Angel Lin Chinese University of Hong Kong Avin Tong City University of Hong Kong 2006/3/17 1

Transcription

1 Co-constructing a Good Place ( Eu-topia ) in the Virtual Space: The Social Imaginary of the Hong Kong Youthinitiated Dae Jang-guem (Da Chang-jin) TV Drama Web-based Fangroup Forum Angel Lin Chinese University of Hong Kong Avin Tong City University of Hong Kong 2006/3/17 1

2 Introduction Negative Constructions of Youth Digital Cultures in Public and Academic Discourses in Hong Kong youth as an other category in the self-other constructions produced in the dominant adult discourses in Hong Kong often associated with negative images: passive, blindly following trends, poor in language, literacy and communication skills, incapable of rational thinking and argumentation, and spending too much time on TV and the Internet (news articles, Yue 1999,2002) 2006/3/17 2

3 Introduction This paper focused on a TV drama fangroup website which has been initiated, built and co-maintained by a Hong Kong secondary school student together with a small group of volunteers serving as website bulletin masters They have laid down the rules of the game (regulations of the on-line fangroup community), and built an intricate on-line social infrastructure consisting of different levels and statuses 2006/3/17 3

4 Introduction The recent trans-border popularity of the Korean historical TV drama, Dae Jang-geum Chinese title Da Chang-jin, English title Jewel in the Palace, first aired in South Korea in Autumn 2003 by MBC, 54 episodes Dae was aired between late January and early May in 2005 by the HK TVB. This has broken all local and foreign TV drama ratings records in Hong Kong. The average ratings reached 40% and at peak times to 50% (the final episodes). 2006/3/17 4

5 Features of the website Features of the Gathering of Fans of Jang-geum ( 只聚今迷 ) TV Drama Fangroup Website ( It was first initiated and built by a senior high school male student in HK who was preparing for his A-Level university entrance public examination It is more informative, better organized and maintains a distinct identity from the official Dae Jang-geum TV drama fans website operated by the HK TVB station It attracts a loyal group of young student members (both male and female) amidst its huge membership (over 3,800) that seems to cross gender, age, education level and national boundaries 2006/3/17 5

6 Features of the website While the airing of the TV drama has ended in early May, the discussion and activities of the fangroup webstie forum continue It allows considerable freedom of expression while maintaining some baseline degree of control This fangroup website seems to be largely devoted to discussion of topics evolving around the TV drama historical background, the characters, storylines, TV actors and actresses, popular songs and music, and topics on social, family and love relations 2006/3/17 6

7 Features of the website Its membership structure is hierarchically organized according to the inner court official system found in ancient Korean (Chosun Dynasty) history (the background of the TV drama) It seems to constitute a role-playing game which encourages the notion of advancement of status based on merit (i.e., amount of contribution to the forum measured by one s number of messages posted). 2006/3/17 7

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9 Features of the website The different language styles reflect interesting combination of Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese speaking and writing styles, sometimes also with English words or switches Strong intertextuality is witnessed in members cross-postings and discussions from diverse sources and genres (e.g., newspapers, magazines, websites from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Mainland China and overseas). 2006/3/17 9

10 Methodology We observed the activities of the website regularly from February 2005 to May 2005 Calculated on the last day of May 2005, the site has over 3,800 members and over 53,000 messages Around one-fifth of the messages were selected for in-depth textual analysis These messages were either messages posted by students, or messages with relatively high viewing rates (over 300 viewing rates). 2006/3/17 10

11 Methodology It is believed that most of them (approximately 80%) are young students Out of the 25 webmasters (managing different bulletin boards on the website), over half of them seem to be high school students This observation is made based on the content of their messages, and the self-reported age group in certain voting sections 2006/3/17 11

12 Methodology This forum attracts both female and male members, with a larger proportion of females Out of the 3868 registered members, 1248 claimed themselves as females, 650 claimed themselves as males, and the remaining did not specify their gender The members come from different countries including Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, U.S.A., Korean and Canada. Nevertheless, most of them originate from Hong Kong 2006/3/17 12

13 Management Team The forum was set up by a Form Seven (Grade 13) Hong Kong male student in February 2005, when TVB started showing the TV drama With the web name Emperor Siu-ho, this male student acts as the chief forum master, who claims that he is a loyal fan of Dae Jang-geum. He formed a management team with other 25 volunteers, who are responsible for different subforums (bulletin boards) on the website 2006/3/17 13

