Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
8-2006
Abstract
Chinese nationalism has ignited much debate among academics and the general public in both China and the West. Rather than search for the true core of Chinese nationalism, this essay will examine the curious custom of National Humiliation Day as an oblique entry into the politics of identity. The nation is not simply a question of people or territory, the author contends, but of time: the national time scripted by events such as National Humiliation Day. By comparing the differing practices of the holiday as it was celebrated in the early twentieth century and is observed in the early twenty-first century, the author argues that in the early twentieth century the political performances aimed to produce a proper Chinese nation out of the clashes between the Qing dynasty, northern warlords, and foreign empires. The goal was to construct a “China” worthy of being saved. When National Humiliation Day was revived in China at the turn of the twenty-first century, the political performances were more focused on containing the nation through a commemoration of the various crises of the early twentieth century. Thus the essay will argue that the nation does not arise from the ideology of its leaders, as much as through popular performances such as National Humiliation Day. Hence it shows how politics is best analyzed as a series of performances, not just by state actors in official sites like the Foreign Ministry, but also through the cultural governance of less official sites in art, film, literature — and public holidays. In this way, National Humiliation Day activities go beyond producing and containing nationalism; Chinese people are also consuming nationalism as part of a symbolic economy that generates identity.
Discipline
Asian Studies | Political Science | Social Influence and Political Communication
Research Areas
Political Science
Publication
Critical Asian Studies
Volume
38
Issue
2
First Page
179
Last Page
208
ISSN
1467-2715
Identifier
10.1080/14672710600671087
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Citation
CALLAHAN, William A..(2006). History, identity, and security: Producing and consuming nationalism in China. Critical Asian Studies, 38(2), 179-208.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4268
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1080/14672710600671087
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Political Science Commons, Social Influence and Political Communication Commons