Nationalism On The Internet

The first decade of the 21st Century has witnessed in China not only the economic boom, progress of political system and the advancement of technology, but also the change in terms of ideologies, among which the evolution of nationalism via new medium literally on the Internet is obviously one of the essential issues. The dynamics between nationalism and the Internet gives birth to a great deviation of nationalism from the normal combination with traditional media. Due to the cutting edge and prominent characteristics of the Internet, the intension and the extension of nationalism are realized and expanded ever to the most.This study will take the auction of Yuanmingyuan animal heads that happened a year ago for example, to explore the relations between nationalism and the Internet through critical thinking from perspectives of political science, history and communication.The study will first exam the auction event, summarizing the features and analyzing the texts of it to find out how nationalism is conveyed and interpreted and draw reactions on the Internet. It is obvious that Internet has build up an unprecedented and easy platform for the communication of nationalism. Netizens voice their ideas and release their intense emotions about nationalism by BBS, online voting and signing, which is never seen in traditional media. Then the study reviews the origin and development of nationalism, and introduces its new features and plights on the Internet. Nationalism in nature is a modern product. It is a political and philosophical thought that emerged after the collapse of religious and imperial authorities. With the help of imagination, nationalism enables people to connect themselves with the previously unknown part of the world in a real time. Nations therefore are essentially imagined communities. Supported by the Internet technology, nationalism has broken through the confines of authorities and bottom-to-top model, but meanwhile it shows some denounced traits.Finally, the study will explain the causes, laws and impacts of the nationalism in Internet communication through the lens of both modernity and post-modernity. The main findings are:the modern nature of nationalism and Internet is the vital reason why they can co-star and gain its popularity. However, with the dissipation of subjectivity and knowledge on the Internet, and because of the Achilles'Heel of symbolization and hyper-reality of the Internet, nationalism is now put on trial.In brief, this study is designed to reveal that nationalism is not a natural being but a kind of ideology formed in the history of mankind. It is a dynamic being that only exist in communication, and it will undoubtedly keep changing once the communication changes. In virtual community, nationalism on one hand is more worshiped as a call in a time without faith, on the other hand, owing to the threat of alienation, nationalism is facing resistance, critique and even teasing, and probably end up an hollow sign.