A fuller study of Mao Zedong's talk at the Yenan Forum

A Fuller Study of Mao Zedong’s Talk at the Yenan Forum
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A Fuller Study of Mao Zedong’s Talk at the Yenan Forum
Mao Zedong’s writings are some of the most widely read literary works in China and the whole world. He has shared his ideas on politics, history and Chinese literature in different works, but the most memorable is his Talk at the Yenan forum. His speech at the conference has also attracted intense scrutiny in China and from scholars in other parts of the world. Despite the importance of the talks to Chinese history and literature, there are no thorough examinations conducted with respect to various elements including political myths such as revolution and the myth of the left and Marxism. Mao’s main concern and the primary topic during the talks was the examination of the relationship between artistic and literary fields and revolutionary work. He insisted that the two must work hand in hand to ensure that they follow the correct path toward development and national liberation.
In terms of analyzing the western literature, Zedong was a few steps ahead of most scholars who criticized his literary works and other Chinese writers who did not agree with his ideas. Unlike modern writers from China who have changed due to the depo influence from western theories such as Marxism, Mao chose to continue following the traditional way of thought. In his talks at the Yennan forum, Mao avoids following the western patterns of thought that are mostly characterized by literal interpretations and assumptions. Writers and scholars who had been deeply influenced by the western way of thought would consciously assume and made their speech targeting the elite listeners or potentially elite listeners without taking time to confirm their status. The assumption of elite status indicated that the western-influenced scholars indirectly accepted that there was a huge difference between popular audience and elite audience for literature (Aron, 2017). Mao Zedong also seemed not to acknowledge the harmony between popular culture and the traditional Chinese elite population, a connection that might have been present in the western traditional past but are non-existent in the modern times.
As Mao talks about the culture and the military or the pen and the gun and their importance on revolutionary work, he seems to understand the Marxism struggles for mind and matter. Like Carl Marx, Zedong does not seem to feel constrained or troubled to create a regular material basis for different phenomenal in the nonmaterial superstructure. Mao also follows traditional practices in poetry, practices that do not need explicit theoretical justifications unlike most contemporary writers who followed the foundation of limited school and defined justifications. Based on the Yenan speech and his idea of revolution on the context of the relationship between art and the military, he tries to imply that he only uses traditional literary practice (Aron, 2017). Mao’s traditional style gives him the freedom to come up with new literary judgements and ideas on non-dogmatic and instinctual level while modern writers under western influence chose to rationalize their ideas based on ...