Contemporary talk of ‘the Chinese Dream’ – a slogan which dominates public media in the People’s Republic of China – is as ironic as it is pervasive. The phrase itself reminds many people of the emptiness of its familiar antecedent ‘the American Dream’; oddly, achieving the Chinese version often requires that citizens go abroad. In this stark reality the hypocrisy of contemporary nationalism is exposed as quickly as the Chinese Dream, and discussions related to it have gone viral all over the world.
This talk from Dr William Schroeder, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at The University of Manchester, explores the contemporary language and imagery of nationalist dreams, examining how China has become a hub in the interconnected world despite efforts to block its flows of information and people.