Owning the Olympics : narratives of the new China / edited by Monroe E. Price and Daniel Dayan, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Price, Monroe E., 1938- editor.

Dayan, Daniel, editor.

Series:

New media world.

The new media world

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Olympics--Political aspects.

Olympics.

China--Olympic games.

China.

China--Mass media.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (v9, 416 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Owning the Olympics

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2008.

System Details:

text file

Summary:

A major contribution to the study of global events in times of global media. Owning the Olympics tests the possibilities and limits of the concept of 'media events' by analyzing the mega-event of the information age: the Beijing Olympics. . . . A good read from cover to cover." —Guobin Yang, Associate Professor, Asian/Middle Eastern Cultures & Sociology, Barnard College, Columbia University From the moment they were announced, the Beijing Games were a major media event and the focus of intense scrutiny and speculation. In contrast to earlier such events, however, the Beijing Games are also unfolding in a newly volatile global media environment that is no longer monopolized by broadcast media. The dramatic expansion of media outlets and the growth of mobile communications technology have changed the nature of media events, making it significantly more difficult to regulate them or control their meaning. This volatility is reflected in the multiple, well-publicized controversies characterizing the run-up to Beijing 2008. According to many Western commentators, the People's Republic of China seized the Olympics as an opportunity to reinvent itself as the "New China"---a global leader in economics, technology, and environmental issues, with an improving human-rights record. But China's maneuverings have also been hotly contested by diverse global voices, including prominent human-rights advocates, all seeking to displace the official story of the Games. Bringing together a distinguished group of scholars from Chinese studies, human rights, media studies, law, and other fields, Owning the Olympics reveals how multiple entities---including the Chinese Communist Party itself---seek to influence and control the narratives through which the Beijing Games will be understood.

Contents:

Intro

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Introduction

I Defining Beijing 2008: Whose World, What Dream?

"One World, Different Dreams"

Olympic Values, Beijing's Olympic Games, and the Universal Market

On Seizing the Olympic Platform

II Precedents and Perspectives

The Public Diplomacy of the Modern Olympic Games and China's Soft Power Strategy

"A Very Natural Choice"

Dreams and Nightmares

The Fragility of Asian National Identity in the Olympic Games

Journalism and the Beijing Olympics

III Theaters of Representation

"All Under Heaven"

Megaspace in Beijing

From Athens to Beijing

New Technologies, New Narratives

Embracing Wushu

"We Are the Media"

Definition, Equivocation, Accumulation, and Anticipation

IV Conclusion

Toward the Future

Beyond Media Events

Author Biographies

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

CC BY-NC-ND

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780472900497

0472900498

OCLC:

1205319609

Publisher Number:

https://doi.org/10.3998/nmw.5646196.0001.001