Written As a Witness: Memoirs Concerning China's Cultural Revolution

This study focuses on memoirs concerning China's Cultural Revolution written by Chinese that have appeared within and outside of China in the 1980s and 1990s. It outlines an analytical framework for comparing and contrasting the memoirs that reflect upon the Cultural Revolution. By analyzing what the authors tell the readers in their memoirs on common events, this book seeks to build an understanding regarding the similarities and differences between two groups of memoirs. As witnesses, the authors use their memoirs to feed the readers with a real sense of history, but there is no reason for us to believe that every author is completely truthful. While it is understandable that Mainland China authors have left a lot unsaid in their memoirs because they live in an environment characterized by many limitations, it is necessary that readers should also question the veracity of memoirs written and published in the West.