Thematic Abstraction at Work in the World: A Case Study from China with Global Implications

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Starting with Ron and Suzanne Scollon's ideas about thematic abstraction as a participatory form of storytelling in Athabaskan culture, this paper extends these ideas to a radically different setting, that of modern day China and its internal cultural wars over the economy, freedom, and leadership. We look at how internet catchphrases in China function as a form of thematic abstraction, one that is giving rise to major consequences in China and across the world. Both thematic abstraction and catchphrases state a concise theme that audiences must fill out into a detailed story based on their own experiences in life. In Athabaskan culture thematic abstraction gives rise to in-group solidarity based on a respect for, and a refusal to impose meaning on, others. In China today, catchphrases are giving rise to a solidarity among the younger generation based on a rejection of governmental and societal impositions on their own stories about their own lives.