The discipline and resistance of the display politics in China during the COVID-19 epidemic

• Main Author: Lu, Xinyi
• Other Authors: -
• Format: Thesis-Master by Coursework
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Political science
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/166307
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

In the practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics, politics has acquired a unique meaning. Sports, arts, culture, and other aspects can all be labeled with political significance, serving as a stage to showcase China's national strength and shape the image of the government, permeating into various aspects of daily life. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the political significance of this sudden public health event in political communication has gradually become evident, carrying important research implications. This article argues that in today's Chinese society, both those in power and those without power display and perform themselves in the public discourse space through media resources, and the media spectacle has become an important factor in power collusion and competition. Despite the emergence in recent years of particular political displays from the underclass that have pierced the original spectacle, the government still has absolute dominance in shaping it. Based on the theoretical perspectives of display politics, this article employs concepts from political science and communication studies to analyze two representative cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. The scale and nature of contemporary social protest inherently dictates some of the limits that protest itself has, and because of these limits it does not have the capacity to threaten the social and political order.