- Main
Imagined Communities: Patriotic Sentiment Among Chinese Students Abroad in the Era of Xi Jinping
- Sinski, Eric
- Advisor(s): Yan, Yunxiang
Abstract
Using a combination of participant-observation and semi-structured, person-centered
interview techniques, this thesis examines nationalist subjectivities and patriotic sentiment
among Chinese university students abroad during the late Xi Jinping era. By approaching this
phenomenon from an anthropological, bottom-up approach, this paper concludes that rather than
tempering their nationalist sentiment through exposure to other cultures and political systems,
time spent abroad actually increases the magnitude and salience of patriotic sentiments, as well
as reshapes Chinese nationalist subjectivities in ways that are unique, but whose roots can be
found in the social facts and narrative lens imparted during Patriotic Education Campaign
initiated by the Chinese Communist Party following the political turmoil of the 1980s, as well as
in the lived experiences of Chinese students abroad today. Tracing back to its incipient roots
during pre-Dynastic China, this paper contributes to anthropological studies of nationalism by
arguing that nationalism, rather than being understood as a broad phenomenon that arises only
when certain universal conditions are met, must be understood in a situated, localized context
and centered in the lived experiences of everyday people who at once shape, and are shaped by
nationalistic narratives and sentiments.
Main Content
Enter the password to open this PDF file:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-