Nie Memes 18-06-2018

Tilburg University Memes, Communities, and Continuous Change Nie, Hua Publication date: 2018 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Nie, H. (2018). Memes, Communities, and Continuous Change: Chinese Internet Vernacular Explained. Ridderprint BV. 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Download date: 28. sep. 2021 Memes, Communities, and Continuous Change Chinese Internet Vernacular Explained Memes, Communities, and Continuous Change Chinese Internet Vernacular Explained PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan Tilburg University op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. E.H.L. Aarts, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties aangewezen commissie in de Ruth First Zaal van de Universiteit op maandag 18 juni 2018 om 14.00 uur door Hua Nie geboren te Chongqing, China Promotores: Prof. dr. J.M.E. Blommaert Prof. dr. A.M. Backus Copromotor: Dr. P.K. Varis Overige leden van de promotiecommissie: Prof. dr. J.M.M. Kroon Prof. dr. A.P.C. Swanenberg Dr. C. Du Dr. S. Gao Dr. J.S. Møller Dr. R.E. Moore ISBN 978-94-6375-012-7 Cover design by Sheelin Zhang Layout / editing by Karin Berkhout, Department of Culture Studies, Tilburg University Printed by Ridderprint BV, the Netherlands © Hua Nie, 2018 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any other means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without permission of the author. Contents Preface ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Chinese internet vernacular 3 1.2 Thesis structure 13 Chapter 2 Methodological Preliminaries 17 2.1 Rationale 17 2.2 Critical issues 20 2.3 Summary of data 23 Chapter 3 Meaning change in CIV neologisms: The case of three ‘very X very XX’ phrases 27 3.1 It all starts with 27 3.2 The three phrases 29 3.3 Research questions 31 3.4 Description of the collected data 31 3.5 Analysis 33 3.5.1 Rhetorical use 33 3.5.2 Expanded use as meta-utterance 37 3.6 Discussion 42 3.6.1 Elevated subjectivity in CIV neologism 43 3.6.2 Pragmatic orientation and expanded use 43 3.6.3 Possible subjectification and pragmatic change? 44 3.7 Concluding remarks 45 Chapter 4 Meaning change in virality and viral diffusion as meaning-making: The case of ‘ duang ’ 47 4.1 Introduction 47 4.1.1 Overview of ‘ duang ’s’ virality 47 4.1.2 Preliminary observations 49 4.1.3 The data 51 4.2 ‘Duang ’s’ meaning variation as a viral meme 52 4.2.1 Categorization and coding scheme 52 vi Memes, Communities, and Continuous Change 4.2.2 Tentative framework of meaning variation 52 4.2.3 Illustration of the categories 54 4.2.4 Meaning variations 63 4.3 ‘Duang ’s’ variations throughout virality 66 4.3.1 Initial period (February 20-23) 66 4.3.2 Pre-peak period (February 24-25) 67 4.3.3 Viral peak (February 26-March 1) 68 4.3.4 Post-peak period (March 2 onwards) 69 4.3.5 Distributions and conventionalization 70 4.3.6 More observations about post-viral ‘duang ’ 71 4.4 Communities in virality 72 4.4.1 In-group diffusion 73 4.4.2 ‘Boundary-crossing’ nodes 74 4.4.3 Out-spread of the meme 81 4.5 Virality of ‘duang ’ as meaning-making processes 83 4.5.1 Collective negotiation of meaning 83 4.5.2 Meaning transformation in interaction 86 4.6 Concluding remarks 95 Chapter 5 Enregisterment of an innovated phrase: Languaging and identities of Chinese fans of Thai TV 97 5.1 Introduction 97 5.1.1 Fandom of Thai TV in China 97 5.1.2 Sites of fandom 97 5.1.3 The ‘ fuxiang ’ (‘rotten’) genre 98 5.1.4 The Thai TV series 99 5.1.5 Languaging and enregisterment 101 5.2 Methods and research questions 103 5.2.1 Online participatory observation 103 5.2.2 The innovation of ‘ chesaika ’ 104 5.3 Languaging around the innovated phrase 105 5.3.1 Linguistic components 105 5.3.2 Pragmatic functions 107 5.3.3 Sociolinguistic status 108 5.3.4 Contestation on languaging 110 5.4 ‘Chesaika ’ as a social voice 111 5.5 ‘Chesaika ’ as a group marker 114 5.6 Concluding remarks 116 Chapter 6 Chinese internet vernacular (re)defined 119 6.1 Introduction 119 6.1.1 Internet vernacular, memes, and online culture 119 Contents vii 6.1.2 Between ‘internet’, ‘standard’ and ‘popular’ 120 6.1.3 Relationship with the ‘mainstream’ 121 