Two Approaches to Writing the Cultural Revolution

Abstract:Two approaches to writing the history of the Cultural Revolution have been adopted in two recent books. While Alessandro Russo interprets the Cultural Revolution as a reexamination of Communism happening only in the upper echelon, Dong Guoqiang and Andrew G. Walder document exclusively how the Cultural Revolution unfolded at the bottom level of Chinese society. This essay questions the applicability of Russo's approach and calls for a combination of the two approaches to achieve an enhanced understanding of China's Cultural Revolution.This essay discusses the following works. Dong Guoqiang and Andrew G. Walder. A Decade of Upheaval: The Cultural Revolution in Rural China. Princeton Studies in Contemporary China. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2021. 225 pp. Hardcover ($95.00), softcover ($29.95) or e-book. | Alessandro Russo. Cultural Revolution and Revolutionary Culture. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2020. 351 pp. Hardcover ($104.95), softcover ($28.95), or e-book.