Let me add my voice to the chorus: Linsanity is Lintastic! By now, everyone knows Jeremy Lin and his marvelous emergence in the NBA. Not only in the US, but in China as well, where he seems to be overshadowing the retired Yao Ming as a national basketball champion.
And here's one of the interesting things about all this: rather like Gary Locke, Lin is an American who is creating a new symbol of Chinese cultural accomplishment. And that, I think, is not good news for the culture warriors in China desperately in search of home-grown products that will boost the PRC's "soft power" abroad.
Let me put out a quick disclaimer: I personally am a cultural anti-nationalist in the sense that I recognize that cultural production and significance cannot be contained within national boundaries or categories. Some Americans might comfortably identify with cultural products produced elsewhere - and that's fine. Some Chinese might comfortably identify with cultural products produced elsewhere - and that's fine, too. Nationalists - American or Chinese - who are hell-bent on denouncing cultural exchange and inter-mingling are not only unrealistic (cultures have always and everywhere flowed together) but they are impoverished in their imaginations....
That said, to Chinese nationalists who worry about "...international hostile forces [that] are intensifying the strategic plot of Westernizing and dividing China..." (I'm looking at you Hu Jintao), Jeremy Lin is a potential problem. He is, after all, an American. As some have noted, his story seems paradigmatic of the "American dream." He is obviously proud of his Chinese-Taiwanese heritage, but his life has been shaped by his Chinese-Taiwanese-American context and experience. The problem, then, for Chinese nationalists who would like to appropriate the Lin narrative as a symbol of some sort of purely Chinese cultural accomplishment is the impossibility of disaggregating the reality of his Chinese-Taiwanese-American-ness.
This has not yet happened yet, as far as I know. Lin has been embraced by the Chinese public but the cultural commissars, who pressed back against Gary Locke's popularity, have yet to weigh in on the rise of Lin. Though I did notice this headline from China Daily: "Lin's good, but not as good as Yao - NBA boss." Of course, no one would contend, at this point, that Lin's career, which is all but two weeks old, comes close to Yao's. But why does this even need to be said now?
It might be that there is already an anxiety stirring in the minds of Chinese nationalists. Here is yet another cultural sensation, drawing the adulation of Chinese youth, that is produced in the US. It's another Kung Fu Panda. The Lin story plays more to a US "soft power" narrative than a PRC one. Indeed, Lin might be more dangerous than Lady Gaga (are her songs still banned?). He is, at once "Chinese" but not, for PRC nationalist purposes, sufficiently "Chinese."
And things might be really interesting if cross-Strait politics enter the equation. Will someone in the PRC require him to de-emphasize his Taiwanese-ness? Will he play more to a KMT or DPP Taiwan narrative? That could get a bit dicey...
Let me be clear: personally, I think Lin should be free to identify himself as he wants and to do what he wants, without social and cultural baggage. But that is not the way cultural politics works, especially when nationalists get involved. If Lin wants to play for a Chinese or Taiwanese national team in international competition, as has been suggested, that's fine with me. If he plays on a US team, that's good, too. Whatever. I sense, however, that these issues, and the continuing question of his popularity and identity within the PRC will create some rather perilous politics for him in the not-too-distant future....
In the meantime: Go Knicks! Linsanity!...
UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long:
Is 'Linsanity' Driving the Chinese Government Crazy?
China, Taiwan Both Lay Claim to Jeremy Lin
Hey Sam! As you know, I've gone completely linsane!
It must be difficult for Lin to be thrust so quickly into the limelight, in so many ways. As a fellow Asian American, I understand the experience of being American but not being perceived by anyone as being "100%" American. "Where are you from?" is never a question about California when people ask me. On top of that, now he'll be asked to represent half the world's population. I don't envy that.
I expect Lin will have to deal with the difficult identification choices you mention. He'll also get lots of endorsement deals -- on both sides of the Strait. I do envy that...
Posted by: Manyul Im | February 13, 2012 at 11:46 AM
I think, Sam, you're thinking about this issue too deeply.
There are a variety of "nationalism"s in China. Cultural nationalists probably won't care, or if they care, they would see that Jeremy Lin is a well brought-up Chinese youngster and approve of him for this reason.
As for state nationalists and ethnic nationalists, I'm not really in their mind-space. I suspect, though, that at least some would enjoy a good game for what it is.
...
There are a lot of Chinese people, too, who don't completely buy into the soft power narrative from the PRC. We have our own cultures going on. (I for one think that government interference in culture does more harm than good. The state really has the reverse Midas touch.) If you really want to challenge the PRC narrative, you should talk more to actual Chinese traditionalists and conservatives.
Posted by: Justice&Mercy | February 13, 2012 at 12:11 PM
I wonder how his being an evangelical Christian will play into all of this.
Posted by: Christopher | February 13, 2012 at 02:39 PM
Thank you, respected and beloved Professor Sam! Among many of the interesting points you raised, I particularly like the term "anti-nationalist". To me, nationalism is, or at least should be, a political phenomenon of the past. Genuine soft-power dose not relate to nationalism. I would suggest that we distinguish between these two concepts. Soft-power as a word is useful. To me, it articulates the natural talent, desire and effort of peoples of the world in achieving cultural freedom, equality and excellence. Governments and many other forms of political institutions always try to make use of cultural soft-power for their political objectives, like public relations, unfortunately.
Oh well, I guess I am sort of sobering up a bit from my own Lin-sanity, which actually began in 2005 when Jeremy was playing for Palo Alto High School and got off in a tangent in the past 10 days. I am glad I won't have to retire from being a NBA fan for some years now. Looking forward to learning and sharing with you.
Posted by: CK Shen | February 13, 2012 at 05:47 PM