A Study of China’s Cultural Image Building in the Emerging Media Context〔*〕

Li Nan

(Faculty of International Studies　Henan Normal University，Xinxiang　Henan　453007)

?

A Study of China’s Cultural Image Building in the Emerging Media Context〔*〕

Li Nan

(Faculty of International StudiesHenan Normal University，XinxiangHenan453007)

Ⅰ.The forms of emerging media in China’s cultural image building

Mass media,which include the printed press,cinema,radio,and television,have received constant attention from culture researchers.〔1〕Nowadays,emerging media should be given equal attention since they facilitate cultural communication and cultural image building in certain ways.Webster and Phalen define emerging media as all types of communications based on digital technologies.Emerging media show their own advantages in influencing long distance,enlarging the volume and speed of communications,enabling interaction,and permitting the merging of media forms.〔2〕

China’s cultural image building may be expressed verbally through the introduction of Chinese culture by using foreign languages like English,and nonverbally through the presentation of movies,pictures and products.A survey of the cultural communication in English language and other forms mentioned above may help us find out that the channels of China’s cultural image building.They include the following forms of the emerging media:online mainstream media,news blogs,and social network sites.Online mainstream media refer to the online counterpart of those traditional mass media like television,newspaper,radio and magazine.News blogs are commonly run by almost all mainstream media,all with culture section in invariably.But most of the news blogs are in Chinese,which may be not as efficient and direct as English news reporting for the sake of building cultural image in overseas audiences.Other social network sites include non-official we-media or self-media,such as Sina blog,which is a complement to official and government cultural news reporting.But still,most of the self-media are domestically oriented by using Chinese,such as Sohu blog,Ifeng blog,Netease blog,and Tencent blog.For each blog,whether it be official or not,culture has been an inseparable domain in the range of news reporting.But only those online mainstream news media are outward looking in that they have English news reportage concerning culture,and thus will contribute more to China’s cultural image building.

Ⅱ.Three levels in China’s cultural image building

Cultural image may be studied through verbal and non-verbal messages.〔3〕With the turn to language aspect in cultural studies,texts as cultural representation are in the center of the stage.The audience,context,identity,ideology,and power are also discussed.Cultural reports in English have provided the most convincing evidence for the study of cultural image.〔4〕This is the first type of data,for the purpose of examining the constituents of China’s cultural image,and discovering the problems existed.The second type of data includes the elicited data retrieved from the news blogs.They are collected by retrieving the paraphrastic structures〔5〕in order to see the subjective understanding of Chinese cultural image by the audiences home and abroad.The third type of data is nonverbal,including pictures,films,and products collected from the emerging media.

1.The technical level

The technical level of culture is the most tangible,visible,and explicit level in cultural image building.It can be seen and felt directly by the audience of a culture.It is also the most reported level in the text of cultural news reporting in English.For the technical level,the cultural facts and behavior may be observed directly.They are usually grouped under the headings of art,music,theater,film,books,heritage,festivals,life,etc.These traditional cultural facts and behaviors are evenly and adequately organized,which can be seen from the news reports collected.The technical level of cultural image gives prominence to the unique characteristics in Chinese cultural facts and behaviors.〔6〕Among this level,we may see many videos,movies,pictures,songs,and books have been created,and that many festivities and exhibitions have been held to lend interest and attraction to the promotion of China’s cultural image.Traditional Chinese arts and the protection of cultural relics and intangible cultural heritage are emphasized in order to combat coldness and blindness.A lot of public facilities such as libraries and civic centers are built so as to provide necessities for promoting nationwide reading.

Mo Yan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature 2012 for his hallucinatory realism merging folk tales,history and the contemporary together.This reflects and reinforces the influence of Chinese culture.However,China’s cultural image has been troubled by the reports of copyright violation,the terrorism in Xinjiang,and the disregard of food safety regulation,etc.Such incidents are usually reported by foreign media and forwarded pervasively online.Without the timely feedback to these events,people may have misunderstandings of China’s culture image.This has been one of the key problems nowadays.

