Reflection On The Handmaid's Tale

For my third written task I wrote a transcript from a university lecture. I was inspired by the Handmaids Tale, which also contains a sort of lecture, discussing the content of the novel, as final chapter. I tried to make it more realistic by using a Chinese university and one of its professors. I chose this professor specifically as her profession is Chinese cultural history. To point some small things out, such as translation issues, I added a question of an exchange student, who is not familiar with Chinese culture and language. Too make the transcript more realistic I first informed myself with writing transcripts. I looked at examples and read tips and obligations (such as that a transcript has to be written in point 12 Times New Roman, which I did or that the words spoken can never be

Zhang Jing - There are theories supporting your idea, but the odd thing is that struggle sessions are completely contradictory to the Chinese concept of saving face. Although Mao Zedong did ignore a lot of Chinese concepts.

M exchange student - What was the concept of saving face?

Prof. Zhang Jing - In China the term face is one’s sense of prestige. It isn’t a face that can be washed, but a face where you have to work for. It can be granted and lost. Face is a peculiar Chinese word. Which is not used in other cultures and languages. To return to the concept of saving face. A face is also something that can be taken away. So in Chinese culture it is expected of you to respect each other and to avoid incurring or inflicting disgrace.

If we think about what this generation had to endure, it does not make them a lost generation as often suggested. Quite the contrary really, as the people surviving such terror, both mentally and physically, actually have been toughened. These people show initiative and have their own ideas. These people helped build the China that we know today.

F exchange student - So was the cultural a dark period for China, like the dark ages in