Medyanın Yumuşak Güç Kaynağı Olarak Film Endüstrisi ve Turizminin Çin deki Gelişimi (The Development of the Film Industry and Tourism in China as a Soft Power Source of the Media)

On the basis of the results of an ongoing research project on the activities of the Chinese media company StarTimes in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, this paper analyses the fluid and fragmentary dimension of the engagements between Chinese media and African publics, while equally emphasizing the power dynamics that underlie them. Focusing on a variety of ethnographic sources, it argues for an approach to the study of Chinese media expansion in Africa able to take into account, simultaneously, the macro-political and macro-economic factors which condition the nature of China–Africa media interactions, the political intentions behind them (as, for example, the Chinese soft power policies and their translation into specific media contents), and the micro dimension of the practices and uses of the media made by the actors (producers and consumers of media) in the field.

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Othering as soft-power discursive practice: China Daily’s construction of Trump’s America in the 2016 presidential election

Politics ◽

10.1177/0263395719843219 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 54-69 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chengxin Pan ◽

Benjamin Isakhan ◽

Zim Nwokora

Keyword(s):

Critical Discourse Analysis ◽

Soft Power ◽

The United States ◽

Discursive Practice ◽

Discursive Construction ◽

Discursive Practices ◽

Chinese Media ◽

Media Communication ◽

Power Construction ◽

The Media

The relationship between Chinese soft power and Chinese media has been a focus of a growing body of literature. Challenging a resource-based conception of soft power and a transmission view of communication that inform much of the debate, this article adopts a discursive approach to soft power and media communication. It argues that their relationship is not just a matter of resource transmission, but one of discursive construction, which begs the questions of what mediated discursive practices are at play in soft power construction and how. Addressing these oft-neglected questions, we identify a typology of three soft-power discursive practices: charm offensive, Othering offensive, and defensive denial. Focusing on the little-understood practice of Othering offensive, we illustrate its presence in Chinese media through a critical discourse analysis of China Daily’s framing of Donald Trump and the United States, and argue that the Othering offensive in Chinese media that portrays Trump’s America as a dysfunctional and declining Other serves to construct a Chinese self as more responsible, dynamic, and attractive. Adding a missing discursive dimension to the study of soft power and the media, this study has both scholarly and practical implications for analysing a nation’s soft power strategy.

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The soft power of commercialised nationalist symbols: Using media analysis to understand nation branding campaigns

European Journal of Cultural Studies ◽

10.1177/1367549417751153 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 21 (5) ◽

pp. 527-542 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Göran Bolin ◽

Galina Miazhevich

Keyword(s):

Soft Power ◽

Interdisciplinary Approach ◽

Media Analysis ◽

Nation Branding ◽

National Image ◽

Critical Studies ◽

Critical Scholarship ◽

Different Types ◽

The Media

Since the late 1990s, nation branding has attracted a lot of attention from academics, professional consultants and government actors. The ideas and practices of nation branding are frequently presented by branding advocates as necessary and even inevitable in the light of changing dynamics of political power and influence in a globalised and media-saturated world. In this context, some have argued that nation branding is a way to reduce international conflict and supplant ethno-nationalism with a new form of market-based, national image management. However, a growing body of critical studies has documented that branding campaigns tend to produce ahistorical and exclusionary representations of the nation and advance a form of ‘commercial nationalism’ that is problematic. Importantly, the critical scholarship on nation branding has relied primarily on sociological and anthropological theories of nationhood, identities and markets. By contrast, the role of the media – as institutions, systems and societal storytellers – has been undertheorised in relation to nation branding. The majority of the existing literature tends to treat the media as ‘neutral’ vehicles for the delivery of branding messages to various audiences. This is the guest editors’ introduction to the Special Issue ‘Theorizing Media in Nation Branding’, which seeks to problematise this overly simplistic view of ‘the media’ and aims to articulate the various ways in which specific media are an integral part of nation branding. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach and problematises both the enabling and the inhibiting potentialities of different types of media as they perpetuate nation branding ideas, images, ideologies, discourses and practices.

