Non-digital fan networking: How Japanese animation and comics disseminated in China despite authoritarian deterrence

Abstract

This study has three research objectives. Its major theoretical objective is to theorize the political impact of fan networks in authoritarian contexts. It finds that these fan networks perform the counterhegemonic work of blocking the authoritarian state's preferred solution to ‘the dictator's popular cultural dilemma’. Its major empirical objective is to understand how anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comics) disseminated so successfully in China despite authoritarian deterrence. It offers an explanation based on fan networking and fan network resilience. Its secondary theoretical objective is to enrich the research on non-digital kinds of fan networks. Its dataset mainly consists of anime and manga publications and other primary sources such as fans’ memoirs and reports.