What does humour do to us and our relationship with the society? This article examines political humour in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and asks how hegemony is mediated through political humour in China. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) of two Spring Festival Gala sketches, 春晚小品 (‘chunwan xiaopin’), is applied not only for its ontological fit with the literature of hegemony but also because of its potential to unravel the hidden power relations. I argue for the social and psychological significance of xiaopin to the general public because they reveal the fragility of the intellectual hierarchy that places the rural population at the bottom, play with the heavy historical episode of the Great Leap Forward, and create the illusion of empowerment. Furthermore, it reveals that humour can be subversive on the textual level and simultaneously hegemonic on the discursive level.
{"title":"Mediating hegemony through political humour: A discourse analysis of Spring Festival Gala sketches in China","authors":"Heidi Wang-Kaeding","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00101_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00101_1","url":null,"abstract":"What does humour do to us and our relationship with the society? This article examines political humour in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and asks how hegemony is mediated through political humour in China. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) of two Spring Festival Gala sketches, 春晚小品 (‘chunwan xiaopin’), is applied not only for its ontological fit with the literature of hegemony but also because of its potential to unravel the hidden power relations. I argue for the social and psychological significance of xiaopin to the general public because they reveal the fragility of the intellectual hierarchy that places the rural population at the bottom, play with the heavy historical episode of the Great Leap Forward, and create the illusion of empowerment. Furthermore, it reveals that humour can be subversive on the textual level and simultaneously hegemonic on the discursive level.","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48092232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics birthed a cultural phenomenon in China: Eileen Gu, an 18-year-old half-white, half-Chinese ‘skiing genius’ who left the United States to join team China. In this article, I explore the ways in which Gu’s online presence informs understandings about class, women, race, ‘Chineseness’ and the complex entanglement of the neo-liberal self and collective nation. First, I provide an introduction to sports nationalism and neo-liberal feminism to situate Gu in the post-socialist neo-liberal Chinese context. Then, I turn to Gu’s social media posts, self-made videos and online commercials during the Winter Olympics. I argue that Gu is presented within (1) a neo-liberal feminist moment characterized by individual empowerment and (2) a nationalist and cosmopolitan moment framed by the national pride towards her and her self-framing of a flexible citizenship and ‘apolitical Chineseness’. I conclude that the ‘Eileen Phenomenon’ is an illustrative instance of the shifting demarcations in a global political economic field, in which a desirable Chinese identity and a marketable femininity are both crucial for the Chinese state under globalization. Gu’s case shows that the interplay and contradiction of the neo-liberal self and the nationalist collective continue to play out in contemporary Chinese culture and society.
{"title":"The making of ‘China’s’ first skiing princess: Neo-liberal feminism and nationalism in Eileen Gu’s online presence during the 2022 Winter Olympics","authors":"Chelsea Wenzhu Xu","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00103_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00103_1","url":null,"abstract":"The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics birthed a cultural phenomenon in China: Eileen Gu, an 18-year-old half-white, half-Chinese ‘skiing genius’ who left the United States to join team China. In this article, I explore the ways in which Gu’s online presence informs understandings about class, women, race, ‘Chineseness’ and the complex entanglement of the neo-liberal self and collective nation. First, I provide an introduction to sports nationalism and neo-liberal feminism to situate Gu in the post-socialist neo-liberal Chinese context. Then, I turn to Gu’s social media posts, self-made videos and online commercials during the Winter Olympics. I argue that Gu is presented within (1) a neo-liberal feminist moment characterized by individual empowerment and (2) a nationalist and cosmopolitan moment framed by the national pride towards her and her self-framing of a flexible citizenship and ‘apolitical Chineseness’. I conclude that the ‘Eileen Phenomenon’ is an illustrative instance of the shifting demarcations in a global political economic field, in which a desirable Chinese identity and a marketable femininity are both crucial for the Chinese state under globalization. Gu’s case shows that the interplay and contradiction of the neo-liberal self and the nationalist collective continue to play out in contemporary Chinese culture and society.","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42473490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Originating in Japan in the 1970s, Boys’ Love (BL) has since become a ‘transnational apparatus of love’ for women to explore their sexuality away from societal stigma and sociocultural gender inequality. The genre has garnered both commercial and academic attention, but a common point of contention within existing scholarship is its ability to either challenge or reinforce heteronormative power hierarchies. To that end, much of the previous research has examined the discourses among female fan communities or the portrayal and subversion of masculinity within the works. This article aims to address the oft-ignored representation of femininity and female characters within BL works by focusing on Moxiang Tongxiu’s Tianguan Cifu (Heaven Official’s Blessing), a popular Chinese BL or danmei novel. In examining the roles of five major named female characters in the novel, I argue that the characters fall under the common feminine stereotypes of Mother, Maiden and Monster. While the female characters’ narrative function is affected to some degree by the novel’s focus on a central gay romance, the author nevertheless appears to adhere to the traditional and modern Chinese gender ideologies regarding femininity, restricting any attempts to challenge gendered expectations to male bodies and characters.
