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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
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https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.9.4.08cao
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