The power of words : literacy and revolution in South China, 1949-95 / Glen Peterson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Peterson, Glen, 1956-

Series:

Contemporary Chinese studies.

Contemporary Chinese studies, 1206-9523

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Literacy--China--Guangdong Sheng--History.

Literacy.

Literacy--Government policy--China--History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (264 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Vancouver : UBC Press, 1997.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book is a social and political history of the struggle for literacy in rural China from 1949 until 1994. It aims to show how China's revolutionary leaders conceived and promoted literacy in the countryside and how villagers made use of the literacy education and schools they were offered. Rather than focusing narrowly on educational issues alone, Peterson examines the larger significance of P.R.C. literacy efforts by situating the literacy movement within the broad context of major themes and issues in the social and political history of post-1949 China. Following the recent trend toward regional and local history, this book focuses on the linguistically diverse, socially complex, and politically awkward southeastern coastal province of Guangdong. As well, Peterson conducted interviews with local officials and teachers in several Guangdong counties in 1988 and 1989.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Tables and Maps

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Literacy and Society in Modern China

Minban Schools and the Reaffirmation of Voluntarism in Village Education

The Contested Priorities of Early Postrevolutionary Mass Education

The Problem of the Teachers

Collectivization and the Increased Importance of Literacy

The National Literacy Campaigns of 1956 and 1958

Beijing's Language Reform and Guangdong's Opposition

Literacy Expansion and Social Contraction: The Agricultural Middle School Experiment, 1958-65

The Cultural Revolution

Literacy and Economic Development in the Post-Mao Era

The Struggle for Literacy in Guangdong

Appendix

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-283-13193-5

9786613131935

0-7748-5453-7

OCLC:

144085529