“Together, We Achieve the China Dream”: Constructing Affective Chinese Nationalities in the Film My People, My Country

Abstract

National blockbusters, such as My People, My Country (MPMC; 我和我的祖国, wo he wode zuguo), have gained a prominent position in contemporary Chinese nationalist propaganda. Based on a multi-modal discourse analysis approach, this paper will examine how narratives of “my country” and “my people” are affectively constructed through multi-modal resources in the MPMC to shape a unified Chinese national identity while consolidating the Chinese Communist Party's ruling legitimacy in the face of increasingly diverse challenges. Findings show three discursive strategies, involving interrelated affects: (1) selective and pride-based mythmaking of the glorious past; (2) conveying happiness through appropriation of (sub)popular culture; and (3) mobilising nostalgia by invoking cultural memories. To grasp possible effects of these affective strategies, we circulated questionnaires to twenty-five Chinese diasporas. Their answers suggest that, although these strategies evoke nationalist emotions, questions are also raised concerning conflicting interests between the collective and the individual, as well as the potential risks of affective nationalism.