The People

Abstract

This long chapter is divided into the keywords used in European languages to refer to ‘the people’, and the various keywords that the Chinese language has used throughout its history. In Chinese, the keyword 人民‎ rénmín is at times regarded as the most important element in the nation. And the authors show how the people were celebrated in Mao’s China. Even though ‘citizen’ [gōngmín 公民‎) has made a comeback in recent years, according to the authors’ findings, the Chinese keyword 人民‎ rénmín remains a central concept, despite ironic uses in contemporary Chinese literature and the press. In European languages, the authors argue, the people can be considered as the masses, as a political force, or as a group that is marginalized or ignored. In English and French, the people are often regarded with condescension, as such expressions as ‘the common people’ and ‘fils du peuple’ suggest. However, French has a radical revolutionary tradition that means that ‘le peuple’ can be activated at strategic moments in history, as was proven in recent years. Radical right-wing movements in France are contrasted with the Farage’s Brexit rhetoric, championing ‘the people’. In contrast ‘the Volk’ in German has a much more resilient tradition with roots that spread throughout the lexicon of the language as a whole. And Czech provides the authors with communist rhetoric that parallels Mao’s celebration of the people (人民‎ rénmín) in Chinese.