Music, Memory, and Nostalgia: Collective Memories of Cultural Revolution Songs in Contemporary China

Lei Ouyang Bryant

《The China Review An Interdisciplinary Journal on Greater China》 5卷2期 (2005/11) Pp. 151-175

摘要

In an effort to educate and mobilize the masses during the Chinese Cultural Revolution, revolutionary music played a key role in the dissemination of political campaigns and ideologies. At times, music provided an outlet from the hardships and served as a means for group participation and defining one's identity. The Cultural Revolution was a time of heightened and spirited political activity, particularly for the generation that came of age during that chaotic period; this intensity may help to explain why today the songs evoke such powerful and emotional memories. Based on interviews, public opinion surveys, and additional fieldwork conducted in China and the United States, this article will analyse collective memories of the Cultural Revolution through an examination of the anthology of revolutionary songs known as Zhandi xinge (New Songs of the Battlefield). Investigating how the songs trigger specific moments and emotions in an individual’s memory, I will analyse how the collective memories are formed and how they differ between four distinct generations. Through an examination of the individual reception of music, I contend that 1) the effective use of music as a vehicle for the dissemination of propaganda may be supported by the fact that the songs are still remembered and that they are remembered fondly; 2) the songs are often fondly remembered by the youth of the Cultural Revolution in particular for the memories that the music evokes; and 3) how the songs are remembered, and by whom, demonstrates attitudinal trends for cohorts firmly situated in the post-Cultural Revolution context.