The role of political rituals in forming the national identity of Chinese youth

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National Technical University of Ukraine «Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute»

Faculty of Sociology and Low

Sociology Department

The role of political rituals in forming the national identity of Chinese youth

Pygolenko I.V., C. Philos. Sci.,

Ass. Professor

Ding Rong, Master's student

Annotation

The article examines the role and place of political rituals in the process of forming the national identity of modern Chinese youth. In the conditions of globalization and modernization, identification of youth with the country is related to both the future and further development of the country. National identity is not only an important ideology, but also a necessary spiritual link that ensures the sustainable development of the country. The issue of national identity is related to the future of the country and the population living on its territory. The use of political rituals to strengthen the national identity of Chinese youth is the main idea discussed in this article.

The article outlines theoretical approaches to the study of political rituals and the formation of national identity among Chinese scientists.

Today, the crisis of national identity is spreading all over the world. Globalization is rapidly changing traditional production, lifestyles, and ideological values. Ethnic disputes and ethnic differences are becoming more and more common. Countries around the world are facing various challenges and crises. National identity, as an important aspect of nation-state formation, is also undergoing significant changes. Today's challenges and changes in the system of political relations affect national development and social stability.

Political rituals and the formation of the national identity of the youth are inextricably linked. In the article, using the example of the study of China's experience, attention is focused on the issues of national identity of modern youth and ways of using political rituals to strengthen the national identity of youth.

Political rituals play an important role in spreading core values, strengthening emotional consensus, confirming identity, standardizing behavioral practices, and strengthening a sense of belonging to the country of residence.

Key words: youth, national identity, political rituals, symbols, values.

Анотація

Роль політичних ритуалів у формуванні національної ідентичності китайської молоді

У статті розглянуто роль та місце політичних ритуалів у процесі формування національної ідентичності сучасної китайської молоді. В умовах глобалізації та модернізації ідентифікація молоді з країною пов'язана як із минулим, так і подальшим розвитком країни.

Національна ідентичність є не лише важливою ідеологією, а й необхідною духовною ланкою, яка забезпечує сталий розвиток країни. Питання національної ідентичності пов'язане з майбутнім країни та населення, яке проживає на її території. Використання політичних ритуалів для посилення національної ідентичності китайської молоді є головною ідеєю, що розглядається у статті.

У статті викладаються теоретичні підходи до дослідження політичних ритуалів та формування національної ідентичності китайських учених.

Сьогодні криза національної ідентичності поширюються по всьому світу. Глобалізація швидко змінює традиційне виробництво, спосіб життя та ідеологічні цінності. Етнічні суперечки та етнічні розбіжності стають усе більш поширеними. Країни в усьому світі стикаються з різними викликами та кризами. Національна ідентичність як важливий аспект формування національної держави також зазнає суттєвих змін. Виклики сьогодення та зміни в системі політичних відносин впливають на національний розвиток і соціальну стабільність.

Політичні ритуали та формування національної ідентичності молоді нерозривно пов'язані між собою. У статті на прикладі вивчення досвіду Китаю увага зосереджується на питаннях національної ідентичності сучасної молоді та способах використання політичних ритуалів для посилення національної ідентичності молоді. Політичні ритуали відіграють важливу роль у поширенні основних цінностей, зміцненні емоційного консенсусу, підтвердженні ідентичності, стандартизації практик поведінки та посиленні почуття належності до країни проживання.

Ключові слова: молодь, національна ідентичність, політичні ритуали, символи, цінності.

Formulation of the problem

The ideals, beliefs, spirituality, and comprehensive quality of the young generation are important manifestations of a country's development vitality, as well as important constituents of a country's core competitiveness. Young people are responsible for the country's heavy responsibility and the future of the country. Constructing and upgrading the national identity of young people is an inevitable choice for modern nation-states. The country is a floodgate for young people to grow up and become successful, and identity is the basis for young people to seek common ground while reserving differences and to unite and cohesion. Young people's identity with the country is the recognition and support for the legitimacy of the regime, the national structural system, the history and culture of the country, and other elements. Therefore, further thinking and research on youth national identity is a key part of national construction, an important goal of national development, an important cornerstone for young people to grow up and become successful, and a prerequisite for young people to dedicate themselves to the motherland.

