Discussion Extreme nationalism in Chinese novels.

Discussion in 'Novel General' started by Pikiliu, Jul 3, 2021.

  1. Pikiliu

    Pikiliu Well-Known Member

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    My reading list consists of mainly Chinese novels, and I can’t help but notice how much the authors degrade Americans or some X country that represents Europe(but it’s kinda obvious who they are referring to). Its not unusual for some novels to have misconceptions of another country, and these novels are for entertainment, but I still feel slightly offended. Not to mention the fact that it lowers the quality and professionalism of the novels. I was reading “Eldest miss’s style isn't” right because of the alien tag but I’ve srsly had it :] this is like the literal nth time I’ve seen this trope. Some of my favorite novels do this too, it just feels that the author is some insanely insecure person who feels the need to make themselves look better by attacking someone else. There has been another discussion about patriotism vs racism on the same issue but I couldnt resist venting >:]
     
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  2. Elv

    Elv Well-Known Member

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    I know right, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
    It’s one thing if the plot of the story is based on these topics or a character’s personality is written that way, but if not, just leave it out.
    Many of my favorites novels have been destroyed by this for me, so much that I can’t no longer continue reading them or stop reading that arc if it’s a quick transmigration novel. Chinese authors aren’t the only ones who do this as well, I’ve seen it in Korean novels too.
    I mostly just stick to ancient/historical novels now, plus some horror novels. I wish these authors would stop doing this, especially considering how unrealistic they make their own country and citizens seem to be, it’s so cringing that I have to stop reading.
    I also hate the colorism as well!
     
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  3. aienmoon

    aienmoon Well-Known Member

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    And most of the time it's not even a story's character e.g <insert race/color here>maid/driver/tourist. I dont think it's necessary to put those details in a passing character, does it? It also turns me off from reading further.
     
  4. Aleff Null

    Aleff Null Well-Known Member

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    Isn't it mandatory?
     
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  5. LollipoPReapeR

    LollipoPReapeR Frequent visitor of the Yellow Springs Resort

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    Yeah, but, Chinese and Korean authors are just so hamfisted and crap at it. Japanese only seem better comparatively since it’s a bit rarer and less in your face. Usually goes Chinese > Koreans > Japanese.
     
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  6. Elv

    Elv Well-Known Member

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    Why is it mandatory?
     
  7. asriu

    asriu fu~ fu~ fu~

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    oh it kinda like bad joke for this cat~ it get automatic filter on this cat mind so this cat regard it same way as hollywood make usa da savior~
    wait.... actually maybe cuz those movies this cat think such way~ hmm this cat grow to apathy? not care much about such thing which on sense kinda bad~ glorify one thing to excuse another bad deed~ wow~
     
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  8. Saorihirai

    Saorihirai Well-Known Member

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    Please the sometimes not so subtle colorism reallllly makes me seethe.
     
  9. Robbini

    Robbini Logical? Illogical? Random? Or Just Unique?

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    While there's often... enough to too much nationalism in many novels, it's not in every novel.
    Some will also / instead have sort of racism, dependant on / independent of history / nationalistic propaganda.
    Some will be more of the degree of 'This thing from chinese investion / technology / history was good, everything else they use here sucks' , those are usually not modern or actual earth novels, and usually aren't as bad (unless they are, and I just haven't read them)

    So yes, you will find much of it through various novels and authors, but as far as I know (atleast the ones i'm familiar with) , none of the best-sellers / most famous / most well-known / most writing atleast do it too much on the nose.

    'Course, there's also a lot of propaganda other way around, but those are usually more subtle of ('Of course we're the ones who can do it, BECAUSE', not like 'Their ways have proven them wrong, their history makes them weak and they suck BECAUSE')

    It's the difference between a movie always having the americans winning and a movie having the americans winning while saying everyone else sucks.
     
  10. Aleff Null

    Aleff Null Well-Known Member

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    I really don't know because I'm really not interested, but I think in China you NEED to promote that ultranationalism... Like the US flag in every movie, but more extreme.
     
  11. Seigin

    Seigin [Lolicon][GenderBender Banzai!]

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    Yeah american media often portray themselves as the best, so why not the chinese and Koreans do it aswell.
     
  12. animanaicT

    animanaicT Nobody Important

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    Ah. Uber Duber Fan Service
     
  13. TamaSaga

    TamaSaga Well-Known Member

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    Nationalism is fine as long as it works with the story.

    I don't condone it because it's a snoozefest, but those Japanese novels where the main character reacts a certain way because he came from a peaceful nation at least offers a position for modern readers to identify with. The main problem imo is that there should be consequences for taking this stance and yet I often see that it's either waived off or handled by brute force so the problem just disappears.

    But to see a story where the protagonist "must not lose" because he's from XX nation breaches that acceptance. I.e. there was a story where the Chinese player is facing the top of the top from another nation. And yet if you slowed down and digested what you were reading, you'd realize the "top of the top" had been spouting cheesy lines and making utterly novice mistakes for 5 chapters straight. I had to drop the story when it showed signs of picking up.
     
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  14. Xxsafirex

    Xxsafirex Well-Known Member

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    i can't count the number of time i've read the " i come from the peaceful japan so i don't know violence" bullshit
     
  15. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    This phenomenon comes mostly from a lot of Chinese people being both interested in politics but are also relatively unfamiliar with the way the rest of the world works. To be fair though a lot of Chinese people who travel abroad are less impressed with the outside world than they were 10 or 20 years ago. It's not all one sided though as I regularly read a writer who does a fantastic job portraying a foreign culture (in this case Russian).

    And think of it this way: there any number of people who have no idea what China is like but still feel that they can speak authoritatively about the country and the way it works. So it shouldn't be surprising that Chinese writers do the same thing.

    Nah, there are tons of stories that aren't political and there are plenty of political novels that are more evenhanded.
     
  16. Nimroth

    Nimroth Someone

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    It doesn't exactly help either that there are plenty of people in any country that doesn't really know all that well how their own country works.
    One might have plenty of knowledge of how things are in their native region in a country but that doesn't necessarily mean the knowledge is all that applicable to a different region of the same country.
    For example someone growing up in a rich city might downplay any issues in the poorest rural areas.
     
  17. Fluffums

    Fluffums 【R-18 Researcher】【Seeker of Moe】

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    I think the average high schooler or white collar worker in most nations would not have been involved in a life-or-death struggle in his lifetime and would consider his country "peaceful". As an American, I know in my mind that there's a lot of violence going on inside and we've been involved in wars for the better part of the last century, but I still consider myself as being "from a peaceful country" when I don't think deeply because that's how my personal experiences have been. Obviously that's not the case for everyone in the country, but it's how things have been for me.

    So it's not really bullshit, but the character should feel that way as long as he didn't see the dark side of his society.
     
  18. ToastedRossi

    ToastedRossi Well-Known Member

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    The problem is that every time I see it written out like that it feels like the author is a naive kid who is writing way out of his depth. Which might well be the case, but the writer shouldn't be telling the readers this!
     
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  19. Xxsafirex

    Xxsafirex Well-Known Member

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    certainly, but i find the fact that in a lot of novels, they cleary emphasize the peacefullness of japan like it's the most peacefull one in the world somehow deranging. even more so coming from the country at the origin of the kamikaze word.
     
  20. X18999

    X18999 Active Member

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    There is a difference between Bias (our country has the strongest warrior/group/tech) and the kind of crap many Chinese novels do. No one is going to complain when the author portrays their country as one of if not the best but it seems as if Chinese authors seal away half of their IQ when foreign characters appear... it's gotten to the point where I don't read any modern-day Chinese novels
     
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