As someone who lives in China, routinely writes on life here, and still stays relatively plugged in to the happenings back home, I would be remiss if I passed up the gold mine that is Jeremy Lin. Though I have seen little more than highlights of his play, I have kept an interested eye on this unfolding story. Needless to say (stupid phrase, akin to 'no offense, but…'), China loves it some b-ball, and Jeremy Lin is kind of a big deal over here. After reading an assortment of articles on Lin from all different sources, the best I have found was this: http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/02/chinas-new-sports-problem What this article managed to convey more effectively than the others is a nuanced and deep cultural evaluation/critique of China, and most appropriately, its sports system, vis-à-vis Jeremy Lin.
As has been discussed here, and innumerable other places, China is closing gaps left and right with regards to the United States as the world power. While many of these discrepancies between the aforementioned countries are still quite large, they are nonetheless shrinking. However, one of the areas that China is having great challenges shrinking is soft power. This gap has proven to be much more confounding for the Chinese to lessen than the economic gap that they are currently closing at a rapid pace. Soft power is basically the act of attracting countries through cultural and social means, rather than coercing them to your side through the more traditional routes of geopolitics. For example: if you ask the average American (or most citizens of the world), to name five important Chinese characters, I suspect many would have a hard time getting past Confucius, Mao, and Yao. Conversely, if you asked my students who are some of their favorite people of all time, I’d happily bet money that Kobe, Steve Jobs, and Mao are the three most commonly seen names (oh yes, Mao’s there. Indoctrination is a helluva drug). Seeing how China is floundering with their attempt to create reliable sources of soft power, it is no surprise that they are attempting to claim and co-opt Lin as fervently as they are. However, they simultaneously display their underlying fears or self-consciousness by blocking Knicks games from being shown here because Taiwanese flags are sometimes seen in the background. Besides the fact that this is a genuinely fascinating sports story, the added bonus of the political and cultural gamesmanship is icing on the cake.
Another great find from the weekend. While I was perusing the PBS website for episodes of Antiques Roadshow (you think I’m joking? I’m not. I love that shit) I stumbled upon a gem. If you are even remotely into Tom Waits, and have some time to spare (which is doubtful considering the amount of emails I received last week after my request… that's me being bitter, but have no fear, chumps, I'm keeping score), go here: http://video.pbs.org/video/
No comments:
Post a Comment