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15 Management Team There is a Recruitment Centre on the website where webmasters are recruited for managing the sub-forums Their duties include selecting good messages to highlight in a special section and deleting bad /old ones, responding to members questions and problems, and organizing on-line and off-line activities, etc. Members who are interested can submit their resume (listing specific areas of expertise and experience) to the Recruitment Centre and apply for their desired positions 2006/3/17 15

16 Social Rank System This social rank system is similar to the one in Dae Jang-geum, with the Emperor ( the chief forum master) and the royal harem The status of the members ranges from junior levels like palace maid, to middle levels like female palace official, to senior levels like princess-consort and even Queen Members with high social positions can have more benefits, such as having privilege to open new discussion topics in selected sites, etc. 2006/3/17 16

17 Social Rank System A points-accumulation system is set up for measuring the contribution of individual members Junior members can promote to senior ranks by accumulating points--submitting qualified messages This involves both rewards and penalties. Those members breaking the forum rules (e.g. posting short/meaningless messages, copying others messages, quarrelling with others using bad language) will be punished and points will be deducted 2006/3/17 17

18 Points Table 1: Social Rank System 上贊內人 尚宮 最高尚宮 提調尚宮 淑媛 昭媛 淑容 昭容 淑儀 昭儀 貴人 (Female palace official) 嬇 (Ladies-in waiting at court) 2006/3/ Court Position Title 小宮女 (Palace maid) 下贊內人 妃 (Princess-consort) 后 (Queen)

19 Basic Structure of the Forum The forum is divided into seven main sections: Public Announcement ( 公告 ) Integrated Site ( 綜合版 ) Jang-geum Forum ( 長今區 ), Actors/Actress ( 演員 ) Site of Fellow Members ( 同人區 ), Response to Problems ( 問題回報 ) On-line alliances ( 聯盟論壇 ) In late May, E-dou Forum ( 醫道區 ) was added for discussing the newly shown Korean TV drama Edou 2006/3/17 19

20 Basic Structure of the Forum The Public Announcement section posts announcements from the management team on the basic structures and latest news of the site The Integrated Site includes diverse topics which are not necessarily related to Dae Jang-geum (e.g., other TV series, school life, etc) The Jang-geum Forum is a place for all kinds of discussion related to the drama Actor/actress include the comments and news on Dae s characters 2006/3/17 20

21 Basic Structure of the Forum Site of Fellow Members discusses the print novel of Dae Response to problems answers technical problems encountered by the members On-line Alliance shows the web-links of other related/useful/recommended websites The Public Announcement is further divided into six departments, which resemble the court departments of the ancient Chosun society 2006/3/17 21

22 Department Imperial Decree( 聖旨 ) Duties This is a section for the chief forum master (that is the Emperor ) to post rules, regulations, guidelines, and other important messages to members. Palace Parlor( 太平館 ) Other Internet discussion groups can apply for on-line alliances here. The term alliance refers to establishing hyperlinks on the main page to the ally websites, so as to form a virtual network with other web groups. 2006/3/17 22

23 Public court ( 公堂 ) This is a place for complaints and conflict settlement. Members who are dissatisfied with the penalties could appeal to the senior officials by providing evidence for their appeals. Members could also complain about their fellow members for breaking site regulations. Police Department ( 捕盜廳 ) A list of warned members is updated each day/each week in this department. The web-master would list out the reasons for punishment and the form of punishment (e.g. banning IP for 3 days, point deduction). 2006/3/17 23

24 Clinic ( 活人署 ) This is a section dealing with technical issues. The chief forum master will help members solve the problems, or teach them how to tackle the problems (e.g. cannot register as members of the group). Recruitment Centre ( 職位招募 ) A place for recruiting webmasters and Diplomats ( 外交官 ). Diplomats are responsible for forming on-line alliances with other web groups. Diplomats are required to establish linkage with a minimum of one web group each month 2006/3/17 24

25 Analysis Hamelink (2000): the cyberspace is like an unregulated market place providing information, and it guarantees a creative marketplace Gathering of Fans of Jang-geum provides members with different sections/forums, which act like different interest rooms The young members seem to have developed a new social network of their own in the cyberspace, and take up different social roles and identities 2006/3/17 25

26 Analysis The website seems to be transpiring in this entirely voluntarily co-constructed social space These on-line activities reflect a kind of social imaginary (Taylor, 2002) that seems to be emerging in this virtual space There implications for our understanding of some eu-topian possibilities of TV drama consumption and youth digital cultures 2006/3/17 26

