• Citer

“Cool Japan” and China soft power for mainstream cultural productions: a challenge.

par Arifon, Olivier
Référence The artistic cultural diplomacy forum (2017: Berlin)
Publication Non publié, 2017

Communication à un colloque

• Accès en ligne
• Détails
• Contenu
• Statistiques

Résumé :

This work describes top down governmental policies on cultural diplomacy elaborated by China and Japan. First, we present Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power and its cultural dimension and a critique from a communication perspective shows that the introduction of notions such as the audience and the reception of messages are important. Then, we compare the two countries’ policies. Japan is exporting cultural products such manga, anime, J pop and TV/Drama under the label “Cool Japan.” Is this policy efficient to change the image of the country mostly perceived as technological? China is delivering messages on its culture mostly using officials’ channels (Xinhua, CCTV, China Daily, Confucius institutes). But which story does China wants to tell; which dimensions of soft power can be attractive: traditional culture such as cooking or a modern one such as… Is China facing a contradiction while being an authoritarian regime controlling its cultural productions?Analysis of China’s soft power contributes to highlighting the efforts and the weaknesses of such a policy when a “hard” state defines, in a centralised and controlled manner, a soft power policy. In a comparative perspective, we present the conception of soft power by Japan named “Cool Japan,” an uncommon democracy where its soft power relies mostly on cultural dimensions encountering a certain success.