Ye Shiwen, collective memory, and the 2012 London Olympic games: notes on the production and consumption of national victimhood

Abstract

The idea of ‘collective victimhood’, as a cultural and political identity, has long been cultivated by the state within the construction of Chinese nationalism. Through a case study analysis of Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen, this study examines the cultural pedagogy behind the national production and consumption of such ‘victimhood’. We argue that the allegations of Ye Shiwen’s doping by Western media in 2012 London Olympics animates a deep sense of victim mentality in the Chinese public sphere. Here, the Olympic stage is performing both an image of the ‘victor’ for national pride and an autonomous ‘victim’ profile for state legitimation. This study therefore explores the pedagogical normalization of victim identity in Chinese society exercised through the ‘victimization’ efforts oriented around Chinese athletes. It also examines the function of collective memory in (re)shaping and transforming such victimhood into a delicately nuanced and productive collective victimhood intersecting with China’s future political dynamics.