Faculty of Arts Department of Chinese Studies Master’s thesis 2020 Bc. Kateřina Mašková Faculty of Arts Department of Chinese Studies Fantasy Genres of Chinese Internet Literature Master’s thesis Bc. Kateřina Mašková Supervisor: Mgr. et Mgr. Dušan Vávra, Ph.D. 2020 I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work and it contains no other materials written or published by any other person except where due reference is made in the text of the thesis. Brno, 31st of May, 2020 ………………………….. ABSTRACT The main focus of this thesis are the contemporary genres of Chinese Internet fantasy literature, namely qihuan, xuanhuan, and xiuxian. Generally speaking, Chinese fantasy genres fuse elements of Western fantasy with elements of traditional Chinese culture and enjoy mass popularity both in China and abroad. The Chinese Internet literature developed into widespread phenomenon, with its own terminology and specifics. Therefore, one of the goals of this thesis is to provide a basic introduction of the Chinese Internet literature discourse to the Western reader, with the description of relevant terms and brief overview of its history. The main goal is then to introduce and analyse above mentioned fantasy genres, and related terms, and to answer research questions: What are the narrative conventions of three Internet fantasy genres qihuan, xuanhuan, and xiuxian? How are the terms used by its readers? Does the concept of genre transform within the Internet literature discourse? This will be done based on analysis of three Internet fantasy novels – Panlong (Coiling Dragon), Douluo Dalu (Soul Land), and Xianni (Renegade Immortal), along with the analysis of relevant fan-made online content. Keywords: Internet literature, Chinese fantasy, genre fiction, xuanhuan Acknowledgments My biggest thanks belongs to my supervisor Dr. Dušan Vávra – without his patience, support, brainstorming sessions, and advice this thesis would not exist. Another acknowledgment goes to my family and friends, who all put up with my fatigue, and provided much needed encouragement and support. I would especially like to thank Elis, as she was always willing to listen and to help with the google searches, when my brain refused to function anymore. Another thanks to my roommates, who always brought snacks (and beer). And my last thanks goes to the holy trinity of all students – the coffee, the pasta, and the Internet. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 7 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 8 RESEARCH QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 9 1. PART 1 ....................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. Internet Literature in China - Introduction........................................................................... 9 1.2. History of Internet literature in China - Brief Overview ................................................... 20 1.3. Important Terms Relevant to the Internet Literature Discourse ........................................ 22 1.3.1. YY Literature/Fiction.................................................................................................. 22 1.3.2. Shuang 爽 - “Coolness/Thrill/High” ........................................................................... 25 1.3.3. Xiaobai 小白 versus Wenqing 文青 ............................................................................ 27 2. PART 2 ..................................................................................................................................... 30 2.1. Genre in Chinese Internet Literature .................................................................................. 30 2.2. Terms Relevant to Internet Genre Fiction ......................................................................... 44 2.2.1. Jiakong 架空 − ‘Overhead’ ........................................................................................ 44 2.2.2. Chuanyue 穿越 − Transmigration or ‘Time-travel’ .................................................... 50 2.2.3. Chongsheng 重生 − ‘Rebirth’ ..................................................................................... 56 2.2.4. Chuanyue and Chongsheng – Analysis and Conclusions ........................................... 60 2.3. Chinese “Fantasy” Internet Literature Genres ................................................................... 63 2.3.1. Qihuan 奇幻................................................................................................................ 65 2.3.2. Xuanhuan 玄幻 ........................................................................................................... 68 2.3.3. Xiuxian 修仙 ............................................................................................................... 73 2.3.4. Novels’ Analysis, Comparison and Conclusions ........................................................ 77 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................... 89 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................ 93 Primary sources ......................................................................................................................... 93 Secondary literature .................................................................................................................. 95 INTRODUCTION This master’s thesis deals with the topic of Internet literature in (Mainland) China. Internet literature is a phenomenon, which first started to spread among Chinese citizens during the 1990’s. During that time, the literary enthusiasts started to explore a newly emerged creative space – the Internet. Since then, the Internet literature has turned into a great industry on a scale, which has no alternative in the West. The Internet literature has introduced innovative forms, themes, aesthetics, and practices into modern Chinese literature, and despite the initial negative evaluation of this type of works by the academics and literary critics, it has been enjoying widespread popularity among Chinese people for over 20 years. Even though it has been influenced by foreign works, most of the Internet fiction genres have roots in the traditional Chinese literature, and the 20th century popular fiction wuxia 武侠 – the martial arts novel. However, the scholarly interest remains largely disproportional to the size of its readership so far. This work thematically connects to my bachelor’s thesis from 2017, where I analysed the existence of wuxia topoi in the contemporary xuanhuan fiction. The goals I have set for my master’s thesis are a bit broader, as I aim to provide a basic introduction of the Chinese Internet literature discourse to the Western reader, and to conduct an analysis and comparison of the contemporary Internet fantasy genres. Therefore, the thesis is divided in two parts: The first part will provide an introduction to the topic of Internet literature in China based on secondary literature, along with the brief overview of Internet literature’s history and the trends’ development from 1990’s to approx. 2014. Also, key terms related to the discourse will be described, again based on secondary literature with the additional information from the Internet forums discussing Chinese Internet literature. The second part will be based on the work with primary sources, in this case the Internet novels, fan forums, relevant websites and YouTube channels, and their comparison with the approaches and genre descriptions conducted by other scholars. Firstly, I will discuss the topic of the genre fiction in Chinese Internet literature, which influence comes from two main directions – the traditional Chinese fiction and the literary medium – cyberspace. Therefore, I will first analyse the sources of the contemporary Internet genre in the traditional Chinese literature, and then analyse the existing methods of genre categorization among the readers and publishers. Next important topic also revolves around the terminology, as I will discuss and describe recurrent topics in the Internet genre fiction with the help of secondary literature, which will be followed by an analysis of those topics in exemplary novels. In the last part of my thesis, the fantasy genres of Chinese Internet literature will be discussed. Due to certain discrepancies between the usage of the genre terminology in the academia and in practice, said genres will firstly be described according to the secondary literature, followed by my own analysis based predominantly on the primary sources – in this case, the three Internet fantasy novels Douluo Dalu 斗罗大陆, Panlong 盘龙, and Xianni 仙逆, along with the discussion and entries by the fans of the genre on online forums and YouTube. METHODOLOGY This thesis main goal is to introduce and analyse three fantasy genres of Chinese Internet literature – qihuan, xuanhuan, and xiuxian. This will be done for the bigger part on basis of analysis of exemplary novels. For each genre, I have selected one novel on basis of its general popularity among its readers, both in China and abroad. The selected novels are: - Panlong 盘龙 (Coiling Dragon) (2008) from author Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi 我吃泗洪是 for qihuan