title: The Freudian subject and the Maoist mind: the diaries of Hermine Hug-Hellmuth and Lei Feng.
abstract: Although written in vastly different cultural contexts and periods, Hermine Hug-Hellmuth's "Diary of a Young Girl" (1919) and Lei Feng's "The Diary of Lei Feng" (1963) both to a large extent were written as concept pieces, with the goal of illustrating specific theories of the self. In the case of Hug-Hellmuth, the underlying theory is the Freudian sexualized unconscious mind, whereas for Lei Feng, it is Maoist revolutionary optimism. Additionally, both diaries have unusually strong inauthentic or 'fake' aspects. Although Hug-Hellmuth never admitted to writing the diary, most critics believed it came from her pen. Lei Feng's diary was revised through his own attempts to present himself as politically progressive, by editors, and through successive political movements that focused on the person behind the diary and made him one of the most widely-recognized figures in China. As such, the diaries are excellent windows into powerful and long-lasting ideological constructs.
authors.affiliation: University of Oregon, Portland.
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Larson
mesh_terms: D001317:Austria / Q000208:ethnology; D001319:Authorship / Q000266:history; D001325:Autobiographies as Topic; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D019260:Expressed Emotion; D049673:History, 20th Century; D008091:Literature / Q000266:history; D011572:Psychoanalysis / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D011584:Psychology / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D011642:Publications / Q000266:history; D019529:Sexuality / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D012922:Social Change / Q000266:history; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology