Brecht and Mao Zedong: Two Sides of “The Other Side” and Twice Removed Vision of “Snow”

Abstract

This chapter is a brief study of the intertextual resonances between Brecht and Mao Zedong’s revolutionary and literary writings. Brecht, who followed Mao’s revolutionary practice and writings from 1930s to 1950s, merged his understanding of classical Chinese philosophy, especially those elements that he found compatible with his understanding of Western philosophy and aesthetics, into the framework of his Marxist ideology. During this incubation period of his Marxist ideology, Mao’s revolutionary career and practices seemed to have provided a promising exemplification of the Marxist prospect in Asia. The discussion of the interconnectivity of the Marxist ideologies of Brecht and Mao paves the way for a study of the intertextual resonances between Brecht’s literary/dramatic works (e.g., his poems “The Other Side” and “Thoughts While Flying over the Great Wall”) and Mao’s political and literary writings.