Cover not available
Article published In:
Discourse and Socio-Political Transformations in Contemporary China
Edited by Paul Chilton, Hailong Tian and Ruth Wodak
[Journal of Language and Politics 9:4] 2010
► pp. 615–633

The re-imagined West in Chinese television

A case study of the CCTV documentary series the Rise of the Great Powers

 | Liverpool John Moores University
This paper examines television portrayals of the West in contemporary China, focusing on an emerging non-victimistic media discourse on modern Western history. The analysis is contextualized within the wider sociopolitical dynamics of a rising nationalism and increased space for negotiation among the different groupings of Chinese elites. The paper falls into three parts. The first investigates the discursive features of a television documentary text that constructs a fresh, positive image of the West. The second discusses critiques of the series from the perspectives of a liberal, pro-market right and anti-capitalist new left. The third part extends the analysis to the social context of the mainstream pragmatic nationalism that has risen to prominence in recent decades. The paper concludes with a discussion on tensions within differing views of the West, and a critical assessment of the fresh, non-moralistic account of the Western road to modernity.
Keywords: Chinese television, Chinese image of the West, media narrative, media discourse, Chinese nationalism
Published online: 7 January 2011
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.4.08cao
References (27)
References
Dang, Guoying. 2007. Cong daguo jueqi kan daguo zenyang caineng jueqi (How a power can rise from the perspective of the Rise of the Great Powers). Available at: http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=12912.
Dzw.gov.cn. 2007. Zhongyang zhengzhiju jiti xuexi tanqiu xingshuai dinglu (The CCP Politburo study session explores the causes of rise and fall). Available at: http://dzw.gov.cn/show_doc.asp?id=1835.
Fairclough, Norman. 1989. Language and Power. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Fairclough, Norman. 1995. Media Discourse. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel. 1972. The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hall, Stuart. 1978. The social production of news. In: Stuart Hall et al.. (eds). Policing the Crisis: Mugging, the State, and Law and Order. London: Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
He, Weifang. 2007. Jueqi wei he? (Rise, for what?). Available at: http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=12761.
Huang, Chengju. 2007. Editorial. International Communication Gazette 65(5): 402–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kong, Hanbing. 2006. Daguo jueqi tiaozhan guoren beiqing lishiguan (The Rise of the Great Powers series challenges the Chinese victimist view of history). Global Times, 10 December. Available at: http://hist.cersp.com/kczy/xwss/200612/4835_2.html .Google Scholar
Leonard, Mark. 2008. What Does China Think? London: Fourth Estate.Google Scholar
Mahbubani, Kishore. 2008. The new Asian Hemisphere. New York: PublicAffairs.Google Scholar
Pan, Hongbin. 2006. Daguo jueqi: zhongguo daodi zai nai chule wenti (The Rise of the Great Powers: where China goes wrong). Available at: http://my.opera.com/shearwater/blog/show.dml/638636.
Pan, Wei. 2003. Toward a consultative rule of law regime in China. Journal of Contemporary China 12(34): 3–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Propp, Vladimir. 1968. Morphology of the Folktale. Austin: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Qin, Hui. 2000. Ziyou zhuyi yu minzu zhuyi de qihedian zai nali? (Where do liberalism and nationalism converge?). In: Li Shitao (ed.). Zhishifenzi lichang: minzu zhuyi yu zhuanxingqi de mingyun (Positions of the intellectual: nationalism and China’s fate in the transitional era). Changchun: Shidai wenyi chubanshe.Google Scholar
Qiu, Feng. 2007. Daguo jueqi de wuzhi zhuyi xianjing (Materialist pitfalls of the Rise of the Great Powers). Available at: http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=13298.
Ren, Xue’an. 2006. Houji: yici jiannan de base (Epilogue: a difficult journey). In: Zhou Yan et al.. (eds). Daguo jueqi (The Rise of the Great Powers). Beijing: Zhongguo minzhu fazhi chubanshe.Google Scholar
Sina.net. 2006. Wangjisi yu zhouyan liao daguo jueqi shilu (Discussion on the Rise of the Great Powers with Wang Jisi and Zhou Yan). Available at: http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=12911.
Xiao, Gongqin. 2005. Xinzuopai yu dangdai zhongguo zhishifenzi de sixiang fenhua (The new left and divisions among contemporary Chinese intellectuals). Available at: http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=2825.
Xiao, Gongqin. 2008. Zhuanxing zhengzhixue shiyexia de zhongguo sanshi nian (Three decades in China under transitional politics). Lingdaozhe, 21(4). Available at: http://www.tecn.cn/data/detail.php?id=18728 .Google Scholar
Ye, Jinsong. 2006. Daguo jueqi huibi xifang daguo jueqi de zhiminshi (The Rise of the Great Powers avoids Western powers’ colonial history). Available at: http://hist.cersp.com/kczy/xwss/200612/4781.html.
Yuan, Weishi. 2006a. Buying huibi zhidu xuanze, buying guodu jiedu (Do not avoid institutional choice, do not over-read the series). Available at: http://tecn.cn/thinktank/author.php?id=110.
2006b. Baozhang gongmin quanli shi daguo jueqi de jichu (Protecting citizens’ rights is the basis of the Rise of the Great Powers). Available at: http://tecn.cn/data/details.php?id=1116.
Yundan Shuinuan. 2006. Daguo jueqi hai ca yiji: baguo lianjun (One episode short in the Rise of the Great Powers: eight power forces). Available at: http://bbs1.people.com.cn/postDetail.do?view=2&id=972977&boardId=2.
Zhao, Huayong. 2006. Rang lishi zhaoliang weilai de xingcheng (Let history illuminate the road to the future). In: Shi’er ji daxing dianshi jilupian: daguo jueqi (12-part major television documentary series: the Rise of the Great Powers). Beijing: Zhongguo minzhu fazhi chubanshe.Google Scholar
Zhao, Suisheng. 2005. China’s pragmatic nationalism: is it manageable? The Washington Quarterly 29(1): 131–44. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zhu, Jiaming. 2007. Daguo jueqi buneng huibi de wenti (Issues that the Rise of the Great Powers cannot avoid). Wenhuibao. Available at: http//hist.cersp.com/kczy/sxdt/200704/5967.html.
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Cao, Qing
2014. Chapter 7. China’s soft power. In Discourse, Politics and Media in Contemporary China [Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 54], ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 9 january 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.