The goal of enhancing the national identity of young people is to realize that young people internalize the identity of the country in their hearts and minds, and consciously practice and undertake the burdens and responsibilities given by the country. Political rituals play a unique role in the dissemination of mainstream values, the enhancement of emotional consensus, the confirmation of identity, the standardization of behavioral practices, and the enhancement of a sense of belonging, making them an important carrier and an effective tool for enhancing the national identity of young people. The state has also increasingly emphasized the important value of rituals in political life, but when examining the role of political rituals in enhancing the national identity of young people, there are problems such as formality and neglect of connotation, and the carriers of the rituals need to be enriched, which affects the effective play of the function and value of political rituals. Accordingly, how to construct the internal logic of political rituals and national identity, how to overcome the inherent shortcomings of political rituals, and how to build a feasible bridge from political rituals to the enhancement of youth national identity: the example of China are the contents of this paper, and the focus and center of this paper's research.

There are many similarities between political rituals and national identity. Both political rituals and national identity are aimed at promoting the establishment of correct values among young people, taking young people as the important reference object and having the function of cohesion and integration. Political rituals have the functions of promoting value consensus, enhancing identity, and regulating behavioral practices in the enhancement of youth national identity. Through a series of symbols that carry the sense of meaning, they create a powerful field that is highly contagious and appealing, and create an "imagined community" [1] that embodies a sense of unity and communion, bringing together differentiated individuals in the direction of a national identity through their intangible power. The invisible power of these rituals brings together individuals who are different from each other to work toward a common goal. As for the energy efficiency of political rituals in enhancing the national identity of young people, there are problems of formality and neglect of connotation, insufficient carriers, and ineffective dissemination, which are attributed to the fact that the main body of political rituals does not pay enough attention to the functional value of the rituals, the cognitive ability of young people in general towards political rituals needs to be improved, and the entertainment in the cyberspace has weakened the consensus on the identity of young people as well as weakened collective cohesion of young people due to consumerism.

In view of the above problems and attributions, we should make full use of the common intrinsic characteristics of political rituals and national identity, and on the basis of grasping the logic of the two, we should construct the collective memory of the youth, strengthen the internalization of the mainstream values of the youth, and stimulate the behavior of the national identity of the youth in the following four aspects: strengthening the awareness of the main body of the ritual, enriching the theme of the ritual, tapping into the Gonstructing and enhancing youth national identity is conducive to enhancing the sense of belonging and pride in the country, strengthening the centripetal force and cohesion of society, maintaining social harmony and promoting national development. Youth national identity faces challenges and crises, and it is important to construct and enhance the national identity of the youth through multiple ways and dimensions to boost confidence. This article explores the useful paths to enhance youth national identity by analyzing political rituals, and tries to use the functional value of political rituals to enhance youth national identity, with a view to enriching the carriers for constructing and enhancing youth national identity, and continuously building a solid foundation for young people to shoulder the heavy responsibility of the times and dedicate their youthful years to the country.

Ritual is a complex system involving knowledge from anthropology, psychology, sociology and other comprehensive disciplines; national identity also involves multidisciplinary contents, which requires a lot of time for learning and grasping. Therefore, grasping the respective contents of political rituals and national identity is one of the main focuses of this article.

The purpose of the article is research on using political rituals to enhance young people's national identity.

Presentation of the main material

political ritual national identity сhinese youth

Identity is not innate, but is the process by which individuals integrate their personal feelings, attitudes and values into the collective and the community in interaction with others and the society, so as to confirm their collective identity and sense of belonging. Therefore, national identity is gradually constructed on the basis of people's continuous knowledge and understanding of the country, and in the process of national identity construction and formation, various ways and carriers are needed to arouse people's cognitive recognition of the country, and political rituals and their symbolic symbols have become a major way to construct and enhance national identity because of their own unique functions. Therefore, this article analyzes the meaning and characteristics of youth, the meaning and function of national identity, the meaning and classification of political rituals, the intrinsic correlation between political rituals and national identity, and the theoretical basis of political rituals to enhance youth national identity, in order to provide theoretical unification for the exploration of useful paths to enhance youth national identity.

Political rituals can help enhance the national identity of youth, and to explore the effective path of political rituals to enhance the national identity of youth, it is necessary to clearly define the scientific connotations of "youth", "national identity" and "political rituals".

Young people are the most energetic and dynamic group in every society, and are the most positive factor in promoting national development and social progress. Because of their unique characteristics, young people carry the historical mission and social responsibility given by the times.

The concept of "youth" is a product of modern civilization, and has gradually formed with the development of society and economy up to a certain stage and the deepening of people's understanding of themselves. The concept of "youth" is a product of modern civilization, and is gradually formed with the social and economic development to a certain stage and the deepening of people's understanding of themselves.

