The politics of emotion during Covid-19
Turning fear into pride in China's WeChat discourse
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4853077 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jeroen De Kloet (0000-0003-2314-5424, University of Amsterdam and Communication University of China), Jian Lin (0000-0003-0436-0858, University of Groningen, corresponding author), Jueling Hu (University of Fribourg) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 35 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 366-392 |
| Publication date | 2021-11-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | China Information (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0920-203X • E-ISSN: 1741-590X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0920203x211048290 |
| OpenAlex | W3215891765 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 17 |
| References cited | 19 |
In this article, we analyse the most popular stories that circulated on WeChat public accounts concerning personalized experiences of COVID-19 in China during the first three months of 2020. Among these non-fictional online writings, we probe into 'individual' and mediated experiences with the coronavirus in China by questioning the visualizations and discourses of these stories and their producers, as well as the concomitant emotions they invoked. Parallel to the changing situation of the pandemic, we observe a diachronic evolution of emotions, from fear and doubt to (nationalist) pride. While articulating personalized experiences of the pandemic from disparate perspectives, the stories invariably built on, and were shaped by, the workings of the WeChat public account platform (公众平台) as evidenced by its content moderation logic and political economy. The analysis shows that emotions, rather than facts, propel the popularity of these stories. The measures taken by the state are mostly applauded, and only sometimes questioned; tragic memories are rewritten, and a political and economic order is consolidated
Aesthetics · Art · China · Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19 · Dystopia · Media studies · Moderation · Nationalism · Pandemic · Political science · Politics · Popularity · Power (physics · Pride · Sociology · State (computer science · China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance · Chinese history and philosophy · Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology
Driving factors of social media article diffusion
Despicable ‘other’ and innocent ‘us’
Filial Piety Revisited—Family Care and Filial Obligation in China at the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Tactics of Disconnection
Between Two Worlds
Expressing (distorted) dissent against the Party-state out of internalised racism on X
Manufacturing Racialised Misogyny in China’s Digital Manosphere
Mobilizing care? WeChat for older adults’ digital kinship and informal care in Wuhan households
Curating activist journalism to defy China’s “mainstream” narrative on X (Twitter)
Ineffectual People, Incompetent Government
Playful, coded, and emotional language
The discursive logics of online populism
Demoralizing Internet Contention
Using unity and victory to bid farewell
Frontline celebrities featured
Countering Nationalist Politics Through Distant Witnessing
Gender Fluidity Versus Homohysteria
Super-Sticky Wechat and Chinese Society
Affective Publics
The Platform Society
The platformization of Chinese Society
The Power of the Internet in China
History, identity, and security
Performing cyber-nationalism in twenty-first-century China
Combating Disinformation on Social Media
Prosumers in a digital multiverse
The walkthrough method
The platformization of cultural production
We are doing better’
Diffusion of disinformation
Introduction
WeChat as infrastructure
Theorizing emotion and affect
| Unique citing works | 17 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4.25 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 17 |