Consuming a difficult past unapproved: Chairman Mao as commodity

Abstract

What role does consumption play in remembering a difficult past unacknowledged by the state? By analyzing the consumption of Chairman Mao symbols in contemporary China, this article explores the memory of a difficult past under censorship with ambiguous rules, that is, imposed discursive ambiguity, and puts forward a theory of mnemonic displacement centering on two generational mechanisms: denial and diversion. The “attendant generation” has experienced the past, reads the discursive ambiguity conservatively and consumes the Mao symbol as denial of the difficult past. The “posterior generation” has no autobiographical memory of the past, reads the discursive ambiguity more openly and consumes the Mao symbol as diversion of mnemonic themes. As a result, the difficult past is displaced and forgotten. This article contributes to memory studies not only by theorizing a type of difficult past under discursive ambiguity but also by developing a displacement theory of remembering and forgetting.