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An electric-eel-inspired soft power source from stacked hydrogels

Nature ◽

10.1038/nature24670 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 552 (7684) ◽

pp. 214-218 ◽

Cited By ~ 134

Author(s):

Thomas B. H. Schroeder ◽

Anirvan Guha ◽

Aaron Lamoureux ◽

Gloria VanRenterghem ◽

David Sept ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Soft Power ◽

Power Source ◽

Electric Eel

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The dark double: the American media perception of Russia as a neo-Soviet autocracy, 2008–2014

Politics ◽

10.1177/0263395715626945 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

pp. 19-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Andrei P Tsygankov

Keyword(s):

Soft Power ◽

Mirror Image ◽

Political Systems ◽

Internal Politics ◽

Original Contribution ◽

American National Identity ◽

American Media ◽

The Media ◽

Russian Politics ◽

And Control

This article combines quantitative and textual analysis of editorials in leading American newspapers devoted to Russia’s internal politics from 2008 to 2014. Despite rapprochement under President Dmitry Medvedev, the media image of Russia has been overwhelmingly negative since 2008. Negative media editorial opinions of Russia reflect fears of autocratic political systems that are represented as a dangerous mirror image of the American system. To maintain this binary, aspects of Russian politics that did not fit into the neo-Soviet autocracy narrative were ignored. An original contribution of the article is its identification of key frames used by leading American media outlets to construct a narrative about contemporary Russia as a neo-Soviet autocracy. It demonstrates that this narrative is instrumental in confirming domestic perceptions of American national identity that emphasize its association with freedom at home and leadership of the ‘free world’ abroad. As such, these findings are significant for reaffirming the importance of media framings, associated narratives, and control over them to global governance and soft power.

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Soft power „kínai módra”

Távol-keleti Tanulmányok ◽

10.38144/tkt.2019.2.4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (2019/2) ◽

Author(s):

Anna Csikó

Keyword(s):

Human Rights ◽

Soft Power ◽

World Wide ◽

Special Focus ◽

Cultural Institutions ◽

Considerable Influence ◽

Confucius Institutes ◽

The Media ◽

Set Up ◽

Culture And Language

This paper introduces and examines Confucius Institutes (CI) as part of China’s soft power – with a special focus on the problems regarding the CI’s in Hungary. I also intend to analyse what kind of picture of the CI’s the mediapresents and how realistic this image is. I will discuss in two separate chapters the most serious accusations made against the CI’s (spreading Chinese propaganda, violation of human rights and academic freedom and spying forChina) because I consider that these topics provide valuable insights into the considerable influence exercised by the media even in the case of assessing educational and cultural institutions. The term “soft power” was introduced by Joseph Nye in 1990, referring to the ability to make the image of one’s country desirable abroad by using culture, ideology or institutions. But China had already discovered in the 80s how important culture and language can be as means to obtain power without recourse to “hard” methods. In 1987 China established Hanban; the first experimental CI was set up in 2004 in Uzbekistan and the first official CI was founded in South Korea in the same year. As of April, 2020 there are 540 CI’s world-wide, according to Hanban’s website, which clearly indicates that the CI’s are hugely successful. In Hungary there are currently 5 CI’s.

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Languages in public policy, and constraints in academia

Language Problems & Language Planning ◽

10.1075/lplp.00046.phi ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 286-311

Author(s):

Robert Phillipson

Keyword(s):

Public Policy ◽

Academic Freedom ◽

Soft Power ◽

World Language ◽

University Autonomy ◽

Winston Churchill ◽

The United Kingdom ◽

The Media ◽

Anglo American ◽

National Languages

Abstract The article explores evidence of public policy ignoring scholarly recommendations, and describes instances of this in the field of language policy at both supranational and national levels. One significant contemporary influence is that university autonomy and academic freedom are being constrained by neoliberal pressures. Evidence of this in the United Kingdom and Denmark is described. These trends are connected to the wider context of the transition from the practices and ideology of terra nullius to legitimate colonisation and global Europeanisation, and the concomitant dispossession of the territories of others, to global Americanisation processes, the universalization of a cultura nullius in commerce, the media, academia, and domestic life. This dovetails with the promotion and establishment of English as a lingua nullius, a language that should be learned by all worldwide, as if it serves the interests of all inhabitants of the globe, and is disconnected from the causal factors behind the expansion of the language. One speech by Winston Churchill argues for the maintenance of university autonomy and historical awareness. Another pleads for Anglo-American global dominance, including the promotion of English as a ‘world’ language. These competing pleas have had different outcomes: academic freedom and traditions are currently at risk, whereas US dominance and the promotion and expansion of English have thrived. The governments of the five Nordic countries have acted to ensure the maintenance of national languages as well as competence in ‘international languages’. This is exemplified by a description of how universities should assure parallel competence and thereby a healthy balance between English and national languages. Soft power is never far from economic, political, and military power, all of which entail language use. China and Chinese are well launched on a comparable trajectory to the expansion of English.

