Symbolic Politics - And The Symbolic Order Of The Symbol Of The Cultural Revolution, For Example

This paper is a preliminary trial of using semiotics theory on the research into Cultural Revolution. Compared to the previous research into Cultural Revolution, this paper employs a major study on the political symbol phenomena that appeared abundantly in the Cultural Revolution years. Though the political symbol phenomena have existed in the political life all along, they were not attached adequate importance to in the past politics research. Therefore, the paper is elaborated in two parts. In the first part are mainly discussed some basic theoretical problems on political symbols, which serves a theoretical precondition to analyze the political symbols in the Cultural Revolution years. This part is divided into two chapters. Chapter One, based on the summary of the abundant symbol phenomena in the Cultural Revolution period, puts forward that the analysis of political symbols should be a part of the politics analysis. Chapter Two, discussing through an ideological perspective about the relation between political symbols and social practical politics and their concrete functioning manner, comes to a conclusion that political symbols are the concretization of ideology, advanced objects of ideology.The second part is concrete application of the first part, making detailed analysis of the political symbol phenomena in the Cultural Revolution period. This part is divided into four chapters. Chapter Three explores into the generating background of the political symbol in the Cultural Revolution period by the three latitudes of time, space and movement, and it puts forward that the fundamental key of the political symbol in the Cultural Revolution period consists of a political ambition directing to a future Utopia, automatic naturalization of the Orient and the Occident, and the political ideas in on-going revolution. Chapter Four puts emphasis on the sequence structure of the political symbol in the Cultural Revolution period, with a conclusion that the political symbol in the Cultural Revolution period was structured with a center of constructing "a new socialist family" and maintaining the absolute power in the "family". Chapter Five analyzes, on the micro level, the generating manner and display forms of the political in the Cultural Revolution period, and holds that different types of political symbols were contained in most original materials of the Cultural Revolution. Chapter Six is the conclusion, based on the preceding descriptive analysis, concluding that the fundamental reason for the abuse of the political symbol in the Cultural Revolution period was the cut between the expressed reality and the objective reality.Through the exploration in this paper, I believe that the method for analyzing a political symbol system in a certain period can be developed into a completely independent model for politics analysis, which can help us to understand the manner in which ideology functions on politics, and can set up a new area for politics research.We may also see from another side that, if a certain political system does not base its policies upon the objective reality of the society but upon the expressed reality, there will appear the political form of the so-called symbolized politics. Such political form demonstrates that the political system operates with the guarantee from ideology, and that the public are mobilized and organized to participate in political life by means of political symbols in order to prove the legality of its governance. Since this proving is self-judging, it will finally lead to instability of politics. Therefore, it should be avoided in the practical political life.