Journal | Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale
Journal issue | 57 | 2021
Research Article | China’s ‘CivilOlympic’ Performances and (Re)gained Global Visibility
China’s ‘CivilOlympic’ Performances and (Re)gained Global Visibility
Fantasising about a New Brand China through Olympic Public Service Announcements
- Giovanna Puppin - Università di Genova, Italia - email
Abstract
This article investigates how China fantasised about itself and the Beijing 2008 Olympics through the award-winning TV public service announcements (PSAs) of the Beijing Opera Series, with a focus on visibility. By drawing on theories of the spectacle, I perform a semiotic analysis of the most recurrent signs, organising them according to the main themes that emerge. The theatre stage – which represents the Olympic stage – is closely linked to China’s dream of owning the Games and its desire for global visibility. The performance includes the theatrical performance of the Beijing Opera and the performance of civilisation, which semiotically over-determines the Games. The protagonists include famous actors and roles of Beijing Opera (i.e. Dan, who is an anthropomorphic metaphor for China), as well as ordinary people, who are extraordinary for their high degree of civilisation. The spectators, especially through the intradiegetic presence of a Western male Other, validate the country’s performative success and confirm its achieved global visibility.
Submitted: Feb. 4, 2021 | Accepted: June 11, 2021 | Published June 30, 2021 | Language: en
Keywords Public service advertising • Global visibility • China’s national image • Beijing 2008 • Civilisation • Brand China • Olympic spectacle
Copyright © 2021 Giovanna Puppin. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2021/01/018
-
The Mind-Made Body and Levitation: A Brief Clarification
Letter to the Editor - Bhikkhu Anālayo
- June 30, 2021
- Rejoinder to Ven. Anālayo and a Short List of Corrigenda
- Bryan De Notariis
- June 30, 2021
Articles
-
Definiteness Marking in Earlier Stages of Arabic
Areal Evidence from Classical Arabic Idols’ Names - Francesco Grande
- June 30, 2021
- Polysemy as Hermeneutic Key in Ibn ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam
- Federico Salvaggio
- June 30, 2021
- Pharaohs and Playwrights between Fiction and Reality: Controversies in the Egyptian Cultural Field
- Daniela Potenza
- June 30, 2021
- Poetry in the Era of Social Networks: The Case of Faraḥ Šammā
- Emanuela De Blasio
- June 30, 2021
- Beyond the 20FM: The Revitalization of the New Moroccan Left Following the 2011 Protests
- Daniele Paolini
- June 30, 2021
-
On the Indicative Imperfect and the Other Tenses in -eɾ of the Armenian Dialect of Urmia
Historical and Typological Aspects of a Morphological Innovation - Andrea Scala
- June 30, 2021
- Notes on Musical Imagery in the Poetry of Jāmi
- Alessia Dal Bianco
- June 30, 2021
-
Monumental Entrance to Gandharan Buddhist Architecture
Stairs and Gates from Swat - Luca M. Olivieri, Elisa Iori
- June 30, 2021
- Prolegomena to the Bon Religion and to the Soteriological Principles of Maternal Tantra (Ma rgyud) in the Bonpo Tradition Through the Work of Yongdzin Tendzin Namdak
- Francesco Maniscalco
- June 30, 2021
-
Sociolinguistics of Hindī
An Analysis of TV-Mediated Spoken Hindī Features Through TV Programmes’ Language - Giulia Ferro
- June 30, 2021
- Two Indianists and a Commission. Carlo Formichi, Oreste Nazari and the Progress of Sanskrit Studies in Italy
- Alice Crisanti
- June 30, 2021
- North of Dai: Armed Communities and Military Resources in Late Medieval China (880-936)
- Maddalena Barenghi
- June 30, 2021
- The Notion of bianxing 變形 in the Monkey Tales Contained in the Three Chapters "Chushou" 畜 獸 of Taiping Guangji 太平廣記
- Giovanni Ruscica
- June 30, 2021
- The Introduction of Naturalism in China, the Role of Mao Dun and the Debate in the Press
- Rosa Lombardi
- June 30, 2021
- Between Rigor and Reverence. Yu Dafu and His Views on Translation
- Paolo Magagnin
- June 30, 2021
- Aspects of the Christian Missionary in Nationalist China: Mrs. Jiang Jieshi and the Missions
