This article examines the question of the wavering of the Maoist teleological discourse during the Covid-19 crisis. Through the analysis of a long documentary by the state channel CGTN exalting the commitment of the united Chinese nation against the epidemic, it shows how propaganda has tried to create a myth adapted to the crisis and, through the elaboration of a sophisticated symbolic architecture, promoted differentiated models of subjectivity. The narratives, wielding sacredness and enchantment, articulate two genres: the warlike and patriotic epic praising the mass of ordinary heroes, and the sentimental and fantastic tale with the dimensions of the universe, highlighting figures of purity and magic. Two distinct relationships to the world appear, two modes of subjectivity, two relationships to time (vectori- al and substantial) and to space, which also correspond to two modes of religiosity. We conclude that the Communist Party has understood the benefit it could derive from the use of a contemporary religious ethos: it is a question of making the Chi- nese Dream both sacred and enchanted, by the association of a positivist discourse (associated with the idea of struggle and progress) with an emotional religion of the charismatic type (“individual-globalist”). The conceptual framework used for this qualitative survey, borrowed from David A. Palmer, is based on the postulate of a lack of differentiation between politics and religion in China.
