How cultural identities are constructed in China's national holiday blockbuster : a perspective from political discourse analysis

The recent Chinese national blockbuster My People, My Country (MPMC), a movie consisting of 7 stories recounting 7 memorial moments and events since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, has evoked strong emotions among domestic Chinese citizens as well as Chinese diasporas overseas (Hou, 2019). Based on data by Maoyan’s website (2019), MPMC is ranked in the top ten of highest-grossing films in mainland China. As a propaganda film, the huge success of MPMC encourages us to wonder: why is it so successful and why did it receive such strong emotional responses? This question merits investigation as the answer will shed light on how cultural production is to create a shared national identity and further to serve political purpose in uniting populace in today’s new era (Gramsci, 1985; O’shannassy, 2008). Echoing the claim that MPMC was “aiming to awaken the shared memories of Chinese people around the world” (“China Focus”, 2019), I will take the approach of political discourse analysis (PDA) to probe into two specific questions: what strategies are used in constructing cultural identities? And how is MPMC different from past propaganda films, which, according to Teo (2019) and Veg (2012), directly extoll the virtues of the State and belong to high culture? In order to assess the effectiveness of the strategies employed in the movie in constructing national identities, I conducted a small-scale (25 samples) questionnaire survey among Chinese diasporas overseas to understand their feelings towards and comments on the movie (Hall, 2014). The questionnaire consists of 5 open questions investigating the participants’ feelings of this movie as well as which stories they liked/disliked the most. It was administered among 25 Chinese students studying at Ghent University. Feedback suggests that the audience is particularly impressed by elements they share affinity and familiarity with. For instance, the national anthem and theme song of the film (also entitled My People My Country) represent a shared memory: most, if not all, Chinese people, especially those born in 1980s and 1990s, were taught this song repeatedly in their school and university years. Interestingly, apart from these two general shared memories, smaller-scale but more targeted cultural content is employed too, such as the different dialects spoken by different characters throughout the narratives in the movie. These dialects represent the most spoken dialects in China. By employing cultural elements that are familiar to audience, MPMC manages to create proximity and further evoke a highly affective reaction with the participants. Moving to the second research question, I will particularly focus on examining the topics and structures of the 7 seemingly independent stories in the movie, both of which are considered important in PDA (Dunmire, 2012; van Dijk, 1997). The topics featuring the 7 stories vary but share several commonalities—all related to political events and ideologies, and are unfolded in a highly similar structure: all 7 stories end with success and happiness, at the expense of personal sacrifice. Based on such findings, I will further compare MPMC with previous nationalist films, such as Wolf Warrior 2 and Operation Red Sea, both of which are among top ten highest-grossing films and typical patriotic styles, as well as The Founding of a Republic, a tribute to the 60th national anniversary of People’s Republic of China. The comparison suggests an apparent shift from a focus on high-level or remote figures, such as soldiers from a special force or navy, to an emphasis on the popular culture in fostering patriotism. For example, inviting popular celebrities to act and seeing historical events from citizens’ perspectives are among the used strategies. The findings will enable us to better understand how cultural contents are used as tools for political purposes, such as creating unified national identity and maintain cultural hegemony (Gramsci, 1985).

Jaar van publicatie:2019

Toegankelijkheid:Open