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Best regards, Andrew Stewart - - - Subscribe to the Washington Babylon newsletter via https://washingtonbabylon.com/newsletter/ Begin forwarded message: > From: H-Net Staff via H-REVIEW <[email protected]> > Date: February 28, 2020 at 9:42:57 AM EST > To: [email protected] > Cc: H-Net Staff <[email protected]> > Subject: H-Net Review [H-Japan]: Kranz on Ren and Ikeda and Woo, 'Media, > Sport, Nationalism: East Asia: Soft Power Projection via the Modern Olympic > Games. Essays in Honour of Professor J. A. Mangan's Contributions to East > Asian Studies' > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Tianwei Ren, Keiko Ikeda, Chang Wan Woo, eds. Media, Sport, > Nationalism: East Asia: Soft Power Projection via the Modern Olympic > Games. Essays in Honour of Professor J. A. Mangan's Contributions to > East Asian Studies. Berlin Logos Verlag Berlin, 2019. 320 pp. > $66.00 (paper), ISBN 978-3-8325-4651-9. > > Reviewed by Susanne Kranz (Independent Scholar) > Published on H-Japan (February, 2020) > Commissioned by Martha Chaiklin > > This volume, written in memory of J. A. Mangan, a leading academic > and editor in the field of sports studies, expands the discourse on > sports, nationalism, and the media as part of the larger framework of > soft power and its use in East Asia's political and economic > development. It is a comprehensive collection of essays that offers > various insights into the field of sports studies and its undeniable > impact on politics in a region that has not received sufficient > attention in this particular specialization. The rationale behind > this book is to draw attention to the complexities of soft power > itself and the complex relationship between sports, nationalism, and > the media. The book explores the nature of nationalism and its impact > on East Asia, in particular China, Japan, and South Korea, during a > particular time in their development processes as nation-states and > sports nations. Given their historical, political, and economic > variances, these three nations faced divergent issues, hence used > their soft power via the Olympic Games differently. The volume is > divided into four sections: "China," "Japan," "South Korea," and > "International Perceptions," each containing three chapters. > > The book starts with a preamble and prologue outlining its major > arguments and concerns. At the outset of the volume, William W. Kelly > and Tianwei Ren offer a general overview of the Olympic movement in > relation to the two major themes of the book, media and nationalism, > before presenting a closer look at the particularities of East Asia > and its sports history and socioeconomic and sociopolitical > developments. The authors highlight the sociopolitical changes in the > region, the economic growth patterns of the states in question, and > the long-term consequences of sports on nationalism and the media. > They distinguish between different types of media, keeping in mind > the enormous shifts and developments in that area and its impact on > sports but also the region as a tremendous power in the field of > sports. The authors formulate a clear distinction between the three > countries and the Olympic Games hosted in each country. They place > them within their specific historical and political contexts, since > "the past has provided the three nations with distinctive political > 'personalities'" (p. 9). In addition, they discuss the importance of > the Olympic Games, "an unparalleled extravaganza," in particular (p. > 11). Both sections nicely introduce the themes of the book, providing > the relevant backdrop to this volume. However, they could have been > combined into one introductory chapter to avoid repetition. > Additionally, a short discussion of soft power in East Asia would > have added context into this informative and essential section of the > book. > > Chapter 1 examines broadly the relationship between Chinese > nationalism and the media. It provides a short historical background > to Chinese nationalism and sports before endeavoring to analyze the > relationship between elite athletes, the media, and the nation-state. > It draws attention to the importance of sports under socialism and > the Chinese sports system, which distinguishes it from the other two > countries in this volume. Richard Xiaoqian and Junjian Liang > introduce the idea of heroism, in this case a specific Chinese > socialist sports hero, and pay some attention to gender, a topic that > deserves much deeper analysis, given the gender-neutral portrayal of > Chinese athletes. In chapter 2, Ren also picks up the image of the > hero and investigates cartoons as a medial tool in the portrayal of > nationalism. She starts with a short history of the portrayal of > Chinese athletes, underlining the shifts that occurred leading up to > and following the 2008 Beijing Olympics, clearly expressing her own > sense of national pride. She focuses on the informing, mobilizing, > involving and connecting, and celebrating aspects of the cartoons, > providing plenty of examples. The last chapter of the China section > assesses the interdependence between sports and nationalism and the > role the media plays in projecting modern Chinese nationalism. Ying > Jiang provides an insightful but lengthy overview of the evolution of > Chinese nationalism that leaves little room to explore the actual > theme of the essay, creating more questions for the reader than > providing answers. What exactly is the forceful nationalism that is > being created? In all three essays, it becomes clear that, no matter > how much the portrayal of athletes has changed, a militaristic > approach to sports and glory to the Chinese nation remain the top > priorities of the government, the media, and the nationalist > discourse. One of the biggest positive changes is the continuing > support of athletes, no matter if they win or lose. > > Chapter 4, the first essay in the Japan section, compares the > emergence of sports journalism in nineteenth-century Britain and > Japan. Keiko Ikeda emphasizes the importance of the media as the > "fourth estate" and its impact on the evolution of Japanese > nationalism (p. 108). She implies that the Japanese media does > business rather than ensure independent journalism, which ultimately > has an impact on sports by creating a pure business venture, also > affecting the image of the 2020 Tokyo Games. The comparison between > Britain and Japan, however, does not hold up, given the different > time periods and different sociopolitical and cultural backgrounds. > Chapter 