The Aesthetics of Zipai: From Wechat Selfies to Self-Representation in Contemporary Chinese Art and Photography

Seta, Gabriele de; Proksell, Michelle

doi:10.31165/nk.2015.86.404

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(2 reference statements)

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“…As such, the gaze of these younger tourists was subject to a number of influences, both traditional (being part of nature) and modern (contemporary life in China); however, their photographic practices were clearly defined by technology, the opportunities afforded by smartphones allowing them to take and share spontaneous, informal photographs. In this respect, therefore, their photographic gaze was not only de-exoticised but also conformed to the increasingly universal practice of embodied and personalised spontaneous photo-taking and sharing, reflecting the earlier observation that smartphone photography in general, and the taking and sharing of selfies in particular, has become as much an established social practