{"id":1141,"date":"2021-01-27T11:16:22","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T11:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/contemporarychina\/?p=1141"},"modified":"2021-01-27T11:16:22","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T11:16:22","slug":"from-a-propaganda-poster-to-a-covid-meme-repackaging-chinese-posters-in-the-digital-age","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/contemporarychina\/from-a-propaganda-poster-to-a-covid-meme-repackaging-chinese-posters-in-the-digital-age\/","title":{"rendered":"From Propaganda Posters to COVID Memes: Repackaging Chinese Posters in the Digital Age"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Share<\/a><\/p>\n

Written by Ruichen Zhang<\/span><\/p>\n

Visual culture in the People\u2019s Republic of China features a rich collection of propaganda posters. With their unique visual style, language formation, and political messages, these posters are valuable for studying arts, social mobilization, and political persuasion across different periods in modern Chinese history. However, they are not just about the past. Indeed, these posters have also been variously revived in contemporary China in the form of memes across social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many examples of propaganda posters used as internet memes across a wide range of contexts. Just look at this poster in the header image. According to chineseposters.net<\/a>, it originally comes from the Patriotic Health Campaign in 1952. The caption reads: \u2018To do a good job in epidemic prevention and hygiene work is concrete patriotic behaviour in the battle to smash American imperialist germ warfare\u2019 (\u4f5c\u597d\u9632\u75ab\u536b\u751f\u5de5\u4f5c\uff0c\u5c31\u662f\u7c89\u788e\u7f8e\u5e1d\u56fd\u4e3b\u4e49\u7ec6\u83cc\u6218\u7684\u5177\u4f53\u7231\u56fd\u884c\u52a8\u00a0zuo hao fangyi weisheng gong zuo, jiushi fensui mei diguo zhuyi xijun zhan de juti aiguo xingdong<\/em>). I came across this image on WeChat from one of my friends\u2019 \u2018moments\u2019 (\u670b\u53cb\u5708\u00a0pengyou quan<\/em>). A Chinese postgraduate student studying abroad, he shared this image to complain about his roommates not paying enough attention to COVID and to express the importance of him staying alert and taking all necessary procedures to protect himself from COVID.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, repackaging propaganda posters in this way has become quite common on Chinese social media (see Zhang, 2020<\/a>). It is essentially a mockery of the \u2018red aesthetic\u2019 which emphasises a unity of political ideology and everyday experiences (Donald, 2014<\/a>), and more broadly, of the hypernormalised and formalistic rhetoric of the state. The gap often found between official rhetoric for political persuasion and multifarious everyday experiences can generate a particular type of \u2018incongruity humour\u2019, i.e. humour comprising two sharply contrasted elements to create effects of disappointment and tension relief (Monro, 1951<\/a>). It is largely because of this incongruity that netizens have found remaking propaganda posters with contemporary captions to be particularly amusing.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, at the early stage of coronavirus outbreak when many of the elderly in China refused to wear a face mask (see for example, Eckersley, 2020<\/a>), young netizens decided to use propaganda posters to persuade them. On January 25th 2020, Weibo user @\u4f60\u4e2b\u624d\u7f8e\u5de5 (@yi ya cai meigong<\/em><\/a>) shared 18 photoshopped propaganda posters to help netizens persuade their elder family members to wear a face mask. Among them, Image 1 says \u2018Face mask or ventilator, you may need to choose one\u2019 (\u53e3\u7f69\u8fd8\u662f\u547c\u5438\u673a\uff0c\u60a8\u8001\u770b\u7740\u4e8c\u9009\u4e00\u00a0kouzhao haishi huxi ji, nin lao kanzhe er xuan yi<\/em>). Image 2 goes \u2018Save a penny for a face mask, you will spend a fortune lying in hospital\u2019 (\u7701\u5c0f\u94b1\u4e0d\u6234\u53e3\u7f69\uff0c\u82b1\u5927\u94b1\u5367\u5e8a\u6cbb\u75c5\u00a0sheng xiaoqian bu dai kouzhao, hua daqian wochuang zhi bing<\/em>). While these memes were initially meant to persuade the elderly to wear masks by way of using posters that some young netizens thought might be both familiar and eye-catching, they were largely welcomed and in fact primarily consumed by young netizens themselves with laughter. It is hard to know to what extent elderly people found the repurposed posters to be in any way persuasive or how many even saw them, but we do know for sure that younger netizens found them extremely funny and that they quickly went viral on Weibo.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image 1.\u00a0Face mask or ventilator, you may need to choose one (credit to @\u4f60\u4e2b\u624d\u7f8e\u5de5)<\/p>\n

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Image 2.\u00a0Save a penny for a face mask, you will spend a fortune lying in hospital (credit to @\u4f60\u4e2b\u624d\u7f8e\u5de5)<\/p>\n

