(En)countering state-led sinicization : critical discursive responses from Roman Catholics in China

Abstract

In 2015, President Xi Jinping proclaimed the principle of the Sinicization of religions. Since then, it has become the Communist Party's guiding thought in religious governance. However, so far little is known about how it is perceived by everyday religious practitioners, especially Christians. Based on textual analysis of speeches and writings by leaders of the Catholic Church in China, and 50 in-depth interviews with Catholic practitioners from the mainland and Hong Kong, this paper examines how Catholics (en)counter the public transcript created by the state. Church leaders at the national level publicly embrace Sinicization and appropriate the Church's teaching on inculturation, another transcript, as its justification. However, the everyday practitioners interviewed for this study refused to embrace this discourse. Instead, they adopted one of three discursive strategies: rejection, evasion and empathy. All fell short of endorsing the state's discourse. The findings suggest that the Church's transcript enables Catholic practitioners to critically (en)counter the state's transcript. 二〇一五年，习近平主席提出「宗教中国化」的话语（discourse）。由那时起，中国化成为共产党管治宗教的指导思想。然而到目前为止，对于一般教徒（特别是基督徒）如何理解中国化，我们所知甚少。本文根據两项研究方法和相关资料，探讨在中国的天主教徒如何应对国家所建立的公开文本（public transcript）：对教会领袖的演说及文章进行文本分析，以及深度访问五十名來自中国大陆或香港的天主教徒。全国层面的教会领袖公开地接纳中国化， 并挪用另一文本 —— 教会有关本地化（inculturation）的教导 —— 作为理据。另一边厢，本研究的普通信徒受访者拒绝接纳中国化。他们采取三种话语上的策略（discursive strategies）去应对，包括：抵制（rejection）、回避（evasion），和理解（empathy）。三种策略均未有支持国家的话语。研究结果显示，教会的文本使天主教徒能够应对国家的文本。