The National Image of China and the Construction of a Profilic National Identity

The construction of national identity through the communication of a national image takes on external and internal representational forms according to the notions of soft power and national branding in play. When viewed through the conceptual lens of profilicity, however, the mechanisms involved in the construction of national identity under such conditions are revealed to be more complicated. The presentation of a national image is not simply a "monologue" to the international community, and the recursive influence this presentation has on national identity is not simply a reflection. This article explores national identity through the communication of a national image to the world, its recursive influence on citizens at home, and how the identity paradigm of profilicity can be applied to national identity to reveal otherwise hidden, peculiar mechanisms that occur within the construction of national identity in a globalized world. These peculiarities are particularly conspicuous in the case of the People's Republic of China due to its ascension as a global power, demand for recognition from other powers on the international stage, and its ongoing campaigns to both "transmit" the national image of China abroad and rearticulate a contemporary national identity at home. As such, while the identity work of profilicity is performed in all national identities, Chinese national identity and the state's attempts to fortify a positive national identity will be used as a case study to reveal certain mechanisms of a profilic identity in the construction of national identity.