"Politics Translated"

Continuing with last week’s class discussion over technology and activism, the reading, “From Steamed Bun to Grass Mud Horse: E Gao as alternative political discourse on Chinese Internet”, by Bingchun Meng, discusses how Chinese net users are transforming the Chinese public sphere from a unified rational public space to a heterogeneous forum, where expressions are “constantly generated and circulated”. Meng, in his article, argues that the internet is more than an instrument or a space, that “it’s a medium that contributes to the formation of new discursive modes of communicative practices”. Meng focuses particularly on  E gao, “the two characters ‘e’ meaning ‘evil’ and ‘gao’ meaning ‘work’ combine to describe a subculture that is characterized by humor, revelry, subversion, grass-root spontaneity, defiance of authority, mass participation and multi-media high-tech”. 

Meng further states, “e gao becomes an alternative means of conducting political discussions using entertainment discourses”.  E gao has done this by creating an alternative public sphere for its “netizens”, outside of the traditional political discourse in currently in place throughout China, through its usage of news websites, online forums, chat rooms and blogs.   In post-communist China, where there remains a divergence between official and popular discourses, e gao mediates between those discourses and among average citizens.  This is important because, as Meng explains, “Politics is built on deep-seated cultural values and beliefs that are embedded in the seemingly non-political aspects of public and private life”.  E gao does this by mediating between the public and private by using entertainment media to providing important cultural resources that in turn stimulate social and political debate.

Meng advances that, “It is the communication context of the Chinese internet that renders the e gao practice politically significant in terms of challenging the dominant order at both structural and discursive levels”. Structurally, it provides a space where alternative discourse can be “smuggled in” past Chinese censors. This space over time has evolved into a type of imagined community, which does not follow official orders, and gives rise to new types of speech.  The participation in the community by sharing of e gao activities “cultivates decentralized grassroots communities where a sense of belonging is constructed through a common understanding”. A community that has developed, a diversified political discourse,  that previously did not exist, in modern China.  Defined by Meng as,” A discursive style that combines humor, satire, vulgarity and a-rationality effectively providing a channel for transgression and subversion for those are at the lower end of the power structure”.  

Meng concludes stating, “The phenomena of e gao is deeply embedded in the specific social-political context of China”.  E gao is an example of how innovative activities such as those by Chinese netizens can be revolutionary in changing modes of communication. It is important to remain vigilant of new modes of communication that arise in order to continue our understanding of new media. 

After reading this article I began to think about political discourse in America and how despite having fairly reasonable censorship laws our own form of e gao has emerged. Shows like The Daily Show, Colbert Report and Comedy Central's "Obama Translated" are testament to this.

(2:20).  President Obama himself speaking about Key and Peele parody.