Memoirs of a socialist childhood in China: socialism, nationalism and getting ahead

Main Article Content

Lei Chen

Abstract

In this memoir, I accounted several episodes of my childhood of a middle class family in early 1990s in a Chinese urban city. Two major discourses permeated my account: the nationalism and socialism discourse and the upward social mobility discourse. While my family and I cherish the comfort and joy of everyday life enjoyed in the era of “socialism with Chinese characteristics”, the suffering past is like a ghost, peeking out behind the curtain.

Article Details

How to Cite
Chen, L. (2018). Memoirs of a socialist childhood in China: socialism, nationalism and getting ahead. Dialogic Pedagogy: A Journal for Studies of Dialogic Education, 6. https://doi.org/10.5195/dpj.2018.243
Section
Special Issue: Socialist and Post-Socialist Childhood and Schooling
Author Biography

Lei Chen, Shannxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China

Lei Chen: Upon finishing my PhD at School of Education, University of Delaware, USA in 2017, I proudly joined Shannxi Normal University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, P.R. China. My current work focuses on teacher training in both B.A. and M.A. programs. I teach a number of classes in second language teaching, second language acquisition, applied linguistics and social linguistics. I am interested in understanding teaching and teachers from sociocultural perspective and was drawn to the studies of dialogic pedagogy in second language classes.