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“China’s economic invasion of Africa” (The Guardian, February 6th 2011), “China’s ambitious bid for Southeast Asia hegemony” (DW, December 24th, 2019), “China in Latin America: partner or predator?” (The South China Morning Post, May 25th 2019). These are just few examples of titles that can be found online and that tell us something about the ways the media portrays China’s presence abroad as well as its involvement in many developing countries. Nevertheless, these representations are not always correct. With initiatives aimed at trading with the rest of the world, obtaining precious resources for its development and expanding its sphere of influence, China's presence in Africa, Latin America, etc. has been causing for about two decades restless sleep in the so-called “Western world”, which sees its supremacy being eroded by China’s active role abroad. But where do these media representations originate? And what shall we do about them?
The course answers to these questions by first introducing some recurring representations about China, understanding where and when they originated, understanding their reasons and retracing them in the media. Second, the course will introduce some rudiments of media analysis, based on frame analysis and critical discourse analysis. These approaches will be then applied to some case studies, in which the students will do practical exercises in critical media analysis and will also learn some research approaches to prepare for their term papers.
By suggesting other ways of looking at China, the course not only aims to help students develop a more critical approach in the reading of the media, learning methods that can be applied universally, but also encourages them to develop a better knowledge and understanding of China, one of the most important global players, which however still remains unknown and sometimes not correctly represented.
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