Uncle in the Western media, an exercise in dissonance

This morning I returned to Uncle, for a look at Postcolonial criticism, and again it struck me, how strange to be learning about this from within the East, in contrast to when I came across this subject in my Australian university degree. And this topic is always of interest to me, because I’m never quite sure where I fit. The oppressive colonizer? (But look at me, I’m Asian!) The oppressed colonized? (But listen to me, I’m a Westerner!)

We discussed the way “Orientalism” was less the “East” and more an imagination of the “East” in the minds of the “West”, and I wondered out loud, if similar things weren’t going on today. There only ever seems to be a handful of storylines about Uncle that pop in the Western media (internet censorship, human rights record, economic rise) and in my short three months here I can assure there are plenty of other, very compelling things to look at in this country. (Have a look at this discussion to look at what is possibly driving the “Western media bias”.)

Perhaps, again, our representation of Uncle says just as much about us, or our relationship to them, as it does about them.

Similarly, it’s interesting to look at an “Eastern” response when a certain, handsome young writer grants an interview with a famous, Western publication. (Or, more accurately, that link is to a Western response to an Eastern response to an Eastern writer being portrayed by a Western title … confused yet?)

What are we looking at here? Subtle racism? Cultural misunderstandings? And from which side? Was Han Han really pandering to the West by granting this interview – and a West that refuses to even try to understand the East? Or aren’t these golden opportunities to show a different side to Uncle – something every country should be attempting to do, in the spirit of internationalism, rather than in support of some kind of ongoing Western hegemony?

These questions aren’t going away anytime soon and constantly pop up, because let’s face it, words matter. Just take a look at the PRC’s quick dumping of the catchy phrase “China’s peaceful rise” in 2004 when, alarmingly, the Western media came to emphasise the ‘rise’ part, much more than the ‘peaceful’ side.

Now the Party are having to put out global ad campaigns in order to downplay fears about Uncle’s dominance on the world stage. Particularly during a time when Western capitalists countries are in a time of identity crises, leading to articles like these, and movies like this.

Lastly, do you think I should dump the code words, and just call a spade a spade?