27 From text consumption to text production The members perform a wide range of media consumption activities related to the drama How does Dae Jang-geum affect your everyday life? (Posted on 30/4/2005 by Carmenmok, viewing rates: 416) most of the members chose increasing on-line time, buying products of Dae Jang-geum, and talking about Jang-geum all the time These fans also extend their textual consumption to textual productive activities. There is a section called Creation Corner of Jang-geum, where members can post their own creations such as arts, literatures and other mediums 2006/3/17 27

28 From text consumption to text production A senior member Roro, re-wrote the whole story of Dae Jang-geum by incorporating some new characters (with the names of other members) into the story. This is similar to the notion of tertiary production (e.g., textual production) mentioned by Fiske (1989) Competence in computer knowledge Maintenance of website by the webmasters Many ordinary members are keen on creating texts with illustrations, drawing pictures with computer tools 2006/3/17 28

29 From text consumption to text production 2006/3/17 29

30 From text consumption to text production Most of them get on-line everyday, and the average on-line time is around two to three hours During weekends, many of them stay on-line for more than 5 hours (e.g., one claimed that he stays on-line for 24 hours on Sundays) It seems that staying on-line is a very common leisure activity among these youngsters It also suggests that their pop media consumption activities seem to be incorporated into digital cultures 2006/3/17 30

31 Adoring Dae: From Fantasy to Reflection Dae Jang-geum embody some idealistic social qualities, identities and relations desired by the fans, which are absent in the modern world Both the qualities of the strong female character, Suh Jang-geum, and the caring male character, Min Jung-ho are appealing to them: A male student Chung ( 松 ) described Jang-geum as an ideal wife. She is gentle, caring, good at cooking, good at healing, having a pretty face, brave and tolerant where can we find such a good wife? (Posted on 20/2/2005, viewing rates: 1124). 2006/3/17 31

32 Adoring Dae: From Fantasy to Reflection Many members praise the character of Jung-ho, who is gentle, handsome, faithful, kindhearted, caring, good and able, perfect Siu Pak ( 小白 ) regarded him as national treasure ( 國寶 ) that is almost extinct ( 絕種 ). Another female student Uncle Duk-gu ( 德久大叔 ) explained her reason for choosing Jung-ho as her ideal husband : When I have troubles, he will stay with me; when I feel unhappy, he will comfort me; when I am in danger, he will protect me; when I have difficulties, he will sacrifice for me; when I have my own career, he will wait for me patiently so touching, it s difficult to find (a man like him) in reality. (Posted on 6/4/2005, viewing rates: 1124) 2006/3/17 32

33 Perfect Man and Perfect Woman 2006/3/17 33

34 Adoring Dae: From Fantasy to Reflection The beautiful romance constitutes a major attraction to the youth. Many of them compared this ideal pure love with the modern love in the real world I agree that it is not a must to express heterosexual love in a sexually explicit way modern love story is always transient and gone quickly, like a game rather than sincere love. That s why I love this drama so much. (Posted by mikyungfans on 6/4/2005, viewing rates: 483) Their love is like a small running river, which is different from the instant food culture ( 即食文化 ) of modern people. (Modern people) fall in love madly at one moment, but say goodbye to each other two days later. (Posted by kfsiu on 1/5/2005, viewing rates: 540) 2006/3/17 34

35 Ever-lasting, Pure Love 2006/3/17 35

36 Adoring Dae: From Fantasy to Reflection Chau Ying ( 秋盈 ), appreciated the ways of describing different kinds of qing in the story The thing I appreciate most is the director s skills in writing feelings/affection, especially the affection between women, from mother-daughter, friends, classmates, teacher-student, senior-junior... (5/4/2005, viewing rates:379). The Jang-geum spirit also seems to have inspired many young members Jang-geum never give(s) up. She know(s) how to survive she does everything not just for her own benefic(benefits), she helps people around her also. (Posted on 5/4/2005, viewing rates: 379) 2006/3/17 36

37 Adoring Dae: From Fantasy to Reflection Some members discussed about the history and people of Chosun society and that of China btnion seems to suggest what we would call a utopian attitude, and consider the world as originally a common wealth Actually it is impossible to make a comparison. (We) should know that there are bad people and good people in every place. The world is originally a common wealth. Boundaries are drawn by those greedy people to separate lands, races, and differentiate people with different colors. Competition and comparison occur, and then there are high and low differentiations. Actually if we share (resources) together, why should we compare? (Posted on 4/4/2005, viewing rates: 566) 2006/3/17 37

