From bat soup to bean sprouts

Publication Type

Blog Post

Publication Date

8-2021

Abstract

On a trip to Shandong, China, at the end of January 2020, a few days after the lockdown of Wuhan, I watched a video of a stewed bat on Douyin – the Chinese video-sharing app. The bat sat in a bowl of soup, its boiled skin drawn back across its face to reveal its teeth, almost as if maliciously grinning. Horror-movie style music soundtracked the clip. Later in the spring, back in Hong Kong, the same video – or one like it – appeared again on my Twitter feed. The bat circulated through different social worlds, but in each catalysed horror, disgust, and blame.

Discipline

Asian History | Asian Studies

Research Areas

Integrative Research Areas

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