The Discursive Construction of Populist and Misogynist Nationalism: Digital Vigilantism Against Unpatriotic Intellectual Women in China

Social Media + Society

卷:9

Article

Qian Huang

[1] Qian Huang, Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen, 9700 AB Groningen, The Netherlands. Email:

关键词: critical discourse analysis;    digital vigilantism;    misogyny;    nationalism;    populism;   

DOI  :  10.1177/20563051231170816

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

The phenomenon of nationalist digital vigilantism targeting Chinese intellectual women is rising in China. To illustrate how national identities and social exclusion are discursively constructed, as well as the potential vulnerabilities experienced by Chinese female intellectuals, four high-profile cases that took place between 2017 and 2021 are chosen. Critical discourse analysis is conducted on collected Sina Weibo comments, WeChat public account articles, and news articles published by state-run media. The research identifies three main discourses: the ungrateful traitor, the corrupt elite, and the ugly slut. These discursive interactions demonstrate the fluidity of both discursive and operational conditions in nationalist digital vigilantism, which amplifies the targets’ vulnerability. This research contributes to the study of misogynist populist nationalism by providing an empirical analysis in an under-studied social context—China, and to the study of Chinese populist nationalism by foregrounding an under-studied perspective—misogyny.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Figure 10