{"title":"(Hetero)normative Chinese femininity in danmei: A case study of Moxiang Tongxiu’s Tianguan Cifu","authors":"J. Wong","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00102_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00102_1","url":null,"abstract":"Originating in Japan in the 1970s, Boys’ Love (BL) has since become a ‘transnational apparatus of love’ for women to explore their sexuality away from societal stigma and sociocultural gender inequality. The genre has garnered both commercial and academic attention, but a common point of contention within existing scholarship is its ability to either challenge or reinforce heteronormative power hierarchies. To that end, much of the previous research has examined the discourses among female fan communities or the portrayal and subversion of masculinity within the works. This article aims to address the oft-ignored representation of femininity and female characters within BL works by focusing on Moxiang Tongxiu’s Tianguan Cifu (Heaven Official’s Blessing), a popular Chinese BL or danmei novel. In examining the roles of five major named female characters in the novel, I argue that the characters fall under the common feminine stereotypes of Mother, Maiden and Monster. While the female characters’ narrative function is affected to some degree by the novel’s focus on a central gay romance, the author nevertheless appears to adhere to the traditional and modern Chinese gender ideologies regarding femininity, restricting any attempts to challenge gendered expectations to male bodies and characters.","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43830787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Review of: Mind Beyond Brain: Buddhism, Science and the Paranormal , David E. Presti (Ed.) (2021) New York: Columbia University Press, 213 pp., ISBN 978-0-23118-957-6, p/bk, £20.00/$25.00 Philosophy’s Big Questions: Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches , Steven M. Emmanuel (Ed.) (2021) New York: Columbia University Press, 317 pp., ISBN 978-0-23117-487-9, p/bk, £25.00/$30.00 The Transcendental and the Mundane: Chinese Cultural Values in Everyday Life , Cho-Yun Hsu and David Ownby (Trans.) (2021) Sha Tin: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 279 pp., ISBN 978-9-88237-212-2, h/bk, $60.00
回顾:超越大脑的心灵:佛教，科学和超自然现象，David E. Presti(编辑)(2021)纽约:哥伦比亚大学出版社，213页，ISBN 978-0-23118-957-6, p/bk，£20.00/$25.00哲学的大问题:比较佛教和西方的方法，Steven M. Emmanuel(编辑)(2021)纽约:哥伦比亚大学出版社，317页，ISBN 978-0-23117-487-9, p/bk，£25.00/$30.00先验和世俗:《日常生活中的中国文化价值》，徐卓云、欧比(译)(2021)沙田:香港中文大学出版社，279页，ISBN 978-9-88237-212-2, h/bk， $60.00
{"title":"Mind Beyond Brain: Buddhism, Science and the Paranormal, David E. Presti (Ed.) (2021) Philosophy’s Big Questions: Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches, Steven M. Emmanuel (Ed.) (2021) The Transcendental and the Mundane: Chinese Cultural Values in Everyday Life, Cho-Yun Hsu and David Ownby (Trans.) (2021)","authors":"Mihaela Cristina Ionescu","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00097_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00097_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Mind Beyond Brain: Buddhism, Science and the Paranormal , David E. Presti (Ed.) (2021) New York: Columbia University Press, 213 pp., ISBN 978-0-23118-957-6, p/bk, £20.00/$25.00 Philosophy’s Big Questions: Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches , Steven M. Emmanuel (Ed.) (2021) New York: Columbia University Press, 317 pp., ISBN 978-0-23117-487-9, p/bk, £25.00/$30.00 The Transcendental and the Mundane: Chinese Cultural Values in Everyday Life , Cho-Yun Hsu and David Ownby (Trans.) (2021) Sha Tin: The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, 279 pp., ISBN 978-9-88237-212-2, h/bk, $60.00","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":"25 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135018480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Review of: Queer Media in China, Hongwei Bao (2021) Abingdon: Routledge, 254 pp., ISBN 978-0-36727-945-5, h/bk, $160.00
评论：Queer Media in China，《宏伟报》（2021）阿宾顿：Routledge，254页，ISBN 978-0-36727-945-5，h/bk，160.00美元
