Abstract
This chapter pays greater attention to the mechanisms of conversion behind China’s soft power paradox. The chapter argues that the dilemma of China’s effort to project a transnational soft power field is embedded in the lack of conversion from linguistic capital to cultural, economic and celebrity capital in quasi-Sinophone East Asia. Although there are a large number of Korean and Japanese people who are learning Chinese language and studying China, there is deficiency in the translation and conversion of the Chinese language and (traditional) culture “fever” into cultural and media consumption, which are lynchpins of soft power.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
The case of learning English and the conversion of Korean wave is opposite to the Chinese wave.
- 3.
- 4.
KV13, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 8, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 5.
KV14, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 8, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 6.
KV11, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 8, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 7.
KV16, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 9, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 8.
KV9, Interview with a South Korean respondent, November 30, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 9.
KV25, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 15, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 10.
KV25, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 15, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 11.
JV58, Interview with a Japanese respondent, May 24, 2012, Seoul, South Korea.
- 12.
KV39, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 21, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 13.
KV45, Interview with a South Korean respondent, November 30, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 14.
KV45, Interview with a South Korean respondent, November 30, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 15.
KV16, Interview with a South Korean respondent, December 9, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
- 16.
Ibid.
- 17.
JV59, Interview with a Japanese respondent, May 24, 2012, Seoul, South Korea.
- 18.
JV6, Interview with a Japanese respondent, February 14, 2012, Tokyo, Japan.
- 19.
JV6, Interview with a Japanese respondent, February 14, 2012, Tokyo, Japan.
- 20.
On the Japanese media market, South Korean media products often function as a reference for the provision of Chinese programs. The Korean Wave in the Japanese media market reduces opportunities for alternative products from other places, such as the PRC.
- 21.
KV9, Interview with a South Korean respondent, November 30, 2011, Seoul, South Korea.
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Lee, C.S. (2018). The Conversion Paradox in Quasi-Sinophone East Asia. In: Soft Power Made in China. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93115-9_5
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