What is it about?
This paper finds that a rigid ethnic hierarchy based on a majority-minority binarism was visually constructed through film during the formative decade of the socialist era (1949–1959). The early promise and public politics of friendship of Chinese Socialism was belied even at this time by the cultural production of binary images that raised “majority” over a dependent “minority.” The article demonstrate that Han-centric epistemological assumptions repeatedly re-asserted themselves visually.
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Why is it important?
The article demonstrates that the ethnicization of Maoist governmentality in frontier regions dates back to the very first decade of the PRC. It further shows that the ethnopolitical structures established during the formative years have become the precursor to the oppressive ethnic situation in present-day China.
Perspectives
The article demonstrates that the ethnicization of Maoist governmentality in frontier regions dates back to the very first decade of the PRC. It further shows that the ethnopolitical structures established during the formative years have become the precursor to the oppressive ethnic situation in present-day China.
Peng Hai
Harvard University
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This page is a summary of: Parameters of Ethnic Minorhood, Inner Asia, October 2022, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/22105018-02302028.
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