Some scholars believe that the scientific meaning of the concept of youth should be comprehensive, arguing that young people are those who are at the stage of development in life when they have reached full physical maturity, when their personalities have basically taken shape and when they have begun to become socially independent. It is also pointed out that in view of the current situation in China, the age of youth can be taken as the lower limit of 15 years old and the upper limit of 34 years old, that is to say, young people aged 15-34 years old can be regarded as youth [10].

Many scholars have defined the concept of national identity in line with their own research content. For example, China's Lin Shangli believes that national identity is people's recognition and obedience to the country in which they exist, and it reflects the basic relationship between people and the country. For the country, it determines the basis of the country's legitimacy, and in turn determines the country's stability and prosperity [8].

National identity is not a simple presentation of national identity, political identity or cultural identity, but an organic composition of multi-level, multi-faceted and multi-category identity elements.

The term "political rituals" was gradually formed by the influence of rituals in political life. To understand the connotation of political rituals, it is necessary to understand the meaning of "rituals" with "political "as a qualifier. David Kertzer defines ritual as "a repetitive symbolic act that embodies a social norm" [7, p. 11].

Victor Turner defines ritual as "a prescribed formal behavior without the use of technical procedures, appropriate to special occasions of belief associated with mystical substances or forces" [9, p. 215].

According to China's Guo Yuhua, "Ritual, usually defined as a symbolic, performative, set of behaviors prescribed by cultural tradition" [3].

The essential difference between political rituals and other rituals lies in the qualifier "political". Haizhou Wang thinks that political ceremony is a kind of concept. Combined with the research theme of this paper and the analysis of "ceremony" and "politics", this paper defines political ceremony as follows: political ceremony is a ritual activity with symbolic, repetitive, and prescriptive political coloring, which is held by the subject of the ceremony on a regular basis, and it is an emotional and emotional activity for the object of the ceremony. Ceremonial activities, the ritual object's feelings, attitudes, values for inculcation and infection, in order to realize its political value of the promotion of political beliefs and the integration of the political order of a political practice activities. Political rituals not only have their essential connotation, but also show the richness of extension in the historical development, and different kinds of political rituals have been formed under different historical narratives and cultural backgrounds [5].

Political rituals and youth national identity are intrinsically related to each other in terms of the realization of goals, objects, and functional values, as shown in the following aspects.

Relevance in the realization of goals

Political rituals and youth national identity are related in the realization of goals. One of the goals of political rituals and youth national identity is to make young people establish correct values. Political rituals through emotional, psychological and cognitive symbolic activities, to achieve the function of promoting political values, political values is a component of values, political rituals through the performances of political rituals, can make the majority of young people in the contagious rituals in the ritual field to feel and understand the ritual leader is intended to convey the value of concepts, to realize the mainstream value of infection and inculcation. National identity belongs to the category of values, therefore, one of the goals of national identity is to promote the formation and establishment of correct values among young people, so that their thoughts and values will be in line with the mainstream value orientation of the country and meet the needs of national development. Accordingly, the establishment of correct values of young people is the goal attributed to both political rituals and national identity, and they are relevant in the realization of the goal.

The overlap in the object of action

Political rituals and youth national identity are overlapping in terms of their objects of action. Youth is an important object to play the efficacy of political rituals and enhance national identity. To play the efficacy of political ceremonies, we must ensure that there is an audience to participate in the ceremony, in the information technology, network communication developed today, the audience of the political ceremony is not only limited to the "presence" of the participants and visitors, but also through the network live broadcasts, playback of the "absent" visitors. At this level, the audience of political ceremonies includes individuals or groups of different ages, occupations and genders, including a large number of young people. To enhance the soft power of national identity, it is necessary not only for the main body of the state to obtain the identity of the public to the state through the realization of economic development, political democracy, cultural prosperity, social harmony and other efforts, but also for the public of all nationalities and social strata to respect and support from the bottom of their hearts, so it is logical that all members of the country should be the participants in the national identity. Youth is the propeller of national development and the stabilizer of social harmony. As the backbone of national development, the youth group should be an important participant of national identity, and their sense of national identity greatly affects the development of the country and social stability. From the above point of view, young people are not only important participants and visitors of political ceremonies, but also an organic force of national identity, and young people play an important role in the performance of political rituals and the cultivation of national identity.

