The politics of emotion during COVID-19: Turning fear into pride in China's WeChat discourse

IF 2.3 3区社会学 Q1 AREA STUDIES

China Information Pub Date : 2021-11-01 DOI:10.1177/0920203X211048290

Jeroen de Kloet, Jian Lin, Jueling Hu

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引用次数: 5

Abstract

In this article, we analyse the most popular stories that circulated on WeChat public accounts concerning personalized experiences of COVID-19 in China during the first three months of 2020. Among these non-fictional online writings, we probe into ‘individual’ and mediated experiences with the coronavirus in China by questioning the visualizations and discourses of these stories and their producers, as well as the concomitant emotions they invoked. Parallel to the changing situation of the pandemic, we observe a diachronic evolution of emotions, from fear and doubt to (nationalist) pride. While articulating personalized experiences of the pandemic from disparate perspectives, the stories invariably built on, and were shaped by, the workings of the WeChat public account platform (公众平台) as evidenced by its content moderation logic and political economy. The analysis shows that emotions, rather than facts, propel the popularity of these stories. The measures taken by the state are mostly applauded, and only sometimes questioned; tragic memories are rewritten, and a political and economic order is consolidated.

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COVID-19期间的情感政治:中国b微信话语中的恐惧转化为骄傲

在这篇文章中，我们分析了2020年前三个月微信公众号上流传的关于中国新冠肺炎个性化体验的最受欢迎的故事。在这些非虚构的网络作品中，我们通过质疑这些故事及其制作者的形象化和话语，以及他们所引发的伴随情绪，来探究中国与冠状病毒的“个人”和中介经历。与疫情形势的变化平行，我们观察到情绪的历时演变，从恐惧和怀疑到（民族主义）自豪感。尽管从不同的角度阐述了疫情的个性化经历，但这些故事总是建立在微信公众号平台的运作基础上，并由其塑造(公众平台) 其内容节制逻辑和政治经济学证明了这一点。分析表明，推动这些故事流行的是情感，而不是事实。国家采取的措施大多受到赞扬，只是有时受到质疑；悲剧记忆被改写，政治和经济秩序得到巩固。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

China Information AREA STUDIES-

CiteScore

3.50

自引率

4.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： China Information presents timely and in-depth analyses of major developments in contemporary China and overseas Chinese communities in the areas of politics, economics, law, ecology, culture, and society, including literature and the arts. China Information pays special attention to views and areas that do not receive sufficient attention in the mainstream discourse on contemporary China. It encourages discussion and debate between different academic traditions, offers a platform to express controversial and dissenting opinions, and promotes research that is historically sensitive and contemporarily relevant.