38 Adoring Dae: From Fantasy to Reflection This group of youth also expresses their concern on gender inequalities: the unfair social system and court practices faced by Jang-geum, as well as other female characters, I find those Chosun physician ladies ( medicine women ) very miserable. They worked so hard in learning medical skills, and they were even literate. They were smarter than common people, but their positions were the lowest the science of medicine is a kind of profession. They devoted so much effort, but received so little. It s not fair. (Posted by masterlamlam on 15/3/2005, viewing rates: 811). 2006/3/17 38

39 Sharing of Examination Life Many of the members extend the discussion beyond TV dramas The discussion topics range from examinations, school life, leisure activities, and current affairs to personal experiences. Many of these reflect the daily life experience of students/youngsters These messages are mainly found in the two subforums The HKALE Struggle and Success of the Emperor, and The Chat Room Not Related to Jang-geum 2006/3/17 39

40 Sharing of Examination Life A special forum is set up during the period of HKALE/HKCEE public examinations in Hong Kong, called The HKALE Struggle and Success of the Emperor ( 王上 HKALE 的奮鬥成果 ) In this section, students exchange tips on how to prepare for public examinations, share their past experiences, and also give emotional support to one another Students facing public examinations like to talk about their studying practices here. Older students/ex-students also take part in the discussion 2006/3/17 40

41 Sharing of Examination Life Members also provide emotional support for one another. Some students used the Jang-geum spirit to encourage those sitting for examinations Many members seemed to be under great stress during the examinations, and need to share their feelings and pressures with other members A member called Phoebe who loves Dae Janggeum most (phoebe 最愛大長今 ) wrote: I believe that the best way (to study for exams) is to learn from Jang-geum, NEVER GIVE UP! It is because if you give up, you will lose everything. (Posted on 9/4/2005, viewing rates: 87) 2006/3/17 41

42 Sharing of Examination Life Sigh in the past I worked very hard each day, never tried to get by without attending to work every night I practiced mathematics till one or two o clock (in the morning) However, now I have lost all these targets, seem like losing the direction. (Posted by cfw on 26/4/2005, viewing rates: 83) Oh How come you feel like that suddenly? (Are you) having private affairs? Don t be like that. You were so hard-working before! (You should) keep it up! Just for a short period of time You can tell me your private matters; see if I can help you or not. (Posted by carmenmok on 26/4/2005, viewing rates: 83) 2006/3/17 42

43 Sharing of Examination Life They also talk about their future plans, such as desirable occupations, and target subjects in universities Hong Kong young people are under great exam pressure and might feel at a loss about their future In this TV drama fangroup website these young people seem to have a developed a bonding based on similar experiences in school and exam life They also seem to draw upon what they call the Jang-geum spirit (the persevering attitude of the TV drama protagonist) to encourage one another 2006/3/17 43

44 Trying out Different Social Identities and Relations Bennett (2004) proposes that the practice of fandom has become a central feature of contemporary youth cultures, both in their construction of collective identities and in rendering such identities In the website the young people seem to be extending their real community into a virtual community, drawing on some existing social relations while escaping from those restraining them in the off-line world For instance, in this TV drama fangroup website, all members take up different ranks/roles in a royal palace. This is like a role-playing game 2006/3/17 44

45 Trying out Different Social Identities and Relations Many of them are deeply attached to these virtual identities and get great satisfaction when promoted to the desired roles 2006/3/17 45

46 Trying out Different Social Identities and Relations When Siu Ae ( 小愛 ) finally became Queen Sukwon ( 淑媛娘娘 ) other members were all engaged in a warm and lively talk, congratulating her I have to send my best regards to the Queen you should work hard! (Posted by skyyan on 5/4/2005 ) Oh everyone is sending congratulations to me any wedding present for me? As you have become Suk-won, hurry to register at the Marriage Introduction Centre of Jang-geum ( 長今婚姻介紹所 )! (Posted by Emperor Siu-ho on 6/4/2005) 2006/3/17 46

47 Trying out Different Social Identities and Relations In taking up high social rank roles and identities in this royal palace role-playing game young students can enact empowered identities which are beyond their reach in reality The seemingly highly hierarchicalized social order (what Taylor (2002) calls the traditional mode of hierarchical complementarity ) as constructed in this role-playing game does not seem to be experienced by these young people as autocratic at all but rather as empowering and fun 2006/3/17 47

