Gerda Wielander
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9789888455720
- eISBN:
- 9789888455515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888455720.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
This chapter analyzes the appearance of happiness in public and political discourse in China in the wider context of socialist modernization underpinned by Chinese socialist views of the psyche. It ...
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This chapter analyzes the appearance of happiness in public and political discourse in China in the wider context of socialist modernization underpinned by Chinese socialist views of the psyche. It examines the link between the spiritual and the political and argues that the current emphasis on happiness needs to be understood as a continued effort on the part of the CCP to instil the “correct spirit” in China’s population. The author argues that in this process Lu Xun’s Ah Q has turned from a symbol of feudal decay into a role model for China’s citizens. The chapter draws on a range of conceptual frameworks from cultural studies, psychology, sociology and anthropology in its analysis of the tension between individual and collective happiness and the strategies adopted by the CCP, as ruling party, to address it. Examples from a debate on happiness held in the journal Zhongguo Qingnian中國青年 in the 1950s and 1960s are juxtaposed with contemporary sources to illustrate the continuity and differences in the Chinese socialist debates on happiness over the decades.Less
This chapter analyzes the appearance of happiness in public and political discourse in China in the wider context of socialist modernization underpinned by Chinese socialist views of the psyche. It examines the link between the spiritual and the political and argues that the current emphasis on happiness needs to be understood as a continued effort on the part of the CCP to instil the “correct spirit” in China’s population. The author argues that in this process Lu Xun’s Ah Q has turned from a symbol of feudal decay into a role model for China’s citizens. The chapter draws on a range of conceptual frameworks from cultural studies, psychology, sociology and anthropology in its analysis of the tension between individual and collective happiness and the strategies adopted by the CCP, as ruling party, to address it. Examples from a debate on happiness held in the journal Zhongguo Qingnian中國青年 in the 1950s and 1960s are juxtaposed with contemporary sources to illustrate the continuity and differences in the Chinese socialist debates on happiness over the decades.
John Wei
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2020
- ISBN:
- 9789888528271
- eISBN:
- 9789882206304
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888528271.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gay and Lesbian Studies
This chapter deals with social inclusion and exclusion along the lines of cultural capital and social distinctions underlined by social class migration and mobilization. Drawing upon sociological ...
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This chapter deals with social inclusion and exclusion along the lines of cultural capital and social distinctions underlined by social class migration and mobilization. Drawing upon sociological analyses of various forms of human capital and academic inquiries into the issue of suzhi (“quality”), this chapter analyzes the ongoing social stratifications in China’s queer communities that have reproduced larger social inequalities. Through an investigation of an “upward” online queer community, it argues that the state-engineered discourse of suzhi has to some extent expired, but the lingering myth of “quality” continues to underline queer social distinctions and social interactions online and on the ground.Less
This chapter deals with social inclusion and exclusion along the lines of cultural capital and social distinctions underlined by social class migration and mobilization. Drawing upon sociological analyses of various forms of human capital and academic inquiries into the issue of suzhi (“quality”), this chapter analyzes the ongoing social stratifications in China’s queer communities that have reproduced larger social inequalities. Through an investigation of an “upward” online queer community, it argues that the state-engineered discourse of suzhi has to some extent expired, but the lingering myth of “quality” continues to underline queer social distinctions and social interactions online and on the ground.