2.The formal level

Tradition,customs,and cultural heritage are the core of the formal level of cultural image.Among the essence of fine traditional Chinese culture,to seek harmony but not uniformity with harmony the noblest thing is of central place.〔7〕Based on this principle,China’s cultural image building still works on carrying forward the excellent cultural tradition and the cultural heritage.Meanwhile,intercultural communication is also strengthened and intercultural exchange activities are organized in order to connect Chinese culture to the world and introduce Chinese culture to the world.More importantly,relative authorities and organizations carry the spreading of Chinese culture to the extent of letting people really know and understand Chinese culture.Confucianism is one of the cultural concepts that are frequently mentioned.It can be seen from the increase and enlargement of Confucius Institute across the world.Volunteers of teaching Chinese to people in other countries are carefully chosen each year.Cultural bond has been set up and strengthened by widespread cultural exchange with different courtiers in different fields.

Programs that intend to choose examples of fine traditional virtues are designed and gain popularity among different age brackets.Examples and paradigms are admired nationwide to enhance the cultural heritage to a high level.Through the various practice and polices of the heritage of culture and tradition,China’s cultural image of being harmonious and upright has been deeply rooted in people’s mind.What’s more,the ability to communicate effectively with international audiences has also been improved.

3.The informal level

The informal level of culture provides guidance for China’s cultural image building.Ideology,values,beliefs,and judgments belong to this level.Core socialist values are the first of the culture key words from the government report and “the core of cultural soft power”.Core socialist values are comprised of the following principles,“prosperity,democracy,civility,harmony,freedom,equality,justice,the rule of law,patriotism,dedication,integrity and friendship”.〔8〕

Actually,the words “core socialist values” and communism themselves constantly occur in the news reporting home and abroad.Some featured theme parks have been built to let people get more understanding of the essence of core socialist values,which are the core of China’s cultural image.For example,the opening of the communist theme park in Wuhan,the Red Army Theme Park in Beijing,and the Red Classics Theme Park in Chongqing enables tourists to know and learn from the essence of Chinese culture by enjoying the scenery and architectures.

Foreign news media are always prompt in collecting and reporting news from China,but sometimes with misunderstandings of over-regulation or over-limit on the cultural undertakings,such as school education,and publication.Viewing this,immediate feedback should be given to clarify the events.And the relative authorities and organizations have been aware of this and implementing this.Shortly after the Uniqlo video incident,with quick responsiveness,the relative reports in China wrote it was violation of moral standards.One day after the incident,one of the CNN reports wrote Beijing police was working to investigate it.Actually,even before the CNN report was posted online,the investigation had been carried on and the investigation process had been made known by the public.

In summarization,to let China’s cultural image known,identified,and loved by overseas audiences needs the delicate design of products containing or conveying the spirit and values of Chinese culture,such as movies,cartoons,and even daily necessities like clothes,bags and so on.The building of China’s cultural image lies in melting it into concrete and vivid realities and becoming part of people’s life skillfully.

Ⅲ.Reflections on current China’s cultural image building

Cultural identity and image are composed of a set of qualities,values,and institutions attributed to given populations,and it changes through time.〔9〕Emerging media have played a key role in shaping national cultural image and identities.An investigation of the forms and contents of the emerging media is made to elucidate how the emerging media are involved in the defining and constituting China’s cultural image building.Based on the analysis above,some enlightenment may be provided as follows.

1.Package cultural image and make it realistic and attractive

In the context of emerging media,researchers have to package particular cultures for non-native audiences.〔10〕As will be explained,at least three characteristics of packaged cultures should be highlighted for their functional importance to China’s cultural image building.The packaged cultural image must assert a cultural identity and highlights unique cultural elements.Then the packaged cultural image should be carefully constructed and presented in the preferred ways by audiences from other culture so as to be persuasive and attractive.Finally,researchers should work on involving the audiences into the packaged cultural image by making them aware of the fact that the packaged cultural image is relevant to and can be part of their life.

China’s national image video record Hi,I am China has successfully attracted people online by receiving numerous forwarding and comments.It has been proved an effective way to package China’s cultural image.The State Council has launched a series of policies and worked on the production of China’s national publicity films.Some of them have been shown in New York,London,and many other cities across the world,which enable thousands of the local residents and tourists to see China’s beautiful landscapes and ancient culture.

