Natasha Huang

East is Red: a Musical Barometer for Cultural Revolution Politics and Culture Natasha Huang

This thesis uses ?East is Red? as a window through which to look at Cultural Revolution politics and culture. By exploring the relationship between politics and music, and by taking into account the history of revolutionary music in China, it demonstrates how ?East is Red? is both a textual and musical example of how the Cultural Revolution was both a result of and a departure from the Communist Revolution leading up to it. This approach stems from the author?s background in music and her interest in how ideology is expressed and taught through art and culture, as well as her curiosity towards the replacement of China?s original national anthem with ?East is Red? during the Cultural Revolution.