Values transcending national and cultural barrier : fan activism rolled out in Cantonese fansubbing in Thai pop culture
Since the series of Hong Kong protests started in 2019 gradually died down after the passing of National Security Law and the outbreak of COVID-19, the remaining energy of social movement had been directed to different forms of civic engagement other than street protests and demonstrations. This the...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Master Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://lauda.ulapland.fi/handle/10024/66215 http://nbn-resolving.org/URN:NBN:fi-fe2024100976777 |
| Summary: | Since the series of Hong Kong protests started in 2019 gradually died down after the passing of National Security Law and the outbreak of COVID-19, the remaining energy of social movement had been directed to different forms of civic engagement other than street protests and demonstrations. This thesis critically evaluates how the establishment and development of Kongji Production, the first Cantonese fansubbing group in the transnational Thai pop fandom based in Hong Kong, manifested fan activism driven by domestic politics. Unlike many established fansubbing groups aiming to promote their favored transnational pop culture products which are not broadcasted through traditional mass media in their home country, the initial motive of Kongji Production focused on advocating the use of written Cantonese for subtitles - the distinctive cultural indicator of Hong Kongers, challenging the norm of conventional written Chinese subtitles used in mass media. This autoethnographic research looks into the practice of translations, fan art productions and activities organized by Kongji Production through the lens of my own participation and observations of other group members. It investigates these establishments as a predicament to the silenced protests and blossoming localism over the recent decades of attempted regional assimilation of Hong Kong imposed by PRC. It also looked into how Hong Kongers perceived themselves as Milk Tea Alliance members and projected their unresolved concern of democracy through their participation in a transnational fandom. The originality of this research lies in the unique convergence of fan studies and people’s sense of cultural identity in a modern Asian political context. Through the years long observation of the fansubbing group, the study unveil the role of language in instituting one’s cultural identity and how one’s unresolved discontent towards the socio-political situation of home nation being projected to a transnational socio-political concern of another place with similar pursuit ... |
|---|