The China Dream and its Nightmares: Representations of Power in Contemporary China's Cultural Sphere, 2012-Present

This proposal is designed to form part of the current major research project on 'The China Dream and its Nightmares: Artists and Writers in the era of Xi Jinping (2012-present)' conducted by Professor Daria Berg, DPhil Oxford, and her team at the Chair of Chinese Culture and Society, University of St.Gallen, on Chinese art, media, literature and culture in collaboration with HSG-SGI St. Gallen Institute for Management in Asia, Singapore; Palacky University, Olomouc, Czechia; The Centre for Chinese Visual Arts, Birmingham City University, The Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, SOAS, University of London, UK; Male University, Male, Maldives, and the Centre for Genocide Studies, Dhaka University, Bangladesh.This research project investigates the production of visual arts, literature and vernacular culture under Xi Jinping. Since his rise to power in 2012, Xi has centralised China's political and military power to provide a sense of stability against a series of socio historical events in the 2000s. From the global financial crisis, to the Wenchuan earthquake, milk powder scandal, and to the protests in Tibet in 2008, an increasing uncertainty has spread in China and worldwide, aggravated further by the slowing down of China's economy. To overcome the challenging times and reinforce the CCP as the political and moral beacon, Xi has taken action by tapping into the fears and dreams of Chinese citizens.This research project will examine three Chinese dreams and nightmares that have characterised Xi's rule from 2012 to the present: first, the Chinese Dream, which has pervaded the public, private, and digital realms since 2012; second, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has demonstrated China's desire to play a more central role globally since 2013; and third, the cultural impact of the recent outbreak of Covid-19, which has tested the authority of the CCP.While the scope of Xi's leadership has puzzled scholars in international studies, geopolitics, economics and area studies, its artistic, literary and cultural dimensions still await detailed investigation. This research project aims to redress this shortfall by exploring perceptions of the Chinese Dream, BRI, and Covid-19 pandemic in the visual arts, literature, and vernacular culture. Through visual analysis, conversations with artists, literature review and digital methods, this project provides alternative interpretations of the current power-dynamics and responds to the urgency to grasp the socio-historical changes in China today.