Propaganda posters repackaged as memes are also popular because they often imply a value contrast between collectivism and individualism. The posters above, for instance, attempt to persuade the elderly to wear a mask for their own good rather than for the country. By contrast, the 1952 epidemic poster above called for individual actions on disease prevention not because it was good for their own health, but because they were serving the country in doing so. A similar theme can be seen again in Image 3, where a soldier figure commonly seen in propaganda posters appears above the caption \u2018I\u2019m a socialist successor, I can\u2019t be bothered with romance\u2019 (\u6211\u4e43\u793e\u4f1a\u4e3b\u4e49\u63a5\u73ed\u4eba\uff0c\u5c82\u80fd\u8c08\u513f\u5973\u60c5\u957f wo nai shehui zhuyi jieban ren, qi neng tan ern\u00fc qing chang<\/em>). While such expressions are now often used as a form of self-derogatory humour about being single, with the poster and socialist terminology used for further comic effect, it nevertheless points to a value contrast between prioritising \u2018socialist construction\u2019 and personal happiness.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image 3. Socialist successors can\u2019t be bothered with romance<\/p>\n

It is however important to note that the subversion of authoritarian rhetoric and aesthetic of persuasion by means of repackaging propaganda posters does not necessarily imply subversion of the values behind the rhetoric. While in some cases as in the memes above there is indeed a mockery of collectivism, in other cases repackaged memes are in fact promoting the very same values. For example, Image 4 captioned a soldier with \u2018Imperialism fled away with its tail between legs\u2019 (\u5e1d\u56fd\u4e3b\u4e49\u5939\u7740\u5c3e\u5df4\u9003\u8dd1\u4e86 diguo zhuyi jia zhe weiba taopao le<\/em>). Imperialist (which usually means western) countries are apparently the target of ridicule, which is consistent with the official rhetoric. It can be used for nationalist comments on news like the Sino-US trade war, or more generally as humorous complaints about foreign employers at work. Image 5 captions a poster of a woman being praised and applauded in a crowd with \u2018Those who choose socialism are blessed with good luck\u2019 (\u641e\u793e\u4f1a\u4e3b\u4e49\u7684\u4eba\u8fd0\u6c14\u90fd\u4e0d\u4f1a\u592a\u5dee gao shehui zhuyi de ren yunqi dou bu hui tai cha<\/em>). Commonly used for self-encouragement among young people struggling with studies or work, this meme may also imply some degree of approval of and identification with socialism.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image 4. Imperialism fled away with its tail between legs<\/p>\n

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Image 5. Those who choose socialism are blessed with good luck<\/p>\n

In most cases repackaged propaganda posters are not trying to promote any official political values at all. They are just a means of everyday self-expression on social media platforms. Image 6, for instance, jokes \u2018Gain weight in holidays, lose weight in work\u2019 (\u201c\u5047\u671f\u91cc\u957f\u7684\u8089,\u7528\u52a0\u73ed\u7626\u56de\u53bb\u201d, jiaqi li zhang de rou, yong jiaban shou huiqu), while Image 7 says \u2018C\u2019mon! Let\u2019s go argue with the production manager!\u2019 (\u201c\u8d70!\u548c\u4ea7\u54c1\u7ecf\u7406\u6495\u903c\u53bb\u201d, zou, he chanpin jingli sibi qu). Here, these memes have little to do with the values of China\u2019s political system, whether ironic, supportive or subversive. Propaganda posters here are simply used as meme templates for personalised connotations.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image 6. Gain weight in holidays, lose weight in work<\/p>\n

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Image 7. C\u2019mon! Let\u2019s go argue with the production manager.<\/p>\n

The fact that these \u2018historical artefacts\u2019 continue to have a social impact decades after they were first produced is not just about an interest in their \u2018retro\u2019 style, nostalgia for an imaginary past, or even about subverting the values promoted within, but, as we have seen, it is also closely related to broader terms and aesthetics of public discourse on the Chinese internet. Whether netizens agree with, disapprove of, or feel indifferent about the values behind official discourse, the repurposing of these posters must be understood as part of the everyday visual practices of netizens across Chinese social media and therefore must be carefully contextualised for nuanced analysis. From the creativity of these memes with their diverse meanings and uses, we can see how Chinese netizens are playing an active role in constructing public discourse in the age of participatory media.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ruichen Zhang<\/em><\/a> is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Cambridge. She is working on digital humour and its socio-political implications in China and is more generally interested in power struggles and meaning making on the Chinese internet. She is co-editing a forthcoming special issue of <\/em>AI & Society<\/em><\/a> journal themed \u2018Iteration as Persuasion in the Digital World\u2019 with <\/em>Dr. Clare Foster<\/em><\/a> from CRASSH Cambridge. <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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