Routledge Contemporary China, no. 176. Abingdon, Oxon; New York: Routledge, 2018. 187 pp. (Tables.) US$140.00, cloth. ISBN 978-1-138-21969-4.
Popular cultures of East Asia have seen phenomenal developments in the past few decades, garnering increased attention from scholars based in various regions and disciplines. Joining this dynamic body of scholarship, Lu Chen’s book Chinese Fans of Japanese and Korean Culture: Nationalistic Narratives and International Fandom makes a timely contribution to the field by connecting cultural studies with a critical interrogation of grassroots nationalism shaped by transnational fandom. This new investigation challenges the conventional wisdom that transnational circulation and consumption of global commodities will break down national barriers and cultivate a cosmopolitan vision among young consumers.
Consisting of a brief introduction and eight chapters, this book focuses on a case study of Chinese fans’ reception of Japanese and South Korean cultural products to shed new light on the intriguing entanglements of consumerism and patriotism in an age characterized by the seemingly impossible marriage of capital globalization and populist nationalism. While the inflow of foreign cultural products has attracted a large following of Chinese fans, their reactions to Japanese and South Korean popular culture have fluctuated with the shifting economic and diplomatic relationships between the three East Asian countries. Following this thread of inquiry, the short introductory chapter raises the central question of the book, that is “how Chinese fans of Japanese and Korean popular culture have formed their own nationalistic discourse since the 1990s” (1–2). Chapter 1 then offers a literature review of the existing scholarship on the intersection of popular culture, soft power, cultural imperialism, and nationalism. Chen adopts the central concept of “fan labor,” which refers to “the immaterial labor consisting of obtaining information and interpreting texts that are esteemed by fans,” to connect the in-depth analyses of “macro-structure and micro-behavior of individual participation” in the formation of the nationalist discourse (19).
Having established the general theoretical framework, chapter 2 turns to introduce the fundamental structure of the state culture sector and its shifting cultural policies in post-Mao China. After the economic reforms launched in 1978, the definition of culture in the Chinese context has gradually shifted from tools of ideological indoctrination to market-oriented commodities. However, the state still closely monitors and censors the production and dissemination of domestic and foreign cultural products, which remain as “controlled commodities” to meet the demands of both the transnational market and the national ideology (31). Chapter 3 outlines the author’s main research method of grounded theory that “places the literature review behind the step of data collection, in order to stay away from the influence of pre-existing conclusions and arguments in the literature” (49). In other words, Chen’s research builds up from the data acquired through documents collection and participant observation of Chinese fans’ online and offline activities.
Chapters 4 through 7 examine various aspects of the central topic of the book: Chinese fans’ reactions to imported Japanese and South Korean cultural products. Chapter 4 traces the historical trajectory of Chinese fans’ changing and diversifying responses to the cultural inflow from Japan and South Korea before 2011. Because of state restrictions and general anti-Japanese sentiments due to historical reasons, the dissemination of Japanese culture in China was often through informal or underground channels. In comparison, Hallyu (Korean Wave) and the commercial capital behind it have received more state support in China due to a more stable Sino-Korean diplomatic relationship. Therefore, while the fandom of Japanese culture has been contained, the number of Chinese fans of Hallyu continues to grow. However, their voluntary free labor is often manipulated and exploited by transnational media corporates. Chapter 5 studies fans’ organized and individual activities. In comparison with their online activities, fans offline are less politicized, and more concerned about conflicts of individual consumer interests rather than clashes between different nationalist discourses.
Chapter 6 examines the nationalist discourse constructed through fan labor, which both conforms to and contests with the mandatory patriotic education of official ideology. For example, some Hallyu fans emphasize the Sino-Korean tributary relationship to assert the superiority of Chinese civilization, which goes against the official historical narrative of a non-hegemonic ancient China as Korea’s friendly ally. Meanwhile, some fans of Japanese manga and anime reflect upon the idea of patriotism and debate “on the problem of whether patriotism is brainwashing” (121). Chapter 7 investigates the ways in which Chinese anti-fan activities strike against Japanese and South Korean pop culture. The Chinese Fanmingxing (Anti-Pop Star) Organization plays a crucial role in organizing anti-fandom activities often through the aid of the Internet. On the eve of the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the state cracked down on all suspicious organizations including Fanmingxing that then disappeared from the public sphere. The transient existence of Fanmingxing proves that even populist nationalist activities are also under close surveillance of the party-state that holds social and political stability as its highest priority. Chapter 8 is a short conclusion that wraps up the whole book.
2011 marks an important turning point: as China surpassed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy in 2010, the official discourse of “a rising China” was gaining popular currency. How would a new set of economic and ideological conditions shape the Chinese fandom of foreign cultural products and their online expressions of patriotic sentiments? What role would fan labor play in negotiating with the official ideology and transnational capital to construct alternative historical narratives and national consciousness that often spill over ideological boundaries set by mandatory patriotic education? Given the current upsurge of populist nationalism in China and the rest of the world, these are important urgent questions to be tackled by future scholarly investigations.
Chen’s probing study makes original contributions to the multitude of disciplines including cultural studies, fandom studies, Internet studies, youth studies, and China studies. This book will provide much-needed food for thought and discussion for students and scholars interested in Chinese politics and society, new media and nationalism, as well as general readers who want to learn more about transnational consumption of East Asian popular cultures.
Hui Faye Xiao
University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA