CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Perenyi, Hanna |
|---|---|
| Title | Telling China's Story: Rethinking Chinese Politics and Public Diplomacy Through a Postcolonial Lens |
| Summary | A general neglect of the enduring legacies of colonialism which shape both Chinese politics at present as well as mainstream narratives on Chinese propaganda, soft power and influence strategies result a significant gap within Western scholarship in the field of political science. This project is an attempt to fill in that gap and challenge dominant narratives by applying postcolonial theory and historiography, revealing the ways in which China’s (post)colonial legacies inform its politics both and home, and abroad. The title of this thesis is a nod to the widespread Chinese slogan ‘to tell China’s story well’ (jianghao zhongguo gushi, 讲好 ;中կ d;故N 8b;) coined by Xi Jinping, encapsulating the Communist Party’s project of enhancing the country’s ‘discourse power’ (huayu quan, 话语权), understood as a key symbol of ‘soft power’ (ruǎn shílì, 文化 ;软ֹ e;力). The present thesis reveals connections often absent from dominant discourses not only through historical analysis but also through by focusing on key notions within Chinese discourse itself such as ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ (zhongguo tese shehui zhuyi, 中国 ;特ࠧ 2;社O 1a;主 e49;) and ‘Chinese Dream’ (zhongguo meng, 中国梦). It asks how these linkages brought to the surface might change perceptions not only about Chinese soft power, propaganda and influence strategies, but also, more broadly, about power, resistance, modernity and the so-called ‘West’? |
| Supervisor | Bozóki András |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/perenyi_hanna.pdf |
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