Smile Yourself Happy: Zheng nengliang and the Discursive Construction of Happy Subjects

Hird, Derek (2018) Smile Yourself Happy: Zheng nengliang and the Discursive Construction of Happy Subjects. In: Chinese Discourses on Happiness. Hong Kong University Press, Hong Kong, pp. 106-128. ISBN 9789888455720

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Abstract

A vibrant discourse linking happiness and well-being to zheng nengliang 正能量 (“positive energy”) has emerged in China since 2012. Drawing from a variety of disciplines and cultural resources, including positive psychology and ancient cosmological notions, zheng nengliang as a discursive practice is inseparable from wider processes that connect emotional intelligence and happiness with subject- and class-making in the reform era. This chapter outlines the holistic and embodied dimensions of zheng nengliang in popular discourse, and examines how zheng nengliang is used to express emotional well-being and socioeconomic stratification in four public service adverts. Contributing fresh insights into how happiness is promulgated and how happy subjects are constructed in China, it extends the scholarly literature at the intersections of Chinese studies, happiness studies, and media studies.

Item Type:
Contribution in Book/Report/Proceedings
Subjects:
?? HAPPINESSZHENG NENGLIANGPOSITIVE ENERGYPOSITIVE PSYCHOLOGYPUBLIC SERVICE ADVERTSSUBJECTEMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ??
ID Code:
129284
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
30 Nov 2018 16:34
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
18 Jul 2023 09:18