MCLC: politics, literature, and culture (2,3)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Michael Duke <dukem at mail.ubc.ca>
Subject: politics, literature, and culture (2)
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I second everything A.E. Clark wrote.

Chinese literature and culture has always been political from the Book of
Songs on down (actually, even before that). And modern Chinese literature
and culture even more so, for better or worse. From the 古文运动 (文以载道)
through the 五四运动  , throughout the Maoist and post-Maoist periods,
including the Tiananmen Massacre of 1989 that produced quite a bit of very
political literature（including Gao Xingjian's 逃亡) right down to Liu
Xiaobo's writings, China's 道统 and humanistic tradition has always been
about how to be the best person in society and how to create the best
political culture, and it has ever been in conflict with the 正统 tradition
of simply obeying the government (today the party-state). Anyone at all
familiar with the history of China should know this. It's a no brainer.

 Michael Duke

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From: sean macdonald <smacdon2005 at gmail.com>
Subject: politics, literature, and culture (3)

I find it ironic that the denunciation of "politics"can be much more
strictly political than the political discussion itself.
All the best,

Sean