- Vincenza Cinzia Capristo
- June 30, 2021
-
China’s ‘CivilOlympic’ Performances and (Re)gained Global Visibility
Fantasising about a New Brand China through Olympic Public Service Announcements - Giovanna Puppin
- June 30, 2021
- Sinitic Poetry in Early Heian Japan: Kidendō Literacy, Banquet Culture, and the Sugawara House
- Dario Minguzzi
- June 30, 2021
-
Time and Glory in the Ise monogatari
Considerations on the Political Implications of the Songs of the ‘Old Man’ - Francesca Fraccaro
- June 30, 2021
-
Bodies in Japanese Language
An Introduction to the Polysemous Character of Corporeality - Katja Centonze
- June 30, 2021
- The Polyhedral and Elusive Nature of Geyao
- Sabrina Rastelli
- June 30, 2021
-
Negotiating ‘Asianness’ at the Tokyo International Film Festival
Local, Regional and International Dynamics Through Programming Practices and Film Markets - Eugenio De Angelis
- June 30, 2021
- Learning Japanese through VR Technology. The Case of Altspace VR
- Alessandro Mantelli
- June 30, 2021
Report
- The AJE Summit 2020 Report: The Past, Present and Future of Japanese Language Education in Europe
- Takuya Kojima, Marcella Mariotti
- June 30, 2021
Reviews
- Veronica Ghirardi. Postmodern Traces and Recent Hindi Novels
- Thomas Dähnhardt
- June 30, 2021
- Nicoletta Pesaro, Melinda Pirazzoli. La narrativa cinese del Novecento. Autori, opere e correnti
- Marco Fumian
- June 30, 2021
| DC Field | Value |
|---|---|
|
dc.identifier |
ECF_article_5514 |
|
dc.title |
China’s ‘CivilOlympic’ Performances and (Re)gained Global Visibility. Fantasising about a New Brand China through Olympic Public Service Announcements |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Puppin Giovanna |
|
dc.publisher |
Edizioni Ca’ Foscari - Digital Publishing, Fondazione Università Ca’ Foscari |
|
dc.type |
Research Article |
|
dc.language.iso |
en |
|
dc.identifier.uri |
http://edizionicafoscari.it/en/edizioni4/riviste/annali-di-ca-foscari-serie-orientale/2021/1/chinas-civilolympic-performances-and-regained-glob/ |
|
dc.description.abstract |
This article investigates how China fantasised about itself and the Beijing 2008 Olympics through the award-winning TV public service announcements (PSAs) of the Beijing Opera Series, with a focus on visibility. By drawing on theories of the spectacle, I perform a semiotic analysis of the most recurrent signs, organising them according to the main themes that emerge. The theatre stage – which represents the Olympic stage – is closely linked to China’s dream of owning the Games and its desire for global visibility. The performance includes the theatrical performance of the Beijing Opera and the performance of civilisation, which semiotically over-determines the Games. The protagonists include famous actors and roles of Beijing Opera (i.e. Dan, who is an anthropomorphic metaphor for China), as well as ordinary people, who are extraordinary for their high degree of civilisation. The spectators, especially through the intradiegetic presence of a Western male Other, validate the country’s performative success and confirm its achieved global visibility. |
|
dc.relation.ispartof |
Annali di Ca’ Foscari. Serie orientale |
|
dc.relation.ispartof |
Vol. 57 | June 2021 |
|
dc.issued |
2021-06-30 |
|
dc.dateAccepted |
2021-06-11 |
|
dc.dateSubmitted |
2021-02-04 |
|
dc.identifier.issn |
|
|
dc.identifier.eissn |
2385-3042 |
|
dc.rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License |
|
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
|
dc.identifier.doi |
10.30687/AnnOr/2385-3042/2021/01/018 |
|
dc.peer-review |
yes |
|
dc.subject |
Beijing 2008 |
|
dc.subject |
Beijing 2008 |
|
dc.subject |
Brand China |
|
dc.subject |
Brand China |
|
dc.subject |
China’s national image |
|
dc.subject |
China’s national image |
|
dc.subject |
Civilisation |
|
dc.subject |
Civilisation |
|
dc.subject |
Global visibility |
|
dc.subject |
Global visibility |
|
dc.subject |
Olympic spectacle |
|
dc.subject |
Olympic spectacle |
|
dc.subject |
Public service advertising |
|
dc.subject |
Public service advertising |
| Download data |
-
file_download 181
-
search 515
-
format_quote 0
