Translating “Maoist China”: The Development of French Maoism through Literary Translation

Abstract The translation of Chinese literature brought Mao Zedong thought and the Chinese revolutionary spirit to France in the 1960s, giving rise to the development of French Maoism. The translation conducted by French left-wing intellectuals focused on Mao’s literary works and other left-wing revolutionary literature, which encouraged French avant-garde writers to project an image of idealized “Maoist China” onto the land of France, with an ambition to promote social and political reforms at home. Utopian fantasies about Chinese literature and politics drove the development of French Maoism, but the disintegration of spontaneous Maoist organizations and the trips to China allowed pro-Maoist intellectuals to recognize their idealized misinterpretation of China gradually.