The Image of China in a BBC Documentary and Chinese Audiences’ Reception of it: The Case of The Chinese Are Coming by Wanwan Sun B.A., Communication University of China, Beijing, 2014 Extended Essay Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the School of Communication (Dual Degree Program in Global Communication) Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology Ó Wanwan Sun 2016 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Summer 2016 Approval Name: Wanwan Sun Degree: Master of Arts (Communication) Title: The Image of China in a BBC Documentary and Chinese Audiences’ Reception of it: The Case of The Chinese Are Coming Supervisory Committee: Program Director: Dr. Alison Beale Yuezhi Zhao Senior Supervisor Professor Long Zhang Senior Supervisor Associate Professor School of Television Communication University of China Date Approved: August 19, 2016 ii Ethics Statement iii Abstract China’s economic rise has led to competing images of the nation-state in the world’s media. Chinese audiences, for their part, are increasingly concerned with how the foreign media represent China. Against this background and taking into consideration the well-known reputation of BBC documentary film as one of the most authoritative Western media genres, this paper examines the 2011 BBC documentary film The Chinese Are Coming’s portrayal of China and its reception by selected graduate students at the Communication University of China and commentators at three online Chinese forums. The first part uses content analysis to break down the film into segments and examines its content in terms of seven subject areas and a series of key events, with a particular focus on the different tones of their treatment. It discovers that while a majority of the content is presented in a neutral tone, the film does contain one- sided representations of China’s global economic activities and thus contributes to the construction of a negative image of China. The reception analysis is equally mixed. Some audience members believe that The Chinese Are Coming is a media product that stigmatizes China on purpose. However, along with a minority of student interviewees and online commentators, I argue that the Chinese audience should take this film as an opportunity to reflect upon their government’s global strategies and foreign policies. Keywords: China’s image; Documentary film; Reception; Content analysis; Reflection iv Acknowledgements I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Yuezhi Zhao, who influences me a lot in academics and the thoughts of the world and philosophy. For this project, Professor Zhao inspired me a lot and gave me many constructive advices with great patience, and I can actually feel myself improving every time after talking to her. And I would like to thank Prof. Adel Iskandar, Prof. Zoë Druick, Prof. Katherine Reilly and Prof. Alison Beale for teaching me a lot in class and also providing me outstanding ways of thinking of the world. I also want to give special thanks to Byron R. Hauck, who has been giving me much support in writing; also he encouraged me and inspired me a lot with valuable comments this year of study. A lot of thanks to my cohort, especially to Ye Xu, Han Li, and Qinwen Yu for their help of this project. Also, I really enjoy this year together with all of the girls. In addition, I am very much thankful to the interviewees who support my work and gave me a lot of suggestion and inspiration. Finally, I wish to express my deep sense of appreciation to my family and friends for supporting me to experience the international student life in Vancouver this year. v Table of Contents Approval ............................................................................................................................ ii Ethics Statement .............................................................................................................. iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................ iv Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Tables .................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures .................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2. Literature Review ...................................................................................... 5 2.1. The Rising China ...................................................................................................... 5 2.2. Different Presentations of Chinese National Image .................................................. 8 2.2.1. National Image of China .............................................................................. 8 2.2.2. The China Threat Discourse ..................................................................... 10 2.3. Media Representation and Documentary Films ..................................................... 13 2.3.1. Mass Media Functioning in Social Reality ................................................. 13 2.3.2. Documentary Films Representation .......................................................... 15 Chapter 3. Analysis on The Chinese Are Coming ................................................... 17 3.1. Methodology ........................................................................................................... 17 3.1.1. Content Analysis ........................................................................................ 17 3.1.2. Content Analysis Design of This Research ............................................... 18 3.2. Analysis of The Chinese Are Coming ..................................................................... 19 3.2.1. General Analysis ....................................................................................... 20 3.2.2. Analysis of Keywords and Core Events .................................................... 23 3.2.3. Analysis of Each Categories ..................................................................... 26 3.2.4. Analysis of China’s image in The Chinese Are Coming ............................ 29 3.3. Results and Discussion .......................................................................................... 30 Chapter 4. Chinese Audiences’ Reception and Interpretation ............................... 32 4.1. Comments on The Chinese Are Coming from Chinese Audiences ........................ 32 4.2. Receptions and Interpretation of Chinese Audiences ............................................. 36 4.3. Reflection on Chinese Audiences’ Reception and Interpretation ............................ 37 Chapter 5. Conclusion ............................................................................................... 39 5.1. Successes of this Research ................................................................................... 39 5.2. Limitations .............................................................................................................. 40 References .................................................................................................................. 41 vi List of Tables Table 1 China’s Self-Ranking of Its Comprehensive National Power ..................... 7 Table 2 General Analysis of Representing China’s Image in The Chinese Are Coming .............................................................................................. 21 Table 3 The Frequency of Keywords in The Chinese Are Coming ....................... 23 Table 4 The Core Events in The Chinese Are Coming ......................................... 25 Table 5 Distribution of Different Attitudes in The Chinese Are Coming ................. 29 vii List of Figures Figure 1 A Design of Content Analysis ................................................................... 18 Figure 2 Frequency of Different Categories in The Chinese Are Coming .............. 22 Figure 3 Length of Different Categories in The Chinese Are Coming .................... 23 Figure 4 Different Attitudes towards Politics of China in The Chines Are Coming ..................................................................................................... 26 Figure 5 Different Attitudes towards Economy of China in The Chines Are Coming ..................................................................................................... 27 Figure 6 Different Attitudes towards Culture of China in The Chines Are Coming ..................................................................................................... 28 Figure 7 Different Attitudes towards Society of China in The Chines Are Coming ..................................................................................................... 29 Figure 8 Radar Chart of China’s Image in The Chinese Are Coming .................... 30 viii Chapter 1. Introduction From a global perspective, China is of great importance today. Along with China’s increasing comprehensive national power in the twenty-first century, people from all over the world are getting to know more about China and there are growing concerns about how to interpret China’s image