Napoléon « porte trois fois le turban vert » : tendances démocratique et féministe dans la culture des médias urbains à l’aube de la République de Chine

Abstract

Since the late 19th century, the legend of Napoleon has spread in China, carrying with it the epic of the French Revolution and images of a romantic Paris, and has always inspired patriotic passion and political imagination among Chinese audience. In the mid-1910s, widely portrayed by fiction, photography, film and drama, Napoleon aroused popular sensation again in Shanghai. No longer interested in his militant talent and imperial glory, the media were obsessed with his private life, all about his marriages and lovers. In the context of sentimental ethos and political disillusion in the early Republican period, this anti-heroic proclivity both refracted colorful urban mentality and popular desire. In a series of stories, women were depicted as superior to Napoleon, signifying the rise of feminine consciousness at the time. On the other hand, due to Yuan Shikai’s dictatorship, the representations of a demonized Napoleon implied a democratic demand. This Napoleonic episode, a hundred years ago, will bring us new perspectives on the issues of media and politics in global China.

Keywords

• democracy
• media
• privacy
• femininity