On Thursday October 24th, CSCC and the Annenberg School of Communication teamed up to welcome Professor Fan Yang from the University of Baltimore Maryland to speak about her latest book “Disorienting Politics: Chimerican Media and Transpacific Entanglements.” In this book and her presentation, Fan Yang examines perceptions of a “Rising China” and Chinese people through media artifacts from the 21st century.
Unlike most other presentations, Professor Yang used video clips to provide much of the supporting material for her presentation, therefore if you have time I highly recommend that you review the materials presented. Starting off with a few-minute-long clip of President Trump saying the word “China”, Yang points out that China is now an inseparable part of American media, and America's perception of China is shaped through this “Chimerican” media (China + American). Yang states that the U.S and China are now entangled, meaning they “lack an independent, self-contained existence”. However, this entanglement is not made on equal footing. In this dynamic, the U.S. has the power, and China, or “Rising China” is seen as an invader.
Professor Yang points out that this depiction of China and Chinese in the media has led to an increasing Sinophobia and Yellow Perilism. This coupled with the increasing racialization of the Chinese state leads to many attacks on Chinese people and Chinese institutions in the United States. In the U.S., this has manifested itself in the removal of China-U.S. partnerships, such as Confucius Institutes. Despite this, Yang points out that there are double-standards when it comes to Chinese in the media.
Professor Yang concurrently played a clip of Jon Huntsman Jr. CAS ‘87 speaking in a 2012 campaign interview. As soon as he started to speak, the mostly Chinese-speaking audience begam to laugh. While I’m not one to say how good his Chinese was, it was not a great showing. Despite that, he is lauded by the interviewer for how impressive this feat is. Yang points out that in American media, when a visibly non-Chinese person speaks Chinese it is often a way to point out their intelligence and their privilege. In contrast to Chinese-Americans, who often only face discrimination for being Chinese and speaking Chinese, this shows the clear difference in power dynamics.
Professor Yang’s work demonstrates the impact of “Chimerican” Media, and for me and many of the people at this presentation we see the tangible effects this media has on our lives. As someone who's been learning Chinese for nearly ten years, professor Yang’s work truly resonated with my experience of learning Chinese. Growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, I attended Confucius Institute summer camp and quiz bowls, and saw that those institutions were removed from my community. I’ve been celebrated for learning Chinese, while at the same time seeing political figures demonized for any relations with Chinese at all. And I’ve seen through personal experiences the way people view the way I speak Chinese versus the way my Chinese-American friends speak Chinese. American media's portrayal of China has greater impact than is often acknowledged. As relations between our two countries continue, messaging needs to be more considerate, for it risks harming many people along the way.