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Digital Fandoms and the 227 Incident: A Case of “Cancel Culture with Chinese Characteristics”

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2025

Chris K.K. Tan  and
Miao Li Open the ORCID record for Miao Li [Opens in a new window]
Chris K.K. Tan
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore
Miao Li*
Affiliation:
Center for Judaic and Inter-religious Studies and Department of Sociology, Shandong University, Jinan, China
*
Corresponding author: Miao Li; Email: limiao@sdu.edu.cn
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Abstract

Cancel culture, a phenomenon where norm-transgressing individuals are named and ostracized on social media and elsewhere, receives both public approval and disdain. Recently, it manifested among Chinese fans of the danmei genre of homo-romantic literature. In the “227 Incident,” actions taken by fans of the actor-singer Xiao Zhan allegedly led to the banning of the free literary repository, Archive of Our Own (AO3), in early 2020. Enraged, AO3's other users retaliated by attempting to cancel Xiao both online and off. Both sides of the dispute exhibit what we term “cancel culture with Chinese characteristics.” While there is a lofty social justice behind the original intent of cancel culture, some Chinese fans advocate the cis-heteropatriarchy. Additionally, fan fervour has merged with cyber-nationalism, which complicates the region's geopolitics.

摘要

摘要

取消文化是一种在社交媒体和其他地方公开指责和排斥那些违反规范的个人的社会现象，公众对此褒贬不一。近年来，该现象在中国耽美粉丝群体中有所体现。在 “227 事件” 中，据称演员兼歌手肖战的部分唯粉导致了免费文学存储平台 AO3 于 2020 年初被封禁。愤怒的其他 AO3 用户通过线上和线下联合抵制肖战的方式进行报复。争端双方的行为展现了我们所谓的“有中国特色的取消文化”。尽管取消文化的初衷在于推崇社会正义，但是部分中国粉丝却表现出了对异性恋父权制的拥护。此外，粉丝的狂热与网络民族主义相结合，这复杂化了该地区的地缘政治。

Keywords

cancel culture“227 Incident”danmeitongrenChina取消文化227 事件耽美同人中国

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The China Quarterly , First View , pp. 1 - 16
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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