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Download fileA rebel and a giant: change and continuity in the discursive construction of Chinese sport heroes
journal contribution
posted on 2021-10-29, 10:18 authored by Xiaoqian Richard Hu, Junjian Liang, Alan BairnerAlan BairnerThe essay examines the changes and continuities in the construction of Chinese national sport hero(in)es after the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and investigates this development in the context of the reform of Chinese elite sport. Through employing Critical Discourse Analysis to interrogate the Chinese sport hero discourse from government-run media concerning two of the most renowned Chinese national sport hero(in)es, the paper identifies the maintenance, albeit with subtle changes, of the traditional nationalist account concerning the athletic and political qualities of Chinese national sport hero(in)es. Concurrently, there are also new features, which are argued to be the consequence of a shift in the political climate in Chinese sport, in the post-2008 construction of national sport hero. The paper concludes with a discussion, from a Foucauldian perspective, of the relationship between the discourse, knowledge and the power of/over discourse in the construction of Chinese elite athletes as national hero(in)es throughout the period.
History
School
- Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Published in
Sport in SocietyVolume
24Issue
12Pages
2199-2221Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge)Version
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Taylor and FrancisPublisher statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Sport in Society on 27 Oct 2021, available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2021.1991319Acceptance date
2021-10-08Publication date
2021-10-27Copyright date
2021ISSN
1461-0981eISSN
1743-0445Publisher version
Language
- en