Le voyage en Chine de Sollers (1974) : Chine rêvée versus Chine théâtralisée ou le piège de l’utopie
Sollers' journey to China (1974): the dreamt vs. the real China or the trap of utopia

Summary/Abstract: Having adopted a pro-Maoist position during the 1970s, Philippe Sollers went to China for three weeks in 1974 to witness the great success of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). According to the writer, director of the magazine Tel Quel, the revolution must be achieved through writing and theory. Nevertheless, the China he discovered during his stay seemed to be far from the China he had dreamt of before his departure... Based on articles published by Tel Quel, the paper seeks to show how Mao's China, idealized in ideological discourse, is transformed into a dramatized reality that the Chinese people are obliged to stage in front of the tourists allowed to visit China.

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