Politics of love: Love as a religious and political discourse in modern China through the lens of political leaders
As part of a larger project, this paper serves as an overview that examines how "ai" ? (love) as an affective concept made its way into the Chinese vocabulary, how it gained popularity at specific junctures in modern Chinese history, and the ways in which it has been adapted as a marker of...
| Published in: | Critical research on religion |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Sage
2020
|
| In: |
Critical research on religion
Year: 2020, Volume: 8, Issue: 1, Pages: 39-52 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Sun, Zhongshan 1866-1925
/ Mao, Zedong 1893-1976
/ Xi, Jinping 1953-
/ China
/ Love
/ Folk religion
/ Politics
/ Discourse
|
| RelBib Classification: | AD Sociology of religion; religious policy AG Religious life; material religion CG Christianity and Politics CH Christianity and Society KBM Asia |
| Further subjects: | B
Love
B Communism B popular religions B modern China B world Christianities |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | As part of a larger project, this paper serves as an overview that examines how "ai" ? (love) as an affective concept made its way into the Chinese vocabulary, how it gained popularity at specific junctures in modern Chinese history, and the ways in which it has been adapted as a marker of modernity and a political discourse in Republican (1911-49) and Communist China (1949-) in distinct ways. Although literary scholars have noted the significance of the shaping of love as an affective concept for the project of Chinese modernity, they mainly focus on the conceptions and interpretations of love in the literature, and with a time frame from late imperial (1368-1911) to Maoist China (1949-76). The few studies about love in post-Mao era usually attribute the sources of such affect to Christianity. My paper makes a fresh contribution in three aspects. First, I take a longer historical perspective, from the 1910s to the 2010s, and dedicate, secondly, a large part of my study to the decisive impact from revolutionary radicalism to popular religions on the formation of the discourse of state propaganda and everyday politics, rather than manifestations in the literature and sources from Christianity. Third, I study some of the most controversial political figures in modern China, including Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), Mao Zedong (1893-1976), and Xi Jinping (1953-), rather than intellectuals and writers only. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2050-3040 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1177/2050303219874366 |