La SARS, strumento di propaganda e di solidarietà nazionale

Abstract

The article focuses on the image of the medical staff (particularly of nurses) offered by Chinese papers and other media when describing the situation of the Chinese hospitals during the spreading of the SARS. The author emphasizes how the official press, and particularly the People’s Daily makes use of the actual abnegation of the healthcare workers with the aim of rebuilding confidence towards public institutions and toward the government, which in a preliminary phase underestimated the severity of the disease and did not provide enough information. The process of creating new “national heroes” was quite multifaceted and involved the publication of a number of “nurse diaries”, which were widely sold, the showing up of new idiomatic phrases, often patterned on the “classical” ones -based on literary sources- to refer to these people and to their bravery in accomplishing their task, the creation of new pop songs, often broadcasted by the national radio channels.