Diaosi as infrapolitics : scatological tropes, identity-making and cultural intimacy on China's internet
This paper examines a recent bizarre phenomenon on China’s Internet—the enormous popularity of a scatological Chinese neologism called diaosi, which literally translates as ‘dick string’. Seeing the diaosi phenomenon as a case of ‘infrapolitics’, a space of nuanced discursive practices mediating ove...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/107299 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/25438 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0163443714557980 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | This paper examines a recent bizarre phenomenon on China’s Internet—the enormous popularity of a scatological Chinese neologism called diaosi, which literally translates as ‘dick string’. Seeing the diaosi phenomenon as a case of ‘infrapolitics’, a space of nuanced discursive practices mediating overt online politics and benign online entertainment, we analyze the ways in which an infrapolitical practice such as the diaosi phenomenon fuses political critique, cultural processes of identity construction and meaning-making as well as cyber ritual communion. Specifically, we interpret the infrapolitics of diaosi as simultaneously: an instantiation of a prevalent scatological online culture that defies hypernormalization; a collective identity-making that seeks to create critical social solidarity; and a practice and politics of cultural intimacy. |
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