Mao's Little Red Book: A Global History

The Institute of East Asian Studies will host a conference looking at the global history of quotation from Chairman Mao.

This conference takes up the global history of Quotations from Chairman Mao—perhaps the most visible, ubiquitous, and enduring symbol of twentieth-century radicalism. Conference participants will examine the production and adaptation of the "little red book" in China, as well as its circulation, appropriation, and impact around the globe. The pocket-sized Quotations from Chairman Mao was probably the most printed non-religious book of the twentieth century and by the late 1960s became the must-have accessory for red guards and revolutionaries from Berkeley to Bamako. The little red book's worldwide circulation, in dozens of languages, is a testament to its historical importance, but until now there has been no serious scholarly effort to understand the Quotations as a global historical phenomenon.

Schedule:

Friday, October 21, 2011

9:00-9:15: Welcome
Alexander Cook, Assistant Professor of History, University of California

9:15-11:00: Panel 1
China: "Things Develop Ceaselessly"

A Single Spark: Origins and Spread
Daniel Leese, Assistant Professor, Institute of Chinese Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany

Translation and Internationalism
Xu Lanjun, Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore

Quotations Songs: Portable Media and the Maoist Pop Song
Andrew F. Jones, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Berkeley

Revolutionary Nostalgia: Community, Mediation, and Capital
Yang Guobin, Associate Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College

11:15-12:45: Panel 2
First World: "Paper Tigers"

Pacific Revolutions: Radical Aesthetics in the United States
Richard Jean So, Assistant Professor of English and East Asian Languages, University of Chicago

Principally Contradiction: The Flourishing of French Maoism
Julian Bourg, Associate Professor of History, Boston College

Red All Over: The "Mao Bible" in East and West Germany
Quinn Slobodian, Assistant Professor of History, Wellesley College

1:00-2:00: Lunch break
(Lunch is not provided)

2:00-3:30: Panel 3
Second World: "Monsters of All Kinds"

The Book that Bombed: Mao's Little Red Thing in the Soviet Union
Elizabeth McGuire, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Academy Scholars

The (Bi-) Partisans' Little Red Book: Common Cause along Southern Europe's Iron Curtain
Dominique Reill, Assistant Professor of History, University of Miami

Albania and China: Best Friends Forever?
Elidor Mehilli, PhD Candidate in History, Princeton University

4:00-5:00
Keynote Speaker TBA

Saturday, October 22, 2011

9:30-11:15: Panel 4
Third World: "True Bastion of Iron"

Mao and Mali: Non-Textual Translation in West Africa
Brandon County, PhD Candidate in History, Columbia University

Maoism in Tanzania: Material Connections and Shared Imaginaries
Priya Lal, PhD Candidate in History, New York University

The Influence of Maoism in Peru
David Scott Palmer, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Boston University

A Mighty Cyclone? The Twists and Turns of South Asian Maoism
Sreemati Chakrabarti, Professor of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi

11:30-12:30 Roundtable / Wrap-up Discussion

Participants:

Julian Bourg, Associate Professor of History, Boston College
Sreemati Chakrabarti, Professor of East Asian Studies, University of Delhi
Alexander Cook, Assistant Professor of History, University of California
Brandon County, PhD Candidate in History, Columbia University
Andrew F. Jones, Associate Professor of East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of California, Berkeley
Priya Lal, PhD Candidate in History, New York University
Daniel Leese, Assistant Professor, Institute of Chinese Studies, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
Elizabeth McGuire, Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Academy Scholars
Elidor Mehilli, PhD Candidate in History, Princeton University
David Scott Palmer, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Boston University
Dominique Reill, Assistant Professor of History, University of Miami
Quinn Slobodian, Assistant Professor of History, Wellesley College
Richard Jean So, Assistant Professor of English and East Asian Languages, University of Chicago
Xu Lanjun, Assistant Professor of Chinese Studies, National University of Singapore
Yang Guobin, Associate Professor of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures, Barnard College