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Fandom Culture as a Catalyst for Propaganda

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2023

Shouzhi Xia
Shouzhi Xia*
Affiliation:
School of Political Science and Public Administration, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Through computational-assisted analysis of the Weibo corpus of the Chinese Communist Youth League (CYL) spanning from 2013 to 2020, this paper unveils the strategic utilization of fandom culture by the CYL, the youth wing of the ruling party, in its nationalistic propaganda on the internet. Specifically, the CYL deliberately associates with the pop idols of the younger generation on Weibo, harnessing their influence to promote nationalistic content that encompasses both “pride-oriented” and “hostility-oriented” themes. Subsequent analysis reveals a greater propensity for nationalistic content to generate audience response compared to other types of content, particularly when endorsed by these pop idols. This research enriches our understanding of the CYL's propaganda efforts and contributes to the burgeoning scholarship on “soft propaganda” in China.

摘要

摘要

通过对 2013 年至 2020 年间共青团微博语料库的计算辅助分析，本文揭示了这一中国执政党的青年附属组织如何策略性地利用中国新兴的粉丝文化在互联网空间中开展宣传活动。具体而言共青团在微博上与拥有大量年青拥趸的流行偶像建立紧密联系，并借助后者的影响力宣传以“骄傲导向”和“敌意导向”为主题的民族主义内容。随后的统计分析显示，较之其他主题内容，共青团发布的上述内容更易引发受众反馈，特别是在获得流行偶像的背书之后。这项研究丰富了我们对于共青团宣传工作的理解，同时也对正在发展中的中国“软宣传”研究作了贡献。

Keywords

Communist Youth LeagueChinapropagandanationalismWeibo共青团中国宣传民族主义微博
Type
Research Report
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 259 , September 2024 , pp. 814 - 823
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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