6.1.4 Using CIV as reflexive social processes 121 6.2 Methods and data 122 6.2.1 Online data 123 6.2.2 Offline data 124 6.3 Construction of the value-boundary: The case of vulgar 125 6.3.1 Irreconcilable disagreement 126 6.3.2 Self-valorization 127 6.3.3 Trope of personae 128 6.4 Negotiation of baselines: The case of deficient 129 6.4.1 Clashes of orientations 130 6.4.2 Differential invocations of baselines 132 6.5 Performance and interactional microspaces: The case of memes 134 6.5.1 Meme practice as nexus of rapport 134 6.5.2 ‘Stop doujiling ’: Negotiation of power relations 136 6.6 Endless spinning of reflexivity: The case of sarcastic 138 6.6.1 HRYTC in use 139 6.6.2 Indexical values of HRYTC 139 6.6.3 2nd -order indexicality: Playful resistance and subversion 140 6.6.4 3rd -order indexicality: In-group marker 142 6.6.5 Endless spinning 143 6.7 Concluding remarks 143 Chapter 7 Conclusion 145 7.1 Locating the flows 146 7.2 Following the flows 147 7.3 Zooming in on the flows 149 7.4 Looking over the flows 150 7.5 Theoretical highlights 151 7.5.1 On virality 152 7.5.2 On communities and online sociation 152 7.5.3 On reflexivity 154 7.6 Payoff of the Remix Approach 156 References 157 Appendices 169 Summary 179 Preface This book literally retrieves the trajectory of my PhD studies. Motivated by a most prominent consequence of the internet’s integration with our everyday life – the novel ways we speak and communicate, my PhD journey was started with the focus on the various words and phrases once virally spread on social media, or linguistic memes , which are constituents of a supposedly unique language phenomenon, constantly dis- cussed by ordinary people and scholars alike yet somewhat under-theorized. The con- spicuous novelty then prompted me, following up on many previous studies, to pro- ceed from the aspect of meaning change , and the memes were initially studied in terms of their unique yet largely ineffable functions that couldn’t be achieved otherwise. It took me quite some time to approach the various linguistic aspects that could have been ‘changed’, which led me to all sorts of meaning indeterminacy and com- plexity. Only when I broke loose from such fixation, did I begin to rethink the objects of my study as precipitates from interaction and processes of meaning-making, at which point I was able to understand the actual flows where the changes were hap- pening and follow them for in-depth investigation. With such an expanded scope, I started to locate the memes that involved remarkable meaning change, followed the digital flows that were generated in the process, and identified relevant questions based on my following practice, all of which informed me of the necessary theoretical focuses and analytical instruments for inquiring into the different dimensions of the holistic phenomenon. This move can be considered the theoretical shift from the linguistic to the sociolinguistic system, which reveals a larger picture of the language practice on Chinese social media: what we experience as noticeable meaning change throughout a meme’s diffusion may reflect and invoke, under different circumstances, interpersonal com- municative effects, collective identities and community affiliations, as well as larger sociocultural values and ideologies. More importantly, such an ethnographic and ex- ploratory journey, i.e. fully grounded research by following the actual flows within and beyond the digital medium, offers great theoretical and methodological purchase for arriving at meaningful accounts of using memes in interaction, and promises to be a useful approach for understanding social media communication in general. Therefore, I cordially invite the readers of this book to experience such a journey of following various memes with me, whereby the complex and dynamic sociolinguistic phenomenon which I call ‘Chinese Internet Vernacular’ will be elucidated to you as a deepening exploration. x Memes, Communities, and Continuous Change This journey, which was full of angst, confusion and excitement, could never have been completed without the help and support of many people.

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