From Chop Suey to Chop-Socky: The Construction of Chineseness in British Television Adverts

Abstract

Edward Said's theory of orientalism proposes that Western European culture has overwhelmingly tended to (mis)represent non-European cultures, societies, regions, and ethnic groups via mythic, romantic, simplistic and simplifying sets of binaries. This article asks whether orientalism remains present or active within contemporary media, by analysing the representation of 'Chineseness' in British television adverts between 1955 and 2018. It argues that a predictable, recurring, limited set of aural, visual and narrative clichés and stereotypes have functioned-and continue to function-as the principal resources to evoke 'Chineseness' in British television adverts. The analysis suggests that caricatures, clichés and stereotypes of China, Chinese people, locations, artifacts and phenomena are so common that there can be said to be a glaring seam of unacknowledged, uninterrogated orientalism functioning to maintain a kind of 'invisible' racism in British advertising.

Promoting the Chinese martial arts internationally: Is it ‘Kung Fu’ or ‘Wushu’?

“…advanced spinning jumps and balancing techniques) and more objective scoring methods in 2005 (Han et al, 2021). It has been noted that this evolution has often been criticised by many traditional practitioners in China, arguing that it has detraditionalised the martial arts (Brownell, 2012; Lu, 2008; Yu and Liu, 2014; Zheng, 2011). Most of the respondents in our study have expressed similar concerns.…”

“…It has been indicated that since the beginning of the twentieth century, Chinese martial arts have been closely associated with Chinese nationalism and used as an instrument for nation-building (Lu et al, 2014; Theeboom and De Knop, 1997). Since the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, Chinese socio-political elites advocated adopting the Chinese martial arts as an instrument to ‘preserve the nation’ and ‘preserve the race’ (qiang guo qiang zhong , 强国强种) on account of the general climate in which the Chinese tried to oppose foreign powers that had invaded the country (Brownell, 2012; Draeger and Smith, 1975; Lu et al, 2014; Wu, 1939). In 1928, the Chinese martial arts were renamed Guoshu (国术, national art), thereby ‘… stressing the effort of the Chinese to promote nationalism through the martial arts’ (among others by the establishment of the General Guoshu Institute) (Theeboom and De Knop, 1997: 273).…”

Artistic Gymnastics as a Semiotic Construct: The Case of the Chinese National Team at the Olympic Games

“…It is worth mentioning that for modern China, the ideological component of many spheres, especially those related to foreign policy, is more signi cant in comparison with the developed Western countries or Japan or South Korea [11,30]. Nevertheless, there is a certain semiotic construct of greater or lesser clarity and depth formed during the presentation of sports achievements of any country at the Olympic Games [17,23,33]. In the case of China, this construct has the properties of high structuring, presence of rigid connections between individual elements, and even some de ant evidence, which is one of its most signi cant semantic features.…”

Hai Karate and Kung Fuey: Early Martial Arts Tropes in British Advertising

“…The consequence is an ethnocentric imbalance of power towards others, as exemplified by Western cultural hegemony or dominance over the Orient (Said, 1978;Hall 2013b). Stereotypical advertising tropes for the British Chinese may typically involve their depictions as Chinese takeaway owners and chefs (as discussed by Bowman (2020) in this special issue).…”