본문 바로가기
  • Home

Cultural Opportunity Structure in China’s Reform and Opening Period: Focusing on Wei Jingsheng(魏京生)’s ≪Tansuo(探索)≫ and Baihua(白樺)’s <Bitter Love(苦戀)>

Kim Dokyung 1

1한국교원대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

During China’s reform and opening period(the late 1970s and early 1980s), there was “cultural change”, but also “ideological control”. How could “change” and “control” coexist in the same time? Faced with this contradictory situation, this paper elaborates how Wei Jingsheng(魏京生) could publish ≪Tansuo(探索)≫, the most radical magazine in the late 1970’s and how the campaign of criticizing the <Bitter Love(苦戀)>, a scenario written by Baihua(白樺), could emerge into the Chinese Communist Party in 1981. This paper argues that the “opportunity structure” has played a major role in the emergence of the radical publication and the development of the ideological campaign. Wei Jingsheng was able to publish ≪Tansuo≫ because there was a competition between “whateverists(凡是派)” and “Practitioners(實踐派)” in the Chinese Communist Party, and a group of senior military figure was able to propel the campaign of criticizing <Bitter Love> because there was a conflict “conservatives” and “reformists” in the Chinese Communist Party. Both took advantage of “opportunity structure” in order to make a political voice and to strengthen their position.

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2023 are currently being built.