Fandom Nationalism: Participatory Censorship and Performative Patriotism in East Asia

by Erika Ningxin Wang, Paul Booth (Editor), Qian Huang, Rukmini Pande (Editor)

Overview

This book delves into the world of 'fandom nationalism', where the lines between fan devotion and nationalistic fervour blur within the East Asian media landscape.

Taking a non-Western perspective in fan studies, this book challenges conventional understandings of fandom nationalism. While the concept usually describes how citizens passionately adore their nation akin to idolizing celebrities, this ground-breaking research adds a captivating twist: such passion encompasses not only the expressions of love fans shower upon their idols but also the intense hatred anti-fans direct towards stars — fans strategically employ nationalism as a weapon to win fan wars. This enriches the concept of fandom nationalism, exploring how fans use participatory censorship practices to accuse celebrities and their followers of problematic political stances, thereby channelling collective nationalist anger to exact revenge on despised celebrities, such as Zhang Zhehan, a 'Boys' Love' drama actor who was banned by the authorities and the industry for taking photos at the Yasukuni Shrine in Japan.

Through a thorough review of relevant literature and detailed fieldwork data, this book reveals how fans and anti-fans participate in various stages of the banning process, leading to the career downfall of top stars in China. This brutal battleground, akin to cancel culture, is a product of the collusion among fans, netizens, the party-state, media platforms, and businesses, where fans' participation in nationalist practices can also be performative patriotism, driven by the desire to protect their idols and themselves. Using examples from China and beyond, Fandom Nationalism explores the relationship between fandom and the state more broadly.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765125168
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	01/08/2026
Series:	Bloomsbury Fandom Primers
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Erika Ningxin Wang is a PhD candidate at King's College London. She will become an assistant Professor at CUHK-Shenzhen, Hong Kong. She is the Early Career Representative of International Communication Association 2023-2025. Her recent publications in fan studies appear in the Asian Studies Review, Communication Culture and Critique, and Transformative Works and Cultures.

Paul Booth is Professor of Communication at DePaul University, USA. Booth's research interests include fandom, new technologies and media, popular culture, and cult media. He is the author of Time on TV (2012), Digital Fandom (2010), and Playing Fans (2014). He has edited Fan Phenomena: Doctor Who (2013), and has published numerous articles on fans, social media, and technology. He is currently enjoying a cup of coffee.

Qian Huang is an assistant professor at University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She has published articles on Chinese digital vigilantism, fandom, and nationalism in peer-reviewed journals such as Social Media + Society and International Journal of Communication. She is also a co-editor of the volume Introducing Vigilant Audiences.

Rukmini Pande is an Assistant Professor of English Literature and Communication at O.P. Jindal Global University, India. Her research interests coalesce around the field of Digital Humanities and include issues relating to intersectional identity in popular culture, new media and postcolonial cybercultures. In particular, she has published widely on the topic of race/racism in media fandom, and is the author of Squee From The Margins: Race in Fandom (2018) and editor of Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices (2020). She is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Fandom Studies and Mallorn: The Journal of the Tolkien Studies and has been published in multiple edited collections on fans and fandom, including The Wiley Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies (edited by Paul Booth, 2018) and Seeing Fans (edited by Paul Booth and Lucy Bennett, 2016). Her work has also appeared in the journal Transformative Works and Cultures as well as the Journal of Feminist Studies.

Table of Contents

Authors' Biographies
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Foreword

Introduction
1. The Paths to Contemporary Fandom Nationalism in China
2. Fan Mobilisation and Nationalism in Action
3. Nationalist Fandom Practices as Participatory Censorship
4. Performative Patriotism: Multi-stakeholders' Engagement with Fandom Nationalism
Conclusion

Bibliography
Appendix I: Fan Informants List
Appendix II: Abbreviations and Glossaries
Index

Editorial Reviews

This book redefines fandom beyond a trivial youth fad, taking a non-Western perspective to reveal how fandom in East Asia and China becomes an arena for youth political engagement. Wang and Huang show how fans mobilize nationalism not only to support idols but also to confront rivals, introducing the concept of participatory censorship to explain how fans collectively defend and negotiate political boundaries. Fandom Nationalism offers a compelling analysis of performative patriotism and collective mobilization, enriching our understanding of the politics of pop culture.” —Anthony Fung, Dean of Social Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

From the Publisher