The powerful image and the imagination of power: the ‘new visual turn’ of the CPC’s propaganda strategy since its 18th National Congress in 2012

ABSTRACT

This paper adopts the academic tool of discourse analysis to examine the ‘new visual turn’ of the Communist Party of China’s propaganda work since the 18th CPC National Congress when Xi Jinping was inaugurated as the leader of Chinese Communists. A thorough review of the new visual means the Party uses for photojournalism, TV news, animated cartoons and online promotional videos points to three developments markedly different from traditional discursive strategies: a full embrace of Confucian ethics, articulation of the Internet-based popular culture and subcultures, and an effort to fortify Xi’s personal authority as a political idol. The paper concludes that the ‘new visual turn’ of CPC propaganda after the 18th Party Congress suggests that the Communist discourse has evolved to a new stage where sophisticated manipulation of sleek technological tools substantiates a rigorous, dynamic CPC discursive system more at ease with itself and more powerful than ever in shaping the mainstream political culture in China.

KEYWORDS:

• Propaganda
• CPC
• Xi Jinping
• Peng Liyuan
• visualization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Jiang Chang is associate professor at School of Journalism and Communication, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

Hailong Ren is assistant professor at School of Translation and Interpreting, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China.

Notes

1 Danmu (弹幕), literally ‘bullet curtain’ or ‘barrage.’ Originally a military term referring to a concentrated artillery bombardment over a certain area, it is appropriated by the Chinese erciyuan subculture to describe the real-time commentary service offered by a number of video-streaming sites, where viewers of a video can type in their comments which then shoot right to left across the screen like bullets. If a large number of viewers do it at the same time, the screen will seem like it is covered with a barrage of artillery fire made of words.

2 The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Og--XLr_5L8, accessed 20 June 2016.

3 The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEgtIWh9XCs, accessed 20 June 2016.

4 The video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFUPS8CDaDM, accessed 20 June 2016.