Visual propaganda in northwest China: exploring cultural representations

Abstract

While scholarship exists on the study of propaganda in China, less attention has been paid toward visual propaganda in the ethnic minority areas of northwest China. How does the Chinese government propaganda portray ethnic minority culture? Which forms of culture does the government support and which aspects are discouraged? Our paper provides an analysis of propaganda from Xining and Ürümchi from the years 2016–2019, where the propaganda reflects the unique sociopolitical context of the two cities. The language and visuals of the propaganda promote values and behaviours for the development of a ‘civilized’ city. We argue that propaganda perpetuates the established hierarchies between the ethnic majority as superior and minority groups as inferior. On the one hand, cultural representations celebrate minorities and tokenize them as ‘exotic’ and ‘different’. On the other hand, the messages encourage minorities to embrace patriotism and a Chinese national identity.