UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) China rejuvenated? Governmentality, subjectivity, and normativity: the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Chong, P.L.G. Publication date 2012 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Chong, P. L. G. (2012). China rejuvenated? Governmentality, subjectivity, and normativity: the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Iskamp drukkers b.v. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:04 Oct 2021 China Rejuvenated?: Governmentality, Subjectivity, and Normativity The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games © Gladys Pak Lei Chong, 2012 ISBN: 978-94-6191-369-2 Cover design by Yook Koo Printed by Ipskamp Drukkers B.V. The Netherlands China Rejuvenated?: Governmentality, Subjectivity, and Normativity The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Academisch Proefschrift Ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Agnietenkapel op vrijdag 7 september 2012, te 12:00 uur door Pak Lei Gladys Chong Geboren te Fujian, China Promotiecommissie Promotor: Prof. dr. S.R. Landsberger Co-promotor: Dr. ir. B.J. de Kloet Overige leden: Prof. dr. J.F.T.M. van Dijck Prof. dr. A.Y.H. Fung Prof. dr. G.M.M. Kuipers Prof. dr. C.P. Lindner Prof. dr. P.D. Nyiri Dr. J.A. Teurlings Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen CONTENTS NOTES VII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS X CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 13 POSITIONING THIS RESEARCH 13 A MOBILIZATION STATE: TURNING THE OBJECTS OF GOVERNANCE INTO ACTIVE SUBJECTS 17 Disciplinary Power, Biopower, and Governmentality 19 NARRATING CHINA’S GREAT REJUVENATION: FROM THE AGE OF HUMILIATION TO THE AGE OF PRIDE AND GLORY 23 1. The Discourse of National Humiliation 28 2. Pride and Glory — The Olympics as a Highly Prestigious International Event 31 3. The CCP as the Legitimate Leader for the Chinese Nation 33 4. Media and Technology 36 5. Soft Power, Culture, and Chineseness 40 PREVIEW OF THE THESIS CONTENT 43 CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGY 51 RESEARCH METHODS 52 1. Media Materials 52 2. Ethnographic Observations 54 3. Semi-structured Interviews 55 METHODS OF ANALYSIS 57 1. Discourse Analysis 57 2. Visual Analysis 59 CASE STUDIES: METHODS OF CORPUS COLLECTION 64 Case Study 1: Chinese Bodies that Matter — The Search for Masculinity and Femininity 64 Case Study 2: More Than a Smile, Gaining “Face” (Un)doing Shame: The Beijing Olympic Volunteers as the New Model Citizens 65 Case Study 3: Driving (in) the City — Taxi Drivers as the Modern Flâneur 66 Case Study 4: Claiming the Past, Presenting the Present, Selling the Future: Imagining a New Beijing, Great Olympics 67 Case Study 5: Learning to be Patriotic Citizens — A Case Study of Hong Kong 67 REFLEXIVE ENQUIRY 69 CHAPTER 3 CHINESE BODIES THAT MATTER: THE SEARCH FOR MASCULINITY AND FEMININITY 76 SPORTS, BODY, AND NATION 80 “I CAN COMPETE! (我能比呀!)” — LIU CHANGCHUN (刘长春) AND YANG XIUQIONG (杨秀 琼) 87 CHINA EMERGING — LI NING (李宁) AND LANG PING (郎平) 95 CONCLUSION 113 CHAPTER 4 MORE THAN A SMILE, GAINING “FACE” (UN)DOING SHAME: THE BEIJING OLYMPIC VOLUNTEERS AS THE NEW MODEL CITIZENS 119 ON THE ART OF GOVERNMENT — GUIDING CONDUCT AT A DISTANCE 124 DREAM AND GLORY — (IN)VISIBILITY OF A CENTURY OF NATIONAL HUMILIATION 129 HOSTING A GREAT OLYMPICS — THE DESIRE FOR “FACE” 133 Wanting Face (要面子) 134 Considering Face (顾面子) 136 Deserving Face (给面子) 136 NOT TO LOSE “FACE” — (UN)DOING SHAME 140 Governing Tool — (Un)doing Shame 142 CONCLUSION 146 CHAPTER 5 DRIVING (IN) THE CITY: TAXI DRIVERS AS THE MODERN FLÂNEUR — CAUGHT IN THE WAVES OF OLYMPIC TRANSFORMATION 152 BEIJING TAXI DRIVERS AS THE MODERN FLÂNEUR 154 CAUGHT IN THE WAVES OF OLYMPIC TRANSFORMATION 156 READING THE OLYMPIC CITY 161 Beijing: A Fast-changing City 164 Narrating the Olympic Experiences 174 DRIVING IN THE CITY: NEGOTIATING THE PRACTICES OF EVERYDAY LIFE 183 CHAPTER 6 CLAIMING THE PAST, PRESENTING THE PRESENT, SELLING THE FUTURE: IMAGINING A NEW BEIJING, GREAT OLYMPICS 187 RE-MEMBERING THE CITY (THE PAST) 192 RE-INVENTING THE CITY (THE PRESENT) 201 MAPPING BEIJING’S FUTURE (THE FUTURE) 207 CONCLUSION 211 CHAPTER 7 BEIJING, HONG KONG: SHARING THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT? LEARNING TO BE PATRIOTIC CHINESE CITIZENS 215 GOVERNMENTAL POWER AND HONG KONG 220 RADIO TELEVISION HONG KONG 223 BOOSTING THE OLYMPIC SPIRIT? 227 1. Cultivating Chineseness 228 2. Enlisting Public’s Support 233 MEDIATING DIFFERENCES? 