{"title":"Queer Media in China, Hongwei Bao (2021)","authors":"Mengmeng Liu","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00095_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00095_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Queer Media in China, Hongwei Bao (2021)\u0000 Abingdon: Routledge, 254 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-0-36727-945-5, h/bk, $160.00","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48115438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In 2017, I launched a survey on the importance of Japanese and Korean popular cultures in Kuwait. I discovered a paradoxical pattern of resistance to the East through the adherence to another eastern culture. I wanted to examine how other non-western countries handle ‘Japanese culture’ in comparison and decided to adopt Singapore as a sample case. Both Kuwaiti and Singaporean students stress the differences between Japan/Korea and their own country, but also insist on similarities. In both surveys there is a strong emphasis on ethics. Both are impressed by the Japanese politeness and their capacity to organize life, and most reasonings evolve around the theme of ‘conservatism’. Singaporean students, when asked about Japan and Korea, point to conservative patterns predating what they perceive as the Americanization of Asia. The positive values located in this part of East Asia correspond with precisely those values that Kuwaiti students (as well as Singaporean Muslim students) single out as particularly compatible with Islamic mindsets. In both countries, respondents see Korea/Japan as the ‘real’ Confucian/Muslim nations harking back to more pristine values. Negative evaluations, for example of hallyu as a soft power for Korean economic interest, are almost absent.
{"title":"Japanese/Korean popular culture in Kuwait and Singapore: Resistance and conservatism","authors":"T. Botz-Bornstein","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00088_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00088_1","url":null,"abstract":"In 2017, I launched a survey on the importance of Japanese and Korean popular cultures in Kuwait. I discovered a paradoxical pattern of resistance to the East through the adherence to another eastern culture. I wanted to examine how other non-western countries handle ‘Japanese culture’ in comparison and decided to adopt Singapore as a sample case. Both Kuwaiti and Singaporean students stress the differences between Japan/Korea and their own country, but also insist on similarities. In both surveys there is a strong emphasis on ethics. Both are impressed by the Japanese politeness and their capacity to organize life, and most reasonings evolve around the theme of ‘conservatism’. Singaporean students, when asked about Japan and Korea, point to conservative patterns predating what they perceive as the Americanization of Asia. The positive values located in this part of East Asia correspond with precisely those values that Kuwaiti students (as well as Singaporean Muslim students) single out as particularly compatible with Islamic mindsets. In both countries, respondents see Korea/Japan as the ‘real’ Confucian/Muslim nations harking back to more pristine values. Negative evaluations, for example of hallyu as a soft power for Korean economic interest, are almost absent.","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42946747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Men have historically dominated the artistic production of cultural exotifications. This article flips the script by analysing how two prominent female Japanese manga artists – Kuranishi and Shinsan Nameko – erotically illustrate Tibetan men, specifically Tibetan Buddhist monks. Through textual analysis and fieldwork conducted between 2019 and 2021, we show how their manga depictions of Tibetan young men, in particular monks, tend towards eroticization and sexual innuendo. This discursive and aesthetic trend in manga parallels ethnographic data on how Japanese women – facing unprecedented social precarity, seeking spiritual healing and self-transformation and desiring alternate masculinities – look elsewhere, outside of Japan and the perceived inadequacies of Japanese masculinities. We explore how liberative erotics, especially homoeroticism and love between boys, fuses with Buddhist and alternative spiritualities in yaoi and shōnen-ai genres and gestures towards a changing landscape of female desire.
