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'Invitation to a Mourning Ceremony': Perspectives on the Uyghur Internet

'Invitation to a Mourning Ceremony': Perspectives on the Uyghur Internet <jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This paper offers a historically located and sociopolitical reading of the Uyghur internet, focusing on Uyghur language sites which were legally operating within China and active in the run-up to the July 2009 protests. Whilst Chinese media argued that ?hostile external forces' were using the internet as a tool to stir dissent, we suggest that the unprecedented ban reflected broader state concerns about the internet's ability to facilitate the creation of community and potential to serve as a tool of mobilisation.</jats:p> <jats:p>We translate and contextualise a selection of material downloaded from Uyghur sites shortly before the internet was shut down. These messages, images and sounds provide considerable insight into the thoughts and feelings of the protestors. We argue that this internet-based discourse has much in common with earlier, pre-digital home-grown nationalist movements, and that its emphasis on mourning is representative of a more widespread sense of self within Uyghur popular culture: one which equates national identity with grief and loss.</jats:p> </jats:sec> http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Inner Asia Brill

'Invitation to a Mourning Ceremony': Perspectives on the Uyghur Internet

Inner Asia , Volume 13 (1): 23 – Jan 1, 2011

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
1464-8172
eISSN
2210-5018
DOI
10.1163/000000011797372832
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>This paper offers a historically located and sociopolitical reading of the Uyghur internet, focusing on Uyghur language sites which were legally operating within China and active in the run-up to the July 2009 protests. Whilst Chinese media argued that ?hostile external forces' were using the internet as a tool to stir dissent, we suggest that the unprecedented ban reflected broader state concerns about the internet's ability to facilitate the creation of community and potential to serve as a tool of mobilisation.</jats:p> <jats:p>We translate and contextualise a selection of material downloaded from Uyghur sites shortly before the internet was shut down. These messages, images and sounds provide considerable insight into the thoughts and feelings of the protestors. We argue that this internet-based discourse has much in common with earlier, pre-digital home-grown nationalist movements, and that its emphasis on mourning is representative of a more widespread sense of self within Uyghur popular culture: one which equates national identity with grief and loss.</jats:p> </jats:sec>

Journal

Inner AsiaBrill

Published: Jan 1, 2011

Keywords: NATIONAL IDENTITY; DIASPORA; XINJIANG; INTERETHNIC VIOLENCE; MOURNING; UYGHUR; INTERNET

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