240 Discourse of Living Up to its Media Responsibility 241 DISCUSSION 253 CHAPTER 8 EPILOGUE 258 FOUCAULT AND CHINA 264 What China Does to Foucault? What Foucault Does to China? 267 QUESTION OF THE STATE 270 Problems Raised in the State Approach 271 The State and Governmentality 273 CRITIQUE 275 RESISTANCE 277 THE ROLE OF THE IOC 284 REFERENCES 287 BOOKS AND ARTICLES 287 OTHER SOURCES 310 SAMENVATTING (DUTCH SUMMARY) 327 NOTES| VII NOTES Every research has its unique aspects and writing about “China” is no simple task. As I discuss later in this dissertation, “China” is not a simple geopolitical term. Whenever one discusses and writes about this subject-topic, one needs to engage with a set of cultural politics involving “China” and “Chineseness.” There is no such thing as a simple and standardized linguistic practice when writing about China. This has in many ways complicated the whole process of writing up this dissertation and it is no longer a simple matter of following “the house rule” of an academic style. Here, I am obliged to draw your attention to the following aspects, some related more directly to the questions of “Chineseness,” others more general issues. I begin with some of the general aspects. Most of the quotations from my corpus and interviews are originally in Chinese unless otherwise stated, and I have translated all of them into English unless otherwise specified. Moreover, the transcriptions of interviews with Chinese interviewees are not always grammatically correct. This is done with an aim to give some brief ideas about the ways these interviewees expressed themselves, especially in the case study of the taxi drivers. I am well aware of the constraints, the debates, and the impossibilities of presenting the “original” and the “authentic” voices. This said, I need to restate that my purpose is not to present something “authentic”; the rationale behind this lies in a “simple” wish to communicate — to bring together the original-native to the foreign-local setting so that they can infect each other and a certain degree of linguistic flux could be made possible (de Kloet, 2005: 121). VIII | CHINA REJUVENATED What follows are aspects related to the linguistic practices in different Chinese- speaking localities. Hanyu Pinyin (汉语拼音) is the official system of transliterating Mandarin in the romanized format in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In academic practice, this is also the system commonly used nowadays to represent and write about China. In this dissertation, pinyin is generally used when referring to Chinese names and terms but in occasional situations such as when some proper nouns are long familiar in other forms like the Wade-Giles, their established spellings will be used. Some examples are cheongsam and Kuomintang. Chinese communities such as Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan1 have used different romanization systems. When Chinese names from these places are quoted, both pinyin and other romanization systems are used. In some instances, English name is included when the person referred to is commonly known or officially addressed by that name. Taking, for example, Jackie Chan is 成龍’s English name, I do not change his name into pinyin — Cheng Long. The principle I follow is to enter the Chinese names and their English names as they are found, or what the authors themselves generally use. This speaks especially for the reference list. Confusion is often created because of the diverging practices in name order. Some Chinese people choose to present their names according to Chinese custom: family name first; others have adopted the Western custom of placing the family after the first name. And, in other cases, some choose to put their English name before their Chinese first name. For example, 陳巧文’s name: Christina (English name) + Hau Man (Chinese first name) + Chan (family name); others put their Chinese first name first, then followed by English name and the family name, for example, Jinhua (Chinese first name) + Emma (English name) + Teng (family name). In uncertain cases, I can only rely on my best judgment. The diverse romanization practices would mean that pinyin transliteration cannot be used or read as the “standard” language for everyone. As such, I choose to use Chinese characters next to the English translations when Chinese phrases and special terms are involved. For example, when referring to “The Road to Rejuvenation,” I put down (复兴 1 For a long time, Taiwan had used various romanization systems such as Wade-Giles and it was only in 2008 that Hanyu Pinyin was officially adopted as the romanization system in Taiwan.