{"title":"The eroticization of Tibetan monks in shōnen-ai and yaoi manga","authors":"S. Christopher, Gabrielle Laumonier","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00090_1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00090_1","url":null,"abstract":"Men have historically dominated the artistic production of cultural exotifications. This article flips the script by analysing how two prominent female Japanese manga artists – Kuranishi and Shinsan Nameko – erotically illustrate Tibetan men, specifically Tibetan Buddhist monks. Through textual analysis and fieldwork conducted between 2019 and 2021, we show how their manga depictions of Tibetan young men, in particular monks, tend towards eroticization and sexual innuendo. This discursive and aesthetic trend in manga parallels ethnographic data on how Japanese women – facing unprecedented social precarity, seeking spiritual healing and self-transformation and desiring alternate masculinities – look elsewhere, outside of Japan and the perceived inadequacies of Japanese masculinities. We explore how liberative erotics, especially homoeroticism and love between boys, fuses with Buddhist and alternative spiritualities in yaoi and shōnen-ai genres and gestures towards a changing landscape of female desire.","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42324072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Review of: Circulating Fear: Japanese Horror, Fractured Realities, and New Media, Lindsey Nelson (2021) Lexington, KY: Rowman & Littlefield, 148 pp., ISBN 978-1-79361-367-7, h/bk, $90.00
{"title":"Circulating Fear: Japanese Horror, Fractured Realities, and New Media, Lindsey Nelson (2021)","authors":"Georgia Thomas-Parr","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00094_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00094_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Circulating Fear: Japanese Horror, Fractured Realities, and New Media, Lindsey Nelson (2021)\u0000 Lexington, KY: Rowman & Littlefield, 148 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-1-79361-367-7, h/bk, $90.00","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48817282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Review of: Contesting Cyberspace in China: Online Expression and Authoritarian Resilience, Rongbin Han (2018) New York: Columbia University Press, 315 pp., ISBN 978-0-23118-475-5, p/bk, $32.00 Zoning China: Online Video, Popular Culture, and the State, Luzhou Li (2019) Boston, MA: MIT Press, 296 pp., ISBN 978-0-26204-317-5, h/bk, $40.00
{"title":"Contesting Cyberspace in China: Online Expression and Authoritarian Resilience, Rongbin Han (2018)\u0000Zoning China: Online Video, Popular Culture, and the State, Luzhou Li (2019)","authors":"M. Moskowitz","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00096_5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00096_5","url":null,"abstract":"Review of: Contesting Cyberspace in China: Online Expression and Authoritarian Resilience, Rongbin Han (2018)\u0000 New York: Columbia University Press, 315 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-0-23118-475-5, p/bk, $32.00\u0000 \u0000 Zoning China: Online Video, Popular Culture, and the State, Luzhou Li (2019)\u0000 Boston, MA: MIT Press, 296 pp.,\u0000 ISBN 978-0-26204-317-5, h/bk, $40.00","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41421752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This editorial is an overview of this edition of the Journal of East Asian Popular Culture. It features a theme that has assumed prominence in East Asia’s cultural conversations during the latter half of 2022, namely the role of religion in public life. Five articles examine the engagement of religion with various examples of popular global culture. Two articles deal with popular portrayals of the recent colonial past in postwar Japan and Taiwan. The Book Reviews section features commentary on recently published works that relate to themes discussed in the research articles.
{"title":"Editorial EAJPC 9.1","authors":"Ann Heylen, Kate Taylor-Jones, Edward Vickers","doi":"10.1386/eapc_00085_2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1386/eapc_00085_2","url":null,"abstract":"This editorial is an overview of this edition of the Journal of East Asian Popular Culture. It features a theme that has assumed prominence in East Asia’s cultural conversations during the latter half of 2022, namely the role of religion in public life. Five articles examine the engagement of religion with various examples of popular global culture. Two articles deal with popular portrayals of the recent colonial past in postwar Japan and Taiwan. The Book Reviews section features commentary on recently published works that relate to themes discussed in the research articles.","PeriodicalId":36135,"journal":{"name":"East Asian Journal of Popular Culture","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48028258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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