Volume 8,Issue 8
Representations of Women in Illustrations from Chinese Literacy Textbooks (1949–1978)
The illustrations of literacy textbooks from 1949 to 1978 created a rich and full image of strong women with intuitive visual language. On the one hand, the female role has evolved from the dual identity of both productive labor and cultural learning, to the image of “Iron Girl,” and then to the role expansion of the communicator of revolutionary ideas; on the other hand, the illustrations of each period have always continued the traditional gender model. This dual writing is the result of the joint efforts of national construction needs, social division of labor inertia, and traditional culture. It not only highlights the progress of women’s liberation in New China, but also reflects its historical limitations and provides a historical mirror for contemporary textbook compilation and gender equality education.
[1] Ma Y, 2010, Discarding the Old while Preserving the Old: Female Roles in Rural Literacy Textbooks in the PRC. Qianyan (Frontiers), 2010(12): 76.
[2] Wang ZQ, Zhang LD, 2022, Literacy Campaigns and the Construction of New Social Values in the Early PRC: An Examination Centered on Literacy Textbooks. Sixiang Lilun Zhanxian (Ideological and Theoretical Front), 2022(5): 103.
[3] Yuan B, 2020, State, Gender, and Everyday Life: Identity Construction among Rural Women in Shandong, 1949–1965, thesis, Shandong University, 127 + 211.
[4] Hou YJ, 2017, A Study of Literacy Education for Rural Women in the Early PRC, 1949–1958, thesis, Shanxi Normal University.
[5] Bi SM, 2021, A Study of the Chinese Communist Party’s Education of Women in the Early PRC, thesis, Anhui Normal University, 62–63.
