist and political commentator, he authored dozens of books spanning autobiographical prose, travel writing and Marxist analysis. His breakthrough work Confessions of a Disloyal European brought him global recognition and established his reputation as a fiercely independent intellectual voice.

At the same time, Myrdal was a deeply polarizing figure. His uncompromising political positions and provocative interventions in public debate made him both admired and sharply criticized. Regardless of stance, few disputed his influence: for decades, he remained a towering presence in Swedish cultural discourse.

Reviews

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Myrdal's ethnography of Liu Ling in 1962, Report from a Chinese Village, is a standout work in the genre mostly because its informant interviews (totalling 450+ pages, including extensive tables documenting commodity prices and agricultural production) are presented directly and allowed to speak for themselves, with the ethnographer's editorial content limited to the book's introduction. This document of Myrdal's follow-up visit in 1969 is a great deal lighter on interview transcripts, which are interspersed with polemical passages from Myrdal and extensive quotations from Mao. These quotations are largely relevant to the revolutionary work being done in Liu Ling village in 1969, and many are offered by the informants themselves by way of justifying their applications of Maoist thought in village life and political work. Myrdal's polemics are, in context, much less welcome, and seem largely concerned with rebutting western anticommunist perspectives on the Cultural Revolution, which perhaps could have been more effectively achieved if the informants' accounts of the Revolution's (evidently extensive) local successes were given more space to speak for themselves. On the other hand, Gun Kessle's photographic contributions are much more extensive here than in Report, more than justifying her co-author credit.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was translated from chinese to Swedish then into English, Because of this it seemed to be written for the minds of 5 year olds. pro Mao Tse tung We all know how the cultural revolution turned out. poorly written .