Making History Together: Derogatory Online Comments on Chinese Mythic Plays as Echoes of Hegemonic Discourse

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Language and Social Interaction Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Chinese internet users have mocked TV dramas for their unrealistic, overly heroic portrayal of the war against Japan. They charged the dramas with distorting history by nicknaming them Mythic Plays. As a result the representation of the war on Chinese TV became a nationwide discussion. Using Gramsci’s concept of hegemony as a framework, this article analyzes the controversy about Mythic Plays through a qualitative analysis of online comments. Specifically it examines the internet commentators’ expectation of the representation of national history. It argues that as a result of propaganda and state-controlled education internet users have been, at least in the case of Mythic Plays, active participants in the ongoing process of maintaining China’s official ideology.

Authors

• Shangwei Wu, Renmin University of China

• Tabe Bergman, Renmin University of China