48 Trying out Different Social Identities and Relations The hierarchy is strict but there is an open, fair and easily assessable channel (i.e., rules of the game) for mobility in this social order Although bearing the role title of the Emperor, the chief webmaster seems to be occupying more of a modern website functional role like that of the game-master in an on-line role-playing game His own performance is under constant appraisal just like all the other sub-bulletin board masters in the management team of the website 2006/3/17 48

49 Trying out Different Social Identities and Relations They also readily draw on the social relations of contemporary social institutions such as the school and the family. This is like a condensed form of a society, with both freedom and order (e.g., guidelines and rules) for its citizens Take the organization of off-line star chasing activities as an example, the management team once posted a list of rules for the participants to follow 2006/3/17 49

50 Developing a Sense of Belonging to a Big Family In a fan community, the networks and texts are transformed into socially meaningful fields through interaction that is ongoing and patterned in community-constituting ways (Baym, 2000) The on-line community in this study seems to be seen as re-kindling a sense of family, that is a family of invisible friends (Robins, 2000) The fans in our study build up talk communities (with diversified topics) in the cyberspace and establish a virtual kind of family relations 2006/3/17 50

51 Developing a Sense of Belonging to a Big Family The forum is like a second home where they get sheltered and supported Once the forum was closed, the members were very worried. After it was re-opened, they have the feeling of coming back home : (I) have a feeling of going back home! (I have) such a strong sense of belonging. (Posted by carmenmok ) Hehe... No need to wander around after coming back. This is the best place very happy (Posted by Ls ) Yes! There s no need to move around without a definite residence. (Posted by triangel_88 ) 2006/3/17 51

52 Developing a Sense of Belonging to a Big Family When sometimes conflicts and arguments arise, many peace-makers will come out and emphasize the united nature of a family: We should preserve a mood of harmony. We can talk about everything in the forum so we should not spoil the friendship. We are a family. (Posted by Supporter of Geum-geum and little Min 支持今今小閔 ). We are like a family; don t stir up anger by such trifles. This forum should be peaceful and happy. (Posted by iris1872 ) 2006/3/17 52

53 Developing a Sense of Belonging to a Big Family In this case, the Internet has offered a range of creative strategies (such as the role-playing game and warm family discourse ) for articulating fandom Student members like to share their school life and everyday experience These members seem to engage in interpersonal interactions and social relations that are similar and yet different from those in their off-line world, forming their ideal (or eutopian ) on-line community 2006/3/17 53

54 Negotiating with the Stigma of Fans Consumption of TV dramas and adoration of stars/idols are frequently denigrated and even stigmatized in both public and academic discourses (Jenson, 1992). In response to these negative images, some of the members adopt a rational, critical discourse about their own consumption practices. They try to argue for the high quality of Korean TV dramas 2006/3/17 54

55 Negotiating with the Stigma of Fans Many of them compared Korean productions with Hong Kong productions Akiratoya praised Dae as informative, subtle and inspiring, while criticized local dramas as just having beautiful women and handsome men (Posted on 3/5/2005, viewing rates: 42) When one of the members suggested local TV stations to produce a drama similar to Dae, others rejected the idea by analyzing the difference between HK and Korean production qualities 2006/3/17 55

56 Negotiating with the Stigma of Fans Many of them love watching the Korean TV drama E-dou shown after it. They find this historical drama meaningful and educative; the content is said to be even more professional One of the fans, Siu Ae ( 小愛 ), found it much much better than the modern idol dramas ( 現代偶像劇 ) (Posted on 2/5/2005, viewing rates:186).. All these critical comments highlight the difference between the identity of irrational fans and the identity of media critics 2006/3/17 56

57 Maintaining High Quality Discussion High quality discussion seems to be the main concern of the forum s management team, which matches many members images of themselves as tastemakers The chief forum master always emphasizes that members should post good messages instead of meaningless messages. Good messages should include both opinions and arguments, but not purely expression of feelings/impressions 2006/3/17 57

58 Maintaining High Quality Discussion All palace aids should read this: a good message should have an opinion plus a supporting reason, and also personal analysis: Example one: I find Court Lady Choi very bad! (Members always post this kind of message, but this is not a good message. Others do not know why you find Court Lady Choi bad. Just a short sentence cannot stimulate meaningful discussion.) Example two: I find Court Lady Choi very bad! It is because she treated Jang-geum like that, she was not fair to Court Lady Han, either. She was indiscriminate in her means to achieve success, and even accused Court Lady Han falsely. A valuable life was lost because of that 2006/3/17 58

