Series |
Sinica venetiana
Edited book | The Historian’s Gaze
Chapter | Sun Yat-sen: a Life Beyond Symbols. A Semiotic Approach to Modernity
Sun Yat-sen: a Life Beyond Symbols. A Semiotic Approach to Modernity
Abstract
Sun Yat‑sen is the quintessential Chinese historical figure embodying modernity: a revolutionary representative of Chinese national identity still revered on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. This essay takes an interdisciplinary approach to Sun’s emblems of modernity, drawing upon semiotics and the study of material culture. The symbols examined are: Sun’s photographic portrait as Provisional President of the Republic of China; his photographic portrait as Director General of the National Railways; the suit which he created and which was given his name; and his mausoleum in Nanjing, which have all been deployed to perpetuate Sun Yat‑sen’s memory and appropriate it in support of later political agendas.
Submitted: July 26, 2022 | Accepted: Dec. 7, 2022 | Published Oct. 11, 2023 | Language: en
Keywords Sun Yat‑sen • Chinese identity • Modernity • Semiotic • Politics mausoleum
Copyright © 2023 Aglaia De Angeli. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-723-4/005
