The “Modern Girl” Is a Communist
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12423967 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John M Knight (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 517-546 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | positions asia critique (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1067-9847 • E-ISSN: 1527-8271 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/10679847-8315114 |
| OpenAlex | W3042368218 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 15 |
Woman was a category in flux during China’s revolutionary 1920s. Alongside commercial magazines that celebrated the arrival of the modern girl (xiandai nüzi) were political currents that prioritized class and nation as sites for women’s liberation. Scholarship has criticized Marxism and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for negating women’s gendered interests in favor of a class focus. Yet, it was the proletarian women’s movement of the United Front that attracted the largest amount of women activists during China’s National Revolution (1925–27). What was the allure of a Communist-influenced movement for modern girls whose subjectivities were awakened by Western humanist concerns? This article engages select articles from Chinü zazhi (Red Women Magazine) to argue that China’s proletarian women’s movement reconciled Marxist, nationalist, and feminist demands. It was able to do so largely because it took place at a time when there was no unified Chinese nation to speak of, and the CCP still framed its Marxist rhetoric in a May Fourth lens. An examination into the proletarian women’s movement therefore problematizes Cold War narratives about the antithetical relationship between Marxism and feminism and asks us to reconsider approaches toward fostering interclass and international solidarity
Aesthetics · China · Communism · Marxist philosophy · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Proletariat · Sociology · Solidarity · Working class · Chinese history and philosophy · Gender Studies · Historical Gender and Feminism Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Philosophy
Buying In
Engendering the Chinese Revolution
Who Is Afraid of the Chinese Modern Girl
Public Passions
Women in the Chinese Enlightenment
Failure, Nationalism, and Literature
Women and Writing in Modern China
The Question of Women in Chinese Feminism
Gender, Politics, and Democracy
The Role of the Ywca in the Development of the Chinese Women's Movement, 1890-1927
Feminism and Socialism in China
Women and Writing in Modern China
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |