ABSTRACT
The Olympic torch relay was a prelude to the Beijing games and, as a symbol of these games, it experienced many vicissitudes since its lighting in Olympia. Designed by the organizers of the games as a global media event, the torch relay rapidly crystallized the criticism towards the Chinese regime. The Paris stop was, indeed, highly chaotic: many incidents occurred which showed primarily the hostility of the French public. Moreover, these incidents were significant for a deep conflict between two systems of value. This paper aims, through an analysis of the media coverage of the torch relay in Paris, to show how the media staged the opposition between Western society and Chinese society. The torch relay, while providing an opportunity to express this conflict of values, offered also a textbook case to examine and to point out different ways to ‘build a community’ and to reassert a distinctive identity.
