Landscapes of the Chinese Soul

Tomas Plankers, DPhil, Dipl.-Psych., is a member of the Sigmund Freud Institute in Frankfurt am Main, working in private practice and as a training analyst member of the Frankfurt Psychoanalytic Institute. From 2000 to 2005 he taught analytic psychotherapy at the Shanghai Mental Health Center in China, training Chinese psychiatrists and psychologists. He heads the research project 'Forms of Biographical Processing of Social Upheavals, as Exemplified by the so-called Cultural Revolution in China'.

• Preface -- Introduction: Cultural Revolution and cultural regression -- Negotiating the past: narratives of the Cultural Revolution in party history, literature, popular media, and interviews -- The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) as an experience of contingency -- Red terror: the experience of violence during the Cultural Revolution -- The Cultural Revolution in the mirror of the soul: a research project of the Sigmund Freud Institute -- Psychic trauma between the poles of the individual and society in China -- The Chinese Cultural Revolution: a traumatic experience and its intergenerational transmission -- Selective chronology of events in the history of the People’s Republic of China -- Resolution on Certain Questions in the History of our Party since the Founding of the People’s Republic of China

'Tomas Plaenkers is one of the very few psychoanalysts who has a deep and long relationship with the development of psychoanalytic thinking in China. He and his research group have made a substantial empirical contribution to our understanding of the psychodynamic impact and aftermath of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, foregrounding their understanding of intergenerational trauma. This is an important and timely book that should be read both by those who have a specific interest in the development of psychoanalysis in China and also more broadly, as it provides a fascinating example of how psychoanalytic understanding can be used to investigate intergenerational trauma and its consequences for a culture in transition.'- Dr David Bell, training analyst, British Psychoanalytical Society 'This fascinating book deals with fundamental issues interwoven in mass phenomena, political violence, trauma, and the tension between oblivion and memory, explored in the life of first and second generations of the victims. There is an ethical perspective in "the attempt to penetrate the past as meaningful and clarifying for the present - and as an aid to preventing any future repetition of such events".'- Clara Nemas de Urman, training and child analyst, Buenos Aires Psychoanalytic Association'In this remarkable book, we get an insight into the consequences of the social upheaval caused by the Cultural Revolution in China. The book demonstrates how psychoanalysis integrated with insights from other disciplines can give a culturally sensitive perspective on how the consequences of massive social traumatisation lives on in everyday life and make demands on the coming generations. Destabilising upheavals in a society where social harmony is preferred set in motion complicated processes that are difficult to heal. This book represents an opening to what may be necessary for reconciliation and recovery to happen.'- Sverre Varvin, MD, Dr Philos, training analyst, Norwegian Psychoanalytical Society'Thirty-seven years after the ending of the Cultural Revolution, this compelling and groundbreaking book explores its historical, social, and personal dimension, giving a language of meaning to what has been a traumatic and violent past for millions of Chinese. This book is a must read for anyone interested in understanding modern China and in reflecting on the de-humanising impact of historical events.'- Maria Teresa Hooke, training analyst, Australian Psychoanalytical Society