5, by Christian Tagsold, delves into the differing > motivations for hosting the Games twice and the images that have been > created of Tokyo. The types of media and access to media have evolved > tremendously, giving a clear and loud voice to an anti-Olympic > movement, which the author explores in detail. However, it seems that > two tragic events, World War II and 3/11, boosted Japan's > determination to host the Games, hoping to recreate and reshape its > national and international image. It is only in the conclusion that > the author hints at "increasingly rampant nationalism," which would > have added a needed angle to a thought-provoking essay, given the > overarching theme of this volume (p. 131). The final chapter in this > section attempts to show how Japan and the Games in 1964 compare to > Japan in 2020. Tyrel Eskelson asks why "Tokyo, a modern, developed > city needs the Olympics to answer to Japan's economic woes," > especially when the Games are known to be economic traps (p. 135). He > returns to the impact of the British Empire, although a focus on 1964 > and 2020 would have sufficed; however, the short recap on post-1945 > developments, the economic downturn of the 1990s, and the return of > Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2012 are useful to place the > developments within their historical and sociopolitical contexts. The > 2020 Games seem to have become a business venture with the > opportunity to increase government control and curtail citizen > rights, bringing up dangerous parallels to the past. What role does > the media play here? And what kind of nationalism is being created? > > The third country, South Korea, is first explored by Chang Wan Woo > and Mikyung Bae's content analysis of newspaper articles surrounding > the 1988 and 2018 Olympics. The essay, while structurally weak, > offers interesting insights into ideas of nationalism and the media > during different time periods, offering obvious conclusions for a > Cold War and post-Cold War world. The authors set out to explain the > importance of economic and technological developments, nation versus > host city, and the Olympic movement and conflict frame. A survey of > the two distinct cities as well as a consideration of the difference > between Olympic Winter and Summer Games would have been interesting. > The authors touch on Eastern countries' longer process to "adopt the > concepts of Olympism," but do they need to (p. 176)? Is the world and > the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not benefiting from an East > Asian version of Olympism? Isn't this the actual spirit of the > Olympic Games? In chapter 8, Bae and Woo, similarly to the previous > essay, limit their investigation to newspaper articles, stressing the > influence of the democratic movement at the 1988 Olympics and the > fact that these movements set post-Olympic South Korean development > on a new path. They scrutinize various aspects of the media landscape > and its initially cautious but later determined impact on national > and international perceptions of South Korea and the growth of > nationalism and democracy. Chapter 9, by Kyoungho Park and Gwang Ok, > emphasizes the complexities of sports and politics and the unique > situation South Korea faced before, during, and after the 1988 > Olympics. This informative essay provides evidence on the country's > political evolution but lacks an overview of the history of sports. > It draws attention to the positive shifts within the media in the > portrayal of the Olympics and its long-term impact on the country but > also international relations during the Cold War. The chapters of > these sections are fascinating to read but suffer from editorial > issues, such as insufficient proofreading, repetitions, and odd > paragraph structures. > > Soft power in relation to the media, nationalism, and sports is not > explored until the final three chapters on international perceptions. > Each of these well-written and well-argued chapters looks at soft > power from a slightly different angle, emphasizing the strengths and > weaknesses of the concept in relation to sports and politics. > However, all three chapters deal with China and the 2008 Beijing > Olympics, completely ignoring Japan and South Korea. Florian > Schneider, in chapter 10, offers an in-depth study of the opening > ceremony and its political implications on Chinese and Taiwanese TV > channels. He also nicely bridges the gaps between the essays in this > volume, making the whole volume coherent. Chapter 11, by Paul M. > Brannagan and Jonathan Grix, delves deeper into sports mega events > and their impact on and importance to politics and diplomacy in Asia > in particular. They also highlight the shortcomings of soft power in > relation to the field of sports studies. They suggest that China > hosting the Olympics was not all positive, coining the term "soft > disempowerment," in regard to China's image abroad, which, however, > did not slow down the country's importance as an international power > (p. 263). In the concluding chapter, Susan Brownell investigates the > role of the media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the > creation of a negative image of China. The main themes were human > rights and the environment. Brownell additionally analyzes surveys to > evaluate China's national image. Overall, surveys seem to indicate a > better public image of China than the media and NGOs promoted, as a > threat to the Western world and its supposed cultural superiority. > This posits the question of how Joseph Nye's concept of soft power > can be applied to the field of sports studies. > > This collection of essays is no doubt an important contribution to > the existing field of sports, nationalism, and the media. With its > interdisciplinary and interregional approach, it effectively bridges > the gap between these themes and connects it to the larger framework > of soft power, making it interesting for scholars in several fields. > > Citation: Susanne Kranz. Review of Ren, Tianwei; Ikeda, Keiko; Woo, > Chang Wan, eds., _Media, Sport, Nationalism: East Asia: Soft Power > Projection via the Modern Olympic Games. Essays in Honour of > Professor J. A. Mangan's Contributions to East Asian Studies_. > H-Japan, H-Net Reviews. February, 2020. > URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=54099 > > This work is licensed under a Creative Commons > Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States > License. > > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: https://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
