The Discourse of Western Worship in Everyday Life of Chinese Society during the 1990s

• In Event: 50460 - Section on Comparative-Historical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 7: Nations and Nationalisms

Abstract

During the rapid modernization phases in countries such as Japan, Iran, and Russia, a trend of Westernization often emerged at the level of mass consciousness. This trend profoundly influenced various aspects of people's daily lives. More importantly, such extreme Westernization often led to bottom-up anti-Western movements and the rise of popular nationalism in later periods. Similar phenomena occurred in China during the 1990s. However, few studies have focused on the Westernization trend during this period. Therefore, this paper examines the observations and imaginations of the West in the daily lives of ordinary Chinese people during the 1990s, a period of relative nationalist quiescence.
Specifically, through an analysis of four popular magazines from the 1990s that represent different social groups and perspectives, as well as a review of memoirs from the same period, this study identifies a strong trend of “Western worship” in Chinese society during the 1990s. This ideological trend was highly complexity. Groups with more exposure to the West struggled between traditional and Western cultures, while rural populations engaged in a more radical critique of traditional Chinese morals and lifestyles. These imaginations of the West often diverged significantly from the realities of Western societies. Such differences were related both to state power's intervention and to the public's historical memory.
On the one hand, this paper presents the complexity of China's “Western worship” trend in the 1990s and compares it with the case of Iran, which also experienced a trend of Westernization, to discuss the commonalities and particularities of China's “Western worship” trend during this period. On the other hand, this paper engages with the literature on Chinese nationalism and argues that the extreme Westernization in the 1990s indirectly contributed to the widespread rise of nationalism after 2005.

Author

• Zixin Chen, Zhejiang University