Fantasy is more believable: Justice and Solidarity in Chinese Online fiction

Abstract

Does the civil sphere exist in a modernizing society with an authoritative state? To explore this question, this paper uses online observations, interviews with online fiction writers and readers, and content analysis of selected popular works of online fiction, to examine the puzzling phenomenon of the popularity of online fantasy fiction in contemporary China. I argue that living in a society that stresses individual efforts and success in a market economy, but in an increasingly crystalized class structure in which social justice difficult to achieve in reality, Chinese users of literary websites have created fantasy worlds online that are meritocratic and which operate according to certain principles of justice. Such creations compensate, in turn, for their experienced lack of power and control in the real world. Moreover, consumers of such fiction are able to build solidarity by reinforcing some of the commonly held values online and interacting with other readers and writers on the literary websites. When it is difficult for social institutions to sustain the civil sphere, people thus turn to the imaginary for civil spirit and civil repair in fictional worlds. In practice, these fictional worlds are far from ideal, however, because they are still embedded in cultural and social structures. In the Chinese case, while the morality of online fiction resists the unfairness of social reality, it nevertheless recapitulates the values of individual effort and self-achievement that are endemic to the market economy. The key features of the civil sphere, such as caring about others and universalistic solidarity, still warrant much improvement in contemporary China.