{"title":"Carnivalesque communities: Thai TV dramas and the Chinese censorship","authors":"Amporn Jirattikorn","doi":"10.1080/14649373.2023.2242143","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACTThis paper explores how Thai television dramas, which have been a staple of the nation’s TV landscape for many decades, have made new inroads in mainland China. Despite intense censorship by the Chinese state, China’s extremely large market enticed the Thai media industry. Control over what citizens can see on websites has also created an obstacle for which fan communities must find ways to bypass. The paper outlines both the historical process of Thai TV dramas’ inroads into the Chinese market and the different tactics Thai media companies and Chinese fan communities employ to circumvent Chinese state censorship. Based on interviews with various actors, including Thai TV media personnel, Chinese fansub groups, and fan communities, the paper argues that Chinese fan culture surrounding Thai TV series is a mixture of a subversive community that rebels against state control, as well as a constantly negotiating subculture that adopts various practices to break out from state censorship. Chinese youth today show that consumption is a site of contestation, rather than a site of control and manipulation.KEYWORDS: Thai TV dramasChinese censorshipfan-subtitleaudience receptionThai boys’ love Additional informationFundingThe author would like to thank Thailand Science Research and Innovation for funding this project.Notes on contributorsAmporn JirattikornAmporn Jirattikorn is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Science and Development at Chiang Mai University, Thailand. She received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Texas, Austin in 2008. Amporn’s research interests are in two areas of media flows and mobility of people across national boundaries. One area involves cross-border flows of Thai television series to Asian countries and the audience reception of Thai popular culture. The other area focuses particularly on the movement of Shan migrants from Myanmar into Thailand. Her recent publication has centred on the consumption of Thai TV dramas outside Thailand.","PeriodicalId":46080,"journal":{"name":"Inter-Asia Cultural Studies","volume":"37 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Inter-Asia Cultural Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/14649373.2023.2242143","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ANTHROPOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper explores how Thai television dramas, which have been a staple of the nation’s TV landscape for many decades, have made new inroads in mainland China. Despite intense censorship by the Chinese state, China’s extremely large market enticed the Thai media industry. Control over what citizens can see on websites has also created an obstacle for which fan communities must find ways to bypass. The paper outlines both the historical process of Thai TV dramas’ inroads into the Chinese market and the different tactics Thai media companies and Chinese fan communities employ to circumvent Chinese state censorship. Based on interviews with various actors, including Thai TV media personnel, Chinese fansub groups, and fan communities, the paper argues that Chinese fan culture surrounding Thai TV series is a mixture of a subversive community that rebels against state control, as well as a constantly negotiating subculture that adopts various practices to break out from state censorship. Chinese youth today show that consumption is a site of contestation, rather than a site of control and manipulation.KEYWORDS: Thai TV dramasChinese censorshipfan-subtitleaudience receptionThai boys’ love Additional informationFundingThe author would like to thank Thailand Science Research and Innovation for funding this project.Notes on contributorsAmporn JirattikornAmporn Jirattikorn is an Associate Professor at the Department of Social Science and Development at Chiang Mai University, Thailand. She received her PhD in Anthropology from the University of Texas, Austin in 2008. Amporn’s research interests are in two areas of media flows and mobility of people across national boundaries. One area involves cross-border flows of Thai television series to Asian countries and the audience reception of Thai popular culture. The other area focuses particularly on the movement of Shan migrants from Myanmar into Thailand. Her recent publication has centred on the consumption of Thai TV dramas outside Thailand.
期刊介绍:
The cultural question is among the most important yet difficult subjects facing inter-Asia today. Throughout the 20th century, worldwide competition over capital, colonial history, and the Cold War has jeopardized interactions among cultures. Globalization of technology, regionalization of economy and the end of the Cold War have opened up a unique opportunity for cultural exchanges to take place. In response to global cultural changes, cultural studies has emerged internationally as an energetic field of scholarship. Inter-Asia Cultural Studies gives a long overdue voice, throughout the global intellectual community, to those concerned with inter-Asia processes.