Chinese «cultural revolution» of the second half of the 1960s in the Soviet media and in people's perception

The essay analyzes how Chinese "Cultural Revolution" of the second half of the 1960s was shown by the Soviet media. The perception of a newspaper image by the Soviet citizens is also under investigation. The article is written on the basis of the materials of the Soviet largest central newspapers and on some archival and pub­lished documents that allow the reconstruction of the Soviet people''s perceptions of Chinese "Cultural Revolu­tion". The author shows the changes of China''s image in the Soviet media after the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution" and investigates the main methods of newspapers (embedding of information about China in an overall picture of international relations, display of local plots, use of specific newspaper cliches, etc.) and key subjects of newspapers (Mao Tse Tung''s glorification, anti-Soviet foreign policy, changes in cultural sphere, etc.). The extent of assimilation of the newspapers'' information by the Soviet people is analyzed. The author shows how the Soviet citizens transformed media information at labor and party meetings and at lectures on in­ternational issues. On the one hand, people literally repeated the ideas of articles, supporting the official rate of the Soviet leaders. On the other hand, they critically perceived the information and were dissatisfied with the lack of information on Chinese situation, as well as with the Soviet leaders'' soft reaction to Mao Tse Tung''s poli­tics. The lack of information provoked the emergence of various hearings concerning the situation in China and Soviet-Chinese relations. The hearing about Chinese preparations for the war with the USSR was the main one.