help with topic for extension please (1 Viewer)

[wailongyi88]

hey. Im really interested in doing a topic on Modern day china.
However my teacher has told me that discussing mao would not be a good idea due to the fact that it would be hard to find historians discussing him.
My second idea would be to assess the tianmen square massacres but there is also a fear of the lack of solid creditable information on it.
seeing as my proposal is due in soon. THe Nanjing massacres look intresting but my main concern is finding readings for modern day china.
Any ideas?
or should i stop worrying and just go ahead and change topic if there is not enough readings on it.

 

[xeuyrawp]

Considering those things are basically the most popular topics on modern China, I don't see why you couldn't do them.

Does your teacher even know who Mao was? There is a tonne of evidence on him. He's a really good (albeit predictable) character to investigate in that there's such a spectrum between the official state propaganda and the foreign critics.

Same goes for Tiananmen, and, although to a lesser extent, Nanjing.

That being said, your teacher will the the one who marks it, so keep what they want in mind

 

[Bobness]

hey. Im really interested in doing a topic on Modern day china.
However my teacher has told me that discussing mao would not be a good idea due to the fact that it would be hard to find historians discussing him.
My second idea would be to assess the tianmen square massacres but there is also a fear of the lack of solid creditable information on it.
seeing as my proposal is due in soon. THe Nanjing massacres look intresting but my main concern is finding readings for modern day china.
Any ideas?
or should i stop worrying and just go ahead and change topic if there is not enough readings on it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong look at that, many historians at the bottom.

besides you don't need 'many' historians most of us who did it focused on maybe 3 (6-7 max?) historians.

furthermore (as a certain brilliant history mod helped me with last year) the 'lack of credible information' need not be a deterrent. it can actually help support your argument in that you acknowledge the for e.g. inconsistency of oral sources or the legitimacy of eye-witness accounts as opposed to government documentation.

hmm and if i could add postmodern historiography as propounded by carr would allow you to delve into anecdotal evidence or history from below which you could evaluate as emotional.

there's many possibilities with nanjing, tiannamen square and mao ze dong, just do a preliminary search on google, maybe check out the online catalogue and reviews at amazon.com and i think you're set!

 

[wailongyi88]

Thanks alot for the quick and in depth replies.
will do my research and see what i come up with.