| Popis: |
This dissertation refutes the growing number of observers who claim that there are no public spheres in present-day China. It argues that there are daily irruptions of online public spheres fed by news in China’s digital spaces, and that these publics are marked by at least five distinct qualities. They are chronic, but individually they are also usually short-lived. They often storm the whole country by surprise, springing up as if out of nowhere; they have a pop-up quality. However, their networked quality sometimes ensures that they go viral, and that they generate unintended consequences. This thesis contends that these features of news-fed online public spheres ensure their survival in China. Drawing on works of Hannah Arendt, Michael Schudson, Niklas Luhmann and others, this thesis reconceptualises the idea of the public sphere in part I. It defines public spheres as mediated and civil gatherings of self-reflective equals discussing public issues and argues that they are fed by news – that is, by publicised narratives that depict societal changes that are prominently or latently linked to conceptions of the imagined common good. It contends that they are marked by the five qualities mentioned above. Against the norms of public spheres, part II then examines first how Chinese Wangmin engage in news in WeChat’s media spaces and confirms that there are chronic online public spheres in China. It then researches their other four features via case studies and shows how these qualities mark and vitalise China’s online publics. The thesis concludes by showing why and how it contributes to scholarship by proposing an original theory of news-fed public spheres. Adopting a constructivist perspective and redirecting attention to the internal features of news and communication, it delves systematically into the life and death of public spheres and it thus avoids short-sighted and simplified assessments of the China case. |