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A Celebrity from the Sky: ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ ʿAbd al-Ṣamad’s Journey to National and International Fame in ʿAbd al-Nāṣir’s and al-Sādāt’s Egypt

Die Welt des Islams ◽

10.1163/15700607-61020020 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-25

Author(s):

Omar Sayfo

Keyword(s):

Mass Media ◽

Soft Power ◽

Political Engagement ◽

Political Landscape ◽

Home Village ◽

The Media ◽

The 1950S ◽

Media Texts

Abstract ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ ʿAbd al-Ṣamad (1927–88) is one of the most renowned Egyptian Qurʾān reciters of the mujawwad and murattal styles, admired nationally and internationally for his remarkable voice and improvisatory style. Starting from the 1950s, his national and international career was entwined with the emergence of Egyptian mass media, which contributed not only to the spread of his voice on the radio, followed by the distribution of cassettes, but also to the formation of his image through a variety of media texts. While avoiding explicit political engagement, he largely contributed to the religious legitimation of ʿAbd al-Nāṣir’s and al-Sādāt’s policies by his presence at iconic events, as well as to the growth of Egyptian soft power. This article sets ʿAbd al-Bāsiṭ ʿAbd al-Ṣamad’s career within the media and political landscape of his time, exploring his journey from his Upper Egyptian home village to transnational celebrity.

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Product placement as an efficient marketing tool within the media mix

Harvard Deusto Business Research ◽

10.48132/hdbr.345 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 224-238

Author(s):

Alicia Martín García

Keyword(s):

Film Industry ◽

Historical Review ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Product Placement ◽

General Motors ◽

Primitive Form ◽

Product Placements ◽

The Media ◽

Marketing Tool ◽

Media Mix

Product placement has existed in its most primitive form since the dawn of cinema. Now, due to the saturation of conventional advertising, this technique has reached its zenith, with brands appearing in an environment without competition, as a natural element of the plot. The automotive sector has been present from the beginning and soon understood the expressive possibilities that were offered. General Motors began its journey in the film industry in 1933 following an agreement with Warner. Since then, the General Motors group has had a growing presence in the film industry, which reached its peak in Transformers (2007), an unprecedented type of product placement. It is possible to identify a clear cause-effect relationship in the company’s sales, with product placement being an efficient marketing tool within the media mix, as we will show throughout this investigation. The study begins with a historical review of brand placement in North American cinema (1933-2014), then proceeds with a content analysis, following the methodology proposed by Méndiz (2001), of advertising placement in film and a structured interview with Norm Marshall, the director and founding partner of Norm Marshall & Associates, responsible for GM’s product placements.

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The new media strategy of the Serbian Armed Forces as an instrument of soft power

Vojno delo ◽

10.5937/vojdelo2103060p ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 73 (3) ◽

pp. 60-72

Author(s):

Nenad Perić ◽

Miroslav Mitrović

Keyword(s):

New Media ◽

Soft Power ◽

Armed Forces ◽

Media Policy ◽

Strategic Communications ◽

Security Sector ◽

The Public ◽

Security Issues ◽

State And Society ◽

The Media

The paper elaborates the concept and significance of media policy and implements it to the Serbian Armed Forces. The importance of the media in the security sector at national and international level is analyzed and the need for good media representation of the Serbian Armed Forces is emphasized in order to support the public for important decisions concerning military and security issues. The concept of strategic communications and their relationship with the media policy that the Armed Forces should develop as one of the instruments of soft power, which is of interest not only to this system, but also to the state and society, has been presented. Moreover, the main elements are presented, whose fulfillment would create conditions for the establishment and conduct of an adequate media policy as an instrument of soft power.

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