Title: Hanna Sahlberg’s Failed Attempt to Embrace Chinese Culture Highlights Political Backlash
Subtitle: A saddening yet enlightening journey that unveils the realities behind China’s political landscape
Hanna Sahlberg’s dream of immersing herself in Chinese culture and becoming “Chinese” took a painful turn as she encountered the tightening grip of political control. Her experiences and reflections are vividly portrayed in her book, “The Invisible Wall: Report of My Failed Attempt to Become Chinese.”
Starting in the early 2000s, Sahlberg embarked on a comprehensive endeavor to fully embrace Chinese language, customs, and mannerisms. She not only aimed to speak, read, and write like a Chinese but also desired to eat, drink, behave, walk, and stand like one. Her aspiration was to assimilate completely, down to the very core of Chinese identity.
However, her journey quickly unraveled as she noticed a change in her laughter when speaking the language, which paradoxically confirmed her failure and marked her own rite of passage into Chinese culture.
Sahlberg began her exploration in Kunming, Yunnan Province, where she worked as an English-speaking guide and immersed herself in the local artistic community. She diligently studied and practiced Chinese characters. Later, she pursued a university education in Lund to secure a position as a correspondent for SR, establishing the radio’s first regular office in Beijing in 2006.
Interestingly, decades before Sahlberg’s attempt, the author of this article, Göran Sommardal, embarked on a similar journey to immerse himself in Chinese culture. In 1973, he and two fellow students seized the opportunity to study in China, following the end of the Cultural Revolution. Despite the previous political upheavals, this new era allowed them to fully integrate into Chinese society, attending the same classes, residing with Chinese roommates, and even participating in the “open door school.”
Sommardal reflects on the golden decade of the 1980s, where he witnessed the rise of the fifth generation of Chinese filmmakers, such as Chen Kaige, Zhang Yimou, Yan Xueshu, and Wu Tianming. During this period, there was a newfound freedom for writers and critics to discuss the distinction between “mass culture” and “fine culture” without political interference.
However, this era of optimism was short-lived, culminating in the tragic events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre. The brutal crackdown marked a turning point and revealed the harsh realities of Chinese political control.
Following this crackdown, the Chinese government attempted to maintain a semblance of normalcy. Foreign companies swiftly resumed business as usual, and popular TV series like “Longing” served as a form of catharsis, addressing the traumatic experiences of the Cultural Revolution.
Sahlberg, later reflecting on her experiences, acknowledges that the period she experienced in China was a post-Massacre “Indian summer.” Press freedoms and enthusiastic journalism prevailed temporarily, even with the Communist Party showing signs of change. However, political conditions gradually worsened, stifling dissent and implementing harsh measures.
Sahlberg’s ultimate realization of the political repression she witnessed can be deemed clairvoyant and has left her saddened. The hope for a more democratic China has been dashed, with a rise in Han Chinese nationalism impacting minority politics in Xinjiang and Chinese Mongolia.
In a poignant turn of events, Hanna now finds herself assisting her older sister, Liu, in Sweden, as Liu tries to embrace Swedish culture and raise her child.
Sahlberg’s book not only shines a light on her personal journey but also serves as a reminder of the complex political landscape in China. The dream of becoming Chinese has reminded Hanna Sahlberg, as well as many others, of the struggle for democracy in a nation grappling with nationalism and political suppression.