Fandom Nationalism - (Bloomsbury Fandom Primers) by Erika Ningxin Wang & Qian Huang (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

This book delves into the world of "fandom nationalism," where the lines between fan devotion and nationalistic fervor blur within the East Asian media landscape.

Taking a non-Western perspective in fan studies, this book challenges conventional understandings of fandom nationalism. While the concept usually describes how citizens passionately adore their nation akin to idolizing celebrities, this ground-breaking research adds a captivating twist: such passion encompasses not only the expressions of love fans shower upon their idols but also the intense hatred anti-fans direct towards stars - fans strategically employ nationalism as a weapon to win fan wars. This enriches the concept of fandom nationalism, exploring how fans use participatory censorship practices to accuse celebrities and their followers of problematic political stances, thereby channeling collective nationalist anger to exact revenge on despised celebrities, such as Zhang Zhehan, a Boys' Love drama actor who was banned by the authorities and the industry for taking photos at the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan.

Through a thorough review of relevant literature and detailed fieldwork data, this book reveals how fans and anti-fans participate in various stages of the banning process, leading to the career downfall of top stars in China. This brutal battleground, akin to cancel culture, is a product of the collusion among fans, netizens, the party-state, media platforms, and businesses, where fans' participation in nationalist practices can also be performative patriotism, driven by the desire to protect their idols and themselves. Using examples from China and beyond, Fandom Nationalism explores the relationship between fandom and the state more broadly.

Review Quotes

"Excerpt from the foreword: While others have written about fan nationalism and some of its specific aspects, this book is the fullest and most nuanced discussion of fan nationalism in English that I have read. The authors spell out in clear terms the mechanisms by which the Chinese government seeks to direct the energies of the fan community toward support of their national agenda and uses it as a means of reshaping the identities of Chinese youth. They illustrate these mechanisms through close and prolonged attention to particular case studies. They offer us tools for analysis that could also be applied to understanding social movements around the world. This is vital work that should be read by all of us in fandom studies." --Henry Jenkins, Provost's Professor of Communication, Journalism, Cinematic Arts, Education, and East Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Southern California, USA

"This book redefines fandom beyond a trivial youth fad, taking a non-Western perspective to reveal how fandom in East Asia and China becomes an arena for youth political engagement. Wang and Huang show how fans mobilize nationalism not only to support idols but also to confront rivals, introducing the concept of participatory censorship to explain how fans collectively defend and negotiate political boundaries. Fandom Nationalism offers a compelling analysis of performative patriotism and collective mobilization, enriching our understanding of the politics of pop culture." --Anthony Fung, Dean of Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

"Fandom Nationalism addresses an important element in the study of fans and highlights that fans' national identity do inform and, at times, clash with their objects of fandom. Situating this within the context of Chinese fandoms-where platformization and datafication have informed and changed fan practices, and where fans have to navigate around state censorship and, in turn, utilize the very same censorship methods on other fans-offers a complex overview of fans. The book both deepens the understanding we have of fandom and situates it within the larger discourse on national identity and nationalism." --Bertha Chin, Senior Lecturer, National University of Singapore

About the Author

Erika Ningxin Wang is Assistant Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China. Erika's research interests lie at the intersection of youth culture, digital media, and state governance.

Qian Huang is Assistant Professor of digital cultures at University of Groningen in The Netherlands. She has published articles on Chinese digital vigilantism, digital visibility, cancel culture in fandom, and nationalism in China in peer-reviewed journals.