Consistency in functional value

Political rituals and youth national identity are consistent in terms of functional value. Both political rituals and national identity have the function of cohesion and integration. Political rituals are regularly repeated, and through their repetitive characteristics, they can organically connect the past with the present, strengthen the collective memory and historical memory of the participants, and make the participants feel the powerful emotional cohesion brought about by the ceremonial situation and symbols, so that they can empathize with each other and develop a sense of belonging and identity. In the powerful field of the ceremony, the participants will naturally attribute themselves to a member of the ritual collective, in the ritual atmosphere, the other or hostile orientation disappeared, the value tendency, personal interests and other differences continue to weaken, the community consciousness increased significantly, the individual tendency to effectively inhibit the centrifugal tendency to focus on a central meaning, so as to achieve the orderly existence of the social group. On the one hand, symbolic rituals can bring all participants together, emphasize their similarities and common cultural traditions, narrow the gap between their ideologies and thoughts, and stimulate group consciousness and solidarity. On the other hand, through this ritual activity, the public can integrate themselves into it in the spirit of symbolism, find a way to the theme of the ritual, and realize the resonance between the two, so that the public can strongly feel their own mission and responsibility, and increase their recognition of the existing power system, and then support and embrace the consensus of values embedded in the power system.

Identity is not only a psychological mechanism, but more importantly, it is the externalization of psychological confirmation into practical action, which brings different societies together and seeks common national, social and personal development goals. Identity is the key to the formation of individual unity and sense of identity. Without identity, there will be confusion about "who I am", and there will be centrifugal force among individuals, weakening the sense of community. National identity is the questioning of "who we are". Once individuals have established "who I am" and "who we are", they will consciously take the national community as the standard, and combine personal development with national development, personal interests with national interests. Therefore, political rituals and youth national identity are highly coupled in terms of cohesion and integration.

Samuel Huntington pointed out that "Identity matters because it influences people's behavior". "Individual youth's identification with the state is not only reflected in the internal recognition of compliance, but also in the externalized behavioral practices. Rituals have multiple meanings, but the role of behavioral norms and order integration by their repetitive, symbolic, and normative features is unquestionable, and has the function of "discipline" as Foucault put it. Political rituals as a special form of ceremony, in the process of ritual performance to practice the function of regulating the behavior of youth practice. Political rituals on the participants of the behavioral norms are not reached through direct coercion, but the clever use of rituals to create a unique situation, conveying a set of invisible behavioral patterns to indirectly affect the behavioral practices of young people. The political ceremony itself has the function of normative admonition, coupled with the solemnity and sanctity of the ritual atmosphere, once the participants are aware of such ritual norms, it is bound to promote the conversion of its role, so that the participants' behavioral practices are subject to the statute, and constantly practice the ritual norms advocated by the dominant party of the ceremony [6, p. 21].

The issue of national identity has a bearing on the future of the country and the future of the nation.

Political ceremony is the content of political culture, and it is also the behavior of political culture dissemination. Political ceremonies with the kernel of excellent traditional Chinese culture is effective ways, means and instruments to present and spread political culture. Manuel Castells pointed out that "about identity it is the process of constructing meaning on the basis of cultural traits or related sets of cultural traits is the source of meaning for actors and is constructed by actors through the process of individualization process of constructing it" [2]. Cultural factors build a world of values and meanings for people living in a cultural group, and in the world of meanings constructed by culture, the shared culture enables its members to better understand each other's ways of thinking and behaving, and to achieve the commonality of ideologies and values. As a form of political culture dissemination, political rituals can effectively create a contagious cultural field of rituals, enabling participants to step out of themselves and enter a broader "imagined community", in which the symbolic system of symbols can awaken the emotional energy and deep- rooted political beliefs of those who enter the world of significance and make them recognize the political power presented by the value system. In this world of meaning, the symbolic system can awaken the emotional energy and deep political beliefs of the entrants, make them recognize the political power and national authority presented by the value system, and shape the participants' recognition of political legitimacy and national community identity.

Conclusions

National identity is a complex identity covering economic, political, cultural and social aspects and elements, and political rituals have become a useful channel and carrier for enhancing national identity because of their intrinsic consistency with national identity. However, political rituals have their own limitations, and in the process of enhancing the national identity of young people, it is necessary to not only make use of the value of rituals but also avoid their own shortcomings, and to take advantage of their strengths to eliminate their weaknesses, so as to make the political ceremony a real tool for the promotion of young people's national identity.

This paper attempts to use political rituals to enhance the national identity of young people, with a view to providing a feasible path to enhance the national identity of young people, and making positive contributions to national development and social stability.

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