ABSTRACT
This chapter builds on the idea of examining the textuality of policy. The model of policy as text merging with context broadens the perspective of what constitutes a policy text. This chapter employs Kristeva’s notion of intertextuality to consider how non-policy texts can act to shape governance and institutional design. Studying the use, by China’s leadership, of colorful figures of speech in ceremonial settings, the analysis examines how these figures of speech act to shape policy and institutions. Some ideas from speech act theory are employed in understanding the action of metaphor, euphemism, and aphorism in governance. Illustrative examples include the South China Sea debate; the question of what a socialist market is, or what Socialism with Chinese characteristics entails; and the anti-corruption drive of the Chinese government.