2.Respond promptly to maintain China’s cultural image

Attention should be always paid to the response of the overseas audience and explore how they understand and interact with the cultural image we expressed on the emerging media.Only in this way,we can make prompt response to the audience’s feedback and be efficient in explaining the misunderstandings and maintaining China’s cultural image.The follow-up responsiveness can be a good complement to the building of China’s cultural image.To achieve this,researchers should investigate how people use the media as part of their daily life,explore specific subfields in emerging media,and conduct an analysis of the global audience.

The examination of the efficiency of culture spreading and cultural image building will be more reliable and supportive if it is based on a large pool of data about China’s international culture communication in the emerging media.The dynamic monitoring of English news reports over online mainstream media,news blogs,and other social network sites may facilitate quantitative cultural researches and be insightful into the study of cultural image building.

3.Cultivate Chinese perspective and Chinese way

To stick to Chinese perspective and Chinese way requires a deep understanding of fine traditional Chinese culture and modern Chinese culture in the emerging media context.Thus,they should be also centered on core socialist values.A thorough cultural analysis and reportage of historical and modern China may help us to make them clear.In fact,the notion of country and names of places like China,Beijing,province,Shanghai etc.are highly frequently mentioned in the English cultural report to set off the uniqueness of Chinese culture.To carry on Chinese perspective and Chinese way further,we should have and always follow coherent and consistent policies in China’s cultural image,so that we can skillfully cope with the world cultural affair and build an impressive cultural image for China.

In conclusion,China’s cultural image building should introduce not only the long history and tradition of China,but also emphasize innovation.It should change with time in the emerging media context.By digging and promoting the essence of core socialist values and by hard working,China’ cultural image may be built as being upright,responsible,open,energetic.China’s cultural image building should also work on improving the influence in the international discourse,and strengthening the ability to communicate effectively with international audiences through the emerging media.The efficient,in-depth,and prompt use of the emerging media as the channels of exchanging cultural information may play a key and positive role in China’s cultural image building.

References:

〔1〕Schlesinger P.,Mass Media and Cultural Identity,In Wright J.D.,International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (2nd Edition),Amsterdam:Elsevier,2015,pp.707-711.

〔2〕Webster J.,Phalen P F,The mass audience:Rediscovering the dominant model,Routledge,1997,pp.138-139.

〔3〕Scannell P.,Cultural studies:which paradigm?Media,Culture & Society,2015,0163443715580948.

〔4〕Chen Lixu,Two Paradigms in Cultural Studies:Text Centrality and Relativity,Zhejiang Social Sciences,2011(4),pp.2-10.

〔5〕Teubert W.,Meaning,discourse and society,Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2010.

〔6〕Yu Xiayun,A Positioning of China in the Global Space:Reflecting the Overseas Debate on Chineseness and Sinophone,Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art,2013(1),pp.46-52.

〔7〕Zou Guangwen,Reflections on Building Cultural China,Policy Research and Exploration,2013(2),pp.74-77.

〔8〕Xi Jinping stresses core socialist values,China Daily,March 4,2014.

〔9〕Bing Zheng,China’s Cultural Image and Cultural Symbols into the 21st Century,Social Science Front,2013(3),pp.12-16.

〔10〕Ooi Can-Seng,Un-Packing Packaged Cultures:Chineseness in International Business,East Asia,2007(24),pp.111-128.

In the context of emerging media,cultural image has been widely studied form the perspectives of culture,media and language,especially after the introduction of the concept of cultural China.This paper investigates the forms and contents of the emerging media involved in China’s cultural image building,and the interaction on cultural issues between audiences home and abroad.Then China’s cultural image has been analyzed into the technical,formal,and informal levels based on Hall’s theory.The analysis shows more in-depth,effective and prompt use of the emerging media may help improve China’s cultural image building.

cultural image;emerging media;Hall’s theory

About the author：Li Nan (1980—),Lecturer of the Faculty of International Studies of Henan Normal University,Master,research field:corpus linguistics.

〔*〕This paper is the staged achievement of the Project of Teachers’ Education and Curriculum Reform of Henan Province - Research on the Development & Application of Characteristic Resources for Henan Foreign Language Teachers’ Education (2016-JSJYYB-025),and the Project of the Youth Science Fund of Henan Normal University - The Automatic Analysis of Henan-Accented English Pronunciation (2014QK33).