Leiden University Student Repository

Lu, Jack (2023)

Reflecting the digital nationalism in China: A case study of The Great Translation Movement

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

The Great Translation Movement is a digital activity organised by Chinese diasporic netizens, having launched during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The movement seeks to translate the ultranationalist, pro-Russian and anti-Western sentiments, as well as the ongoing discussion about the social events from the China online discourse and show them to the broader audience in the West. In fact, what lies behind online comments such as "Putin the Great", "US is demeaning China," and " the system is fatally broken" is the phenomenon of digital nationalism in China. Thus, this paper examines the two sides of digital nationalism. On the one hand, by promoting nation-patriotism online, the authoritarian regime of China increased support by the Chinese people worldwide. But on the other hand, nation-building in the age of ICT is a complex process that produces unpredictable outcomes, especially under the circumstances such as polarised online discourse and social discord. Thus, this...Show moreThe Great Translation Movement is a digital activity organised by Chinese diasporic netizens, having launched during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The movement seeks to translate the ultranationalist, pro-Russian and anti-Western sentiments, as well as the ongoing discussion about the social events from the China online discourse and show them to the broader audience in the West. In fact, what lies behind online comments such as "Putin the Great", "US is demeaning China," and " the system is fatally broken" is the phenomenon of digital nationalism in China. Thus, this paper examines the two sides of digital nationalism. On the one hand, by promoting nation-patriotism online, the authoritarian regime of China increased support by the Chinese people worldwide. But on the other hand, nation-building in the age of ICT is a complex process that produces unpredictable outcomes, especially under the circumstances such as polarised online discourse and social discord. Thus, this paper examined the most recent data curated by the GTM, aiming to comprehend GTM's participant's ideas and behaviour and the consequences of CCP's engagement in the digital nationalism process.Show less

The Great Translation Movement

Nationalism

Grounded Theory

Chinese diaspora

Soft Power

Digital Activism

Author

Lu, Jack

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Politics, Society and Economy of Asia

Supervisors

Dr Rogier Creemers

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en