Zheng, Shiyu (Sharon) (2021) Chinese fandom of BBC’s Sherlock : identity construction, transcultural productivity, and museum participation. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

PDF WRAP_Theses_Zheng_2021.pdf - Submitted Version Embargoed item. Restricted access to Repository staff only until 17 May 2024. Contact author directly, specifying your specific needs. - Requires a PDF viewer. Download (5Mb)

Request Changes to record.

Abstract

This thesis studies Chinese fans of BBC’s Sherlock by exploring fan identity and fans’ online and offline engagement across the border of cultures as well as nations. The central argument of this thesis is that BBC’s Sherlock has cultivated cosmopolitan Chinese fans among the Chinese audience and allowed them to diversify fan practices, which circumvented the censorship beyond Chinese media landscape and enriched the global Sherlock fandom. To develop Chinese Sherlock fandom, Chinese fans have employed a diversity of fan practices to tackle the internal and external constraints and restraints such as cultural, language, and societal barriers as well as the governance and censorship.

To fully understand the background for Chinese fans to access Sherlock, this thesis reviewed the historical contexts of the British TV landscape to export Sherlock and the Chinese media landscape to import Sherlock, as well as the literature of fandom studies, and its development in the digital media era. To address my research question of “How Chinese fans transculturally engaged in BBC’s Sherlock (in the digital media era)?”, this project adopted a case study as an overarching framework for research methodological design, with three embedded methods for analyses – netnography, qualitative interviews, and a case study of the Sherlock Holmes Museum (including participant observation, and qualitative interviews from the museum).

The data collection strongly suggested Chinese fans’ diverse methods to engage in Sherlock, facing the difficulties of being a foreign fan. The data analyses first examined fan identity and fans’ different degrees of commitment from fans’ self-disclosure. Based upon fan interviews, this study introduced two metrics for recognising fan identity, categorised three types of Sherlock fans and developed a threelayered pyramid of fan hierarchy (inactive fans, dormant fans and loyal fans). The females, young generation and well-educated urbanites featured Chinese Sherlock fandom. Then, this thesis explored Chinese fans’ online participation, activities, and creativity to conclude the fanvid-centred and “Johnlock” themed Chinese fan productivity. Audio-visual forms were contended as the mainstream of Chinese fan production due to the internal and external restrictions whereas “Johnlock” was reviewed as a fanon for developing fan creativity to a large extent. This study lastly scrutinised the comprehensive data (e.g. visitors’ books, fan mails, a committed fan profile, and fan interviews) from the onsite participant observation of the Sherlock Holmes Museum to understand Chinese Sherlock fans’ offline behaviour as a fan visitor/tourist- it suggested that Chinese fans were cultural elitists who possessed a high level of social, cultural and economic affluence to become cosmopolitan fans and to develop their fandom across the limits of cultures and nations. Transcultural fandom has been developed in terms of fan identities, fan productivity, components of fandom, and Chinese fans’ reliance on digital media to engage in Sherlock.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DS Asia H Social Sciences > HM Sociology P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Sherlock (Television program : 2010-), Holmes, Sherlock -- In mass media, Fans (Persons) -- China, Fans (Persons) -- Social networks, Fans (Persons) -- China -- Attitudes, Fans (Persons) -- China -- Psychology
Official Date:	September 2021
Dates:	Date Event September 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Centre for Cultural and Media Policy Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Garde-Hansen, Joanne ; Kääpä, Pietari, 1977-
Sponsors:	University of Warwick ; China (Republic : 1949-). Jiao yu bu ; Sidney Perry Foundation
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	322 pages : colour illustrations
Language:	eng

Request changes or add full text files to a record

Repository staff actions (login required)

View Item