Author: Liu Xinran
In recent years, China's comprehensive national strength and international status have been continuously improved, and the international community has paid unprecedented attention to our country, but China's image in the world is still to a large extent "other plastic" rather than "self-plastic", we are sometimes in a situation where we cannot say it reasonably and cannot be said in the international community, there is a "deficit" of information flowing in and out, the "contrast" between China's real image and the subjective impression of the West, and the "gap" between soft power and hard power.
Telling the Chinese story well, disseminating the Chinese voice, and displaying a true, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China is an important task to strengthen China's international communication capacity building. It is necessary to use culture as a medium to strive to enhance the Western people's cultural identity with China, better introduce China's concepts and paths, transform development advantages into discourse advantages, and gradually reverse the discourse deficit and weak position in the international public opinion field.
The first is to create "cultural symbols" at multiple levels and from multiple angles.
"Cultural symbols" can play a role in creating scenes, consolidating consensus and spreading symbolic meaning. Each ethnic group in the world has its own cultural symbols, which not only represent people's living habits and spiritual outlook, but also the concentrated embodiment of values and cultural customs.
China's 56 ethnic groups have contributed their own strength in promoting the formation and development of Chinese culture, and have formed a large number of "cultural symbols" with national colors. Specifically, there are the following types:
Regarding the symbols of language and writing, there are many languages and scripts in China, and the most widely used, the longest and most popular are Chinese and Chinese characters;
Symbolic symbols of politics, mainly including symbols with value consensus such as the core values of socialism, the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation;
Symbols of ceremonies and celebrations, including specific utensils, music, movements, characters, procedures, etiquette, etc., whose main function is to express and transmit specific social consciousness from the whole;
Symbols about geography, such as the Yellow River as the mother river of the Chinese nation is a symbol of the Chinese nation's unremitting self-improvement, and the Great Wall is a symbol of the indomitable spirit of the Chinese nation;
Cultural symbols about festivals, such as the Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and other traditional festivals, all contain the emotional identity and beautiful vision of the Chinese nation;
About the practice paradigm symbols, such as the Chinese way, the Chinese system, the Chinese wisdom, and so on.
These are the "cultural symbols" that we must fully use in the process of external communication. It is necessary to take these "cultural symbols" as the cornerstone to gradually build up the cultural image of the Chinese nation and continuously enhance the appeal of Chinese culture.
The second is to be good at using "cultural grafting points".
The United States is a country that is good at using "cultural grafting points" for cross-cultural communication. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the United States took advantage of its strong media publicity to introduce American pop music "disco" music to young people from all over the world, gradually increasing the younger generation's good feelings for American culture.
In the United States, there are also many "cross-cultural issues" between blacks and whites. In order to promote ethnic integration, the American media tried their best to tap the charm of "black music" and began to introduce some "pro-white" black musicians. When playing or singing, these black musicians incorporate elements of white pop music to achieve rapid integration on a diverse "cultural grafting point."
Once upon a time, some young people in China were also accustomed to foreign festivals such as "Christmas"; once upon a time, China's young people were also fascinated by Hollywood movies, and a "Kung Fu Panda" movie made Hollywood values touch the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese people with the packaging of "Chinese elements".
We must actively seek the grafting point of Chinese and Western cultures, talk about facts to persuade people, talk about image to impress people, talk about emotional infection, reason to influence people, and constantly enhance the world's closeness and recognition of Chinese culture. At present, more and more people in the international community view China rationally and objectively, and more and more people praise China. We are taking the right path and walking the road, and we must enhance our confidence, boost our morale, and unremittingly tell the Chinese story well.
The third is to actively promote culture and development identity.
The world is in a period of great change and great adjustment, China has stood in the spotlight of the world stage, our international communication content is unprecedentedly rich, and the stage is unprecedented.
It is necessary to dig deep into the precious resources in China's excellent traditional culture, further strengthen the sense of the Chinese national community, and deepen the understanding of the Chinese nation and Chinese culture by the people of all countries in the world. China's excellent traditional culture is the cultural root of the Chinese nation, and the ideological concepts, humanistic spirit and moral norms it contains are not only the core of our thoughts and spirits, but also of great value for solving human problems. It is necessary to extract and display the spiritual identity of excellent traditional culture, and to extract and display the cultural essence of excellent traditional culture with contemporary value and world significance.
It is necessary to focus on displaying the image of a civilized country with profound historical heritage, the diversity and integration of all nationalities, and the diversity and harmony of cultures in China; the image of a big country in the East with clear politics, economic development, cultural prosperity, social stability, people's unity, and beautiful mountains and rivers; the image of a responsible big country that adheres to peaceful development, promotes common development, safeguards international fairness and justice, and makes contributions to mankind; and the image of a socialist big country that is more open, more affinity, full of hope, and full of vitality to the outside world. Remarks that demonize and stigmatize China and Chinese people should be promptly exposed and refuted.
It is necessary to widely publicize China's propositions, Chinese wisdom, and Chinese solutions. China is moving closer to the center of the world stage, has the ability to play a greater role in global affairs, and has the responsibility to work with other countries to make greater contributions to solving the problems of all mankind. It is necessary to hold high the banner of a community with a shared future for mankind, rely on China's vivid practice for thousands of years, and comprehensively expound China's concept of development, civilization, security, human rights, ecology, international order and global governance, vividly illustrating that China's development itself is the greatest contribution to the world and has contributed wisdom to solving human problems.
To this end, it is necessary to carry out various forms of people-to-people exchanges in depth, and promote people-to-people exchanges and people-to-people ties through various channels, including giving better play to the role of high-level experts and using platforms and channels such as important international conferences and forums and foreign mainstream media to speak out.
In the final analysis, we must focus on improving the appeal of Chinese culture and the affinity of China's image, grasp the general trend, distinguish between objects, and accurately implement policies, and tell well the story of the CPC's governance of the country, the story of the Chinese people's struggle to realize their dreams, and the story of China's adherence to peaceful development and win-win cooperation, so that the world can better understand China.
(The author is an associate professor at the School of Marxism, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
Source: Liberation Daily