Flying Solo: Globalization, Neoliberal Individualism, and the Contested Celebrity of Li Na

In this article, we examine the local–global celebrity politics of former Chinese professional tennis player Li Na. We locate Li Na as representative of a growing class of Chinese celebrities who display both extraordinary popularity and enormous marketability. At the same time, Li Na’s noted “rebelliousness”—most especially her “fiery” personality and overt public repudiation of the Chinese communist state—has made her a deeply politicized if not polarizing figure. In this study, we position Li Na as a symbolic body characterized by professionalism, individualism, and commercialism within Chinese media. Further, we investigate the representation, mediation, and consumption of her unique celebrity identity and the cultural politics of the danfei (the “fly solo”) policy in resonance to the decentralization of state power in China. We conclude by suggesting that Li Na’s rebelliousness symbolizes the core values of a growing consensus for neoliberalism in China; that is, it is her rejection of being Chinese (state) that reestablishes herself as Chinese (autonomous), which signifies fundamental social transitions in China intertwined with the embracement of the global economy and a reimagination of the nation