Re-meme-bering Tiananmen? From collective memory to meta-memory on TikTok

Dados Bibliográficos

ID11267352
AutoresSeth Seet (0000-0002-7510-5902, Nanyang Technological University, autor correspondente), Edson C Tandoc (0000-0002-8740-9313, Nanyang Technological University)
Ano2024
Volume46
Fascículo2
Páginas272-291
Data de publicação2024-03-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMedia Culture & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0163-4437 • E-ISSN: 1460-3675
EditoraSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/01634437231191413
OpenAlexW4385783130
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas51

The 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre has been enshrined in the collective memory of different social groups globally in various ways, while the Chinese government enforces its own memory of Tiananmen through censorship and revisionism. These result in numerous memories of Tiananmen. Through a qualitative analysis of 27 TikToks posted on 3–5 June 2022, this study examines how Tiananmen is commemorated on TikTok on Tiananmen’s anniversary and what is remembered about Tiananmen. This study found that commemoration posts on TikTok remember the protests, casualties, the Chinese Communist Party leaders’ role, and the historical contexts, oft using the Tank Man image. The posts also remember the remembrance and memory formation of Tiananmen. Through commemorations, memes, and humor, some posts remember the Chinese government’s attempts to recreate the collective memory and other commemoration events. This is best described as meta-memories, where people remember the remembering and possess memory of the memory of events

Censorship · China · Cognitive science · Collective memory · Communism · Government (linguistics · Linguistics · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Politics of memory · Social memory · Sociology · Digital Storytelling and Education · History · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Rhetoric and Communication Studies