Synopsis of Research in Shanghai (January 12 - February 13)：
Self-immolation is new to Tibet historically, religiously and politically, and since the first immolation in 2009, these horrific spectacles have captured worldwide attention with daunting images of living human beings setting themselves on fire, splashed around newspapers, magazines, TV and online space. Liu’s paper will examine the cultural, historical and political reasons behind the representation of these acts that are frequently covered by the western media and shared with the world audiences as a media spectacle. She is particularly fascinated by the stark contrast of media reports from the West and the Chinese State media. By comparing the two, Liu hopes to analyze the ideologies behind the two representations. By unpacking the media coverage by both the Western and the Chinese State media, she argues that dominant Western media have reproduced the spectacle of self-immolation in Tibet and controlled the narrative around it as well. Liu believes this has fostered an unbalanced and hegemonic discourse around the Tibetan self-immolation.