59 Maintaining High Quality Discussion Example three: To the contrary, I find Court Lady Choi s badness understandable. It is because she took up the burden of the Choi s family; she just wanted to maintain the family s success. She did experience struggles in her heart; she didn t want to be born in the Choi s family (Example two could lead to the discussion in example three, and example three can lead to even more discussion... this makes the forum more lively, and the content more solid.) I hope that all palace maids can take this as a standard. Thank you very much. (Posted by Emperor Siu-ho on 24/2/2005, viewing rates: 299) 2006/3/17 59

60 Maintaining High Quality Discussion They try to differentiate from the so-called rubbish forums (e.g. TVB forum), and learn from the good sites (e.g. GTV forum) The criteria used to establish what count as high quality messages seem to draw on what is taught in school about argumentative essays It resembles the communicative rationality espoused in Habermas s public sphere (1989): that people come together to examine different arguments in a rational away rather than just expressing one s opinions without arguments (more on this in the next section). 2006/3/17 60

61 TVB Website 2006/3/17 61

62 GTV Website 2006/3/17 62

63 Maintaining High Quality Discussion High literacy levels and rich intertextuality are shown, both in textual and technological aspects In the textual dimension, many of them like to quote from other media sources, such as famous literatures, popular texts and news articles Based on other textual sources, these members integrate their own ideas into other texts, and bring together different texts in illustrating their viewpoints 2006/3/17 63

64 Flaming and Rational Debate Freedom and Order On-line communities are supposed to promote equality and freedom of expression. However, democracy is not the same as lack of control and regulations.as suggested by Hamelink (2000), culture and technology should be subject to democratic control too In our study, the student members need to obey the court rules (e.g., no dirty language or personal attacks, no plagiarism, etc) of the web group, and would receive punishment in case they violate these rules 2006/3/17 64

65 Flaming and Rational Debate Freedom and Order These rules seem to be oriented towards the kind of communicative rationality espoused by Habermas (1987) They aim at ensuring that members will not just write superficial comments, or act as a copying machine, but to look deeper into the matters/issues and formulate their own arguments The management teams of the website seems to be oriented towards co-constructing the fangroup forum as a space of reason and civility, which we see as linked to Western modernity and Enlightenment thinking (Hertherington, 1997, p. 13) 2006/3/17 65

66 Flaming and Rational Debate Freedom and Order In this web group, irrational debate is not allowed and highly criticized: (Do you think) scolding others is a rational behavior? No one wants (his/her) IP banned for 30 days. Please stop fighting! (Posted by 連生 on 26/5/2005, viewing rates: 237) Stop insulting each other. Don t damage the peacefulness over a small matter. Please deal with the problem patiently and keep calm. (Posted by Medicine Woman Jang-geum 醫女長今 on 26/5/2005, viewing rates: 237) 2006/3/17 66

67 Flaming and Rational Debate Freedom and Order One of the members, roro, made a remark on the importance of EQ in making good arguments: I find you (member involved in the argument) to be a very confident person. Besides having IQ, I hope you can also possess EQ. It requires both high IQ and EQ to deal with a conflict. I wish you could think about it deeply. Could you really do that? It would be helpful to your future too. (Posted on 30/4/2005, viewing rates: 343). Their emphasis on rationality, peacefulness and EQ point to the ideal of rational communication and of co-constructing a public sphere of reason and civility 2006/3/17 67

68 Flaming and Rational Debate Freedom and Order Different views/standpoints are accepted and respected by the members. When some members talked about the negative responses to Dae, many of them held a rather open attitude to the attacks One of them called FATTY wrote, (this is) a society with freedom, it s normal to have different voices (Posted on 3/5/2005, viewing rates: 454) In this sense, diversity could be achieved with an open attitude that allows expression of different opinions, and the public use of reason facilitates the possibility of individual critical judgment 2006/3/17 68

69 Accountability as Important Criteria Citizenship emphasizes human rights and civil liberties. Under the principle of equality (Hamelink, 2000) There is a utopian hope that the mediated interaction in the cyberspace could represent an ideal and universal form of human association and collectivity (Robins, 2000:80) Akin to the social imaginary of the public sphere and a democratically self-governing people of Western modernity (Taylor, 2002). 2006/3/17 69

70 Accountability as Important Criteria Habermas (1984:49) describes the public sphere in this way: by the public sphere we mean first of all a realm of our social life in which something approaching public opinion can be formed. Access is guaranteed to all citizens. A portion of the public sphere comes into being in every conversation in which private individuals assemble to form a public body. (Habermas, 1984: 49) In our study, the fans website is accessible to all on-line users, and people could share their views on and beyond the TV drama. All registered members could participate in the discussion that interests them 2006/3/17 70

71 Accountability as Important Criteria Habermas (1987) proposes that there can be an ideal form of public debate, which potentially allows equality of access and equal rights, provided that it could find an institutional context The website illustrates the importance of an institutionalized structure in managing an on-line discussion group and orienting it towards a space of reason and civility The webmasters would not punish junior members without reasons, but clearly state the mistakes, errors and faults of the members 2006/3/17 71

72 Accountability as Important Criteria There is a place called Public Court for conflict management. Members could submit complaints to the webmasters, and the webmasters would undergo investigation and report the results to all members Members who are dissatisfied with the judgment results could appeal to the senior members Apart from the penalty system, the forum also seems to at least partially fulfill the criteria of accountability by listening to the opinions of the members and responding to them 2006/3/17 72

73 Accountability as Important Criteria The webmaster agreed to increase the space for signature of the junior members as requested Besides, the chief forum master also decided to set up some new sub-sites (such as the Medical centre 內醫院 ) as requested by some members It reveals that despite the hierarchical structure of the forum, the management team still seems to be oriented towards the ideals of encouraging participation in decision-making 2006/3/17 73

74 Accountability as Important Criteria An important evidence of public accountability is that the performance of the webmasters is made open to the members: Webmasters who have been absent for a long time will be harshly criticized. For instance, one of them is described as follows, disappeared for 98 days!an irresponsible webmaster! Has he/she fallen into the toilet bowl?. The Emperor (chief webmaster) himself is also subject to this kind of continuous work performance appraisal just like all other members on the management team 2006/3/17 74

75 Coda: Fandom and Citizenship Implications of the inter-relationships among fandom, citizenship, socialities, fantasy, utopia (eutopia and outopia), expressive culture, rational culture There is a kind of social imaginary, which seems to be embodied in the TV drama, Dae Jang-geum This social imaginary both motivates and enables the drama fans to co-construct a good place (a eu-topian social order) in the virtual space, and in the process gaining the cultural capital required of citizenship in a modern society 2006/3/17 75

76 Fandom Citizenship Traditionally topics such as popular media consumption and TV drama fandom seem to be remote from topics such as citizenship and the public sphere However, as van Zoonen (2005) points out, there are at least three analogies between fandom and citizenship 2006/3/17 76

77 Fandom Citizenship First, both fan communities and political constituencies come into being as a result of performance; second, fan groups and political constituencies resemble each other when it comes to the endeavors that make one part of the community; and finally both rest on emotional investments that are intrinsically linked to rationality and lead to affective intelligence. (van Zoonen, 2005: 53) We witness in the analysis that the Gathering of Fans of Jang-geum TV drama fangroup community seems to be structurally similar to a political constituency 2006/3/17 77

78 Participation in Public Space Very often young people are placed in a community by institution (e.g., school) or kinship (e.g., family) but not of their own choice However, in the fangroup website the members come together voluntarily, exercising their agency to enter into a public space Habermas s notion of rational participation in the public sphere has largely been rooted in male bourgeoise experience in modern European societies to the effect of excluding the experience of women and youths hence its bias towards emphasis on a limited range and kind of topics and contexts that is usually associated with discussion in the public sphere 2006/3/17 78

79 Public Sphere vs Youth Pop Culture Poovey (2002) points out that the philosophers writings only constituted part of the picture: Historically women (and we would add youth as well) in different social positions have engaged in activities and practices that provided us with a more textured image of the modern social imaginary (Poovey, 2002:142) We propose that the literature on the public sphere and citizenship which has often marginalized topics of fantasy and youth pop culture will need to be reexamined and reworked 2006/3/17 79

80 Star Worship and Social Imaginaries It is too easy to dismiss youths star worship practices as merely symptoms We need to unpack the dense cultural meanings of star worship, and their connection to utopia and modern social imaginaries What motivates young people to participate in discussion in the public sphere? They seem to be driven by the social imaginary embodied by the TV drama 2006/3/17 80

81 Fantasy and Structure of Feeling Dyer (1986) proposes that the popular media stars we worship represent what our experience is or more often how we love it to be Ang (1985) argues that many female characters in soap operas function as symbolic realizations of feminine subject positions into which viewers can put themselves in fantasy The basic structure of feeling (Williams, 1995) underlying star worship and fantasy is not qualitatively different from that underlying sociopolitical utopian thinking as well as the social imaginaries emerging and circulating in a society 2006/3/17 81

82 Ou-topia vs Eu-topia The word Utopia was coined by combining the word meaning no place ( ou-topia ) with the word meaning good place ( eu-topia ). The use of the word utopia in our ordinary language implies that the good place ( the good society ) is nowhere to be found and yet it continues to serve as a social and political ideal to inspire us What we would like to propose in this paper is that TV dramas constitute an important imaginary space where alternative social imaginaries are played out or embodied, and these alternative social imaginaries often have a eu-topian dimension to it 2006/3/17 82

83 TV dramas: Embodying alternative social imaginaries 2006/3/17 83

84 What is a social imaginary? A social imaginary is not simply a social theory developed by specialists but is at least partly generated by ordinary people for use in life, and it reveals itself in stories, myths, and commonplaces as well as theoretical narratives (Poovey, 2002: 131). 2006/3/17 84

85 TV dramas and social imaginaries? TV dramas constitute an important imaginary space where alternative social imaginaries (i.e.,, imaginaries not entirely the same as the dominant social imaginary) are played out or embodied, and these alternative social imaginaries often have a eutopian dimension to it (i.e., it portrays a good place and realizes an ideal social order). 2006/3/17 85

86 Fantasy or Imaginary of an ideal social order? What media critics call fantasy we propose to call idealism or a eu-topian imaginary, which is about the ways in which people imagine their ideal social existence: how ideally they should fit together with others, how ideally things should go on between them and their fellows, between humans and nature, and between humans and animals, how ideally father/mother and son/daughter, brother and sister, men and women (husband and wife ) should treat each other, and so on and so forth. 2006/3/17 86

87 Eu-topian dimensions of a social imaginary We use the word eu-topian instead of utopian to describe the social imaginary embodied in the TV drama of Da Chang-jin because it seems that this imaginary is partly realizable in the on-line world When they describe the features of their website, they say: Many disputes (just kidding!), have the same interests, have the same goals in life! All of us love Dae Jang-geum. (Posted by carmenmok on 25/4/2005, viewing rates: 109) I think the characteristic of the Gathering of Fans of Jang-geum is: it s like a big family, very warm. (Posted by Yeon-seng on 25/4/2005, viewing rates: 109) 2006/3/17 87

88 Co-constructing a good place in the virtual space 1. Many members, (they are) lovely, and have selfdiscipline 2. Love Dae Jang-geum, love the website, love the earth 3. Many young people, and also have young minds 4. Gather fans from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, extract the essence from the TV station. 5. Webmasters are nice but strict. (Posted by Lady Fa Fa 花花尚宮 on 25/4/2005, viewing rates: 109) Have some warmth, have some fun, and sometimes have conflicts as well, made people think of her (Janggeum) all the time. (Posted by roro on 26/4/2005, viewing rates: 109) 2006/3/17 88

89 The social imaginary embodied in Da Chang-jin We propose that there are at least three basic components of this social imaginary as embodied by Jang-geum and the social universe of the drama: (1) the possibility of pure, long-lasting, sacrificial love between a man and a woman (2) the possibility of a social universe with compassion, as embodied in the Chinese saying you-qing tian-di, which can be translated as: a sky and earth with compassion, which is alternative to the Western modern imaginary of objectification and abstraction (see Poovey, 2002) (3) the possibility of social justice, fairness, and social mobility based on a person s perseverance and hard work 2006/3/17 89

90 Eu-topian possibilities of media consumption and digital cultures We would like to propose in the present study that sometimes TV drama-watching can lead to progressive practices for instance, participating in reasoned and civil discussion in the public sphere, apprenticing oneself into the identities of empowered agents and netizens of a virtual community In the process, acquiring the competencies, literacies, attitudes and skills, the cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1991) required of citizenship in a modern society Cyberspace can be seen as offering a utopian vision by suggesting that what is utopic in the offline world might be relatively more realizable in the virtual space 2006/3/17 90

91 Love Chang-jin, love the web forum, love the earth! They seem to be happier, they reaffirm their life goals, they experience a social universe of familial warmth, compassion and support, they are apprenticed into certain modes of communicative sociality and rationality --cultural capital-- required of citizenship in a modern society. TV drama consumption and on-line fangroup activities: can be more than just an escape into a fantasy 2006/3/17 91

92 The End Thank you! Comments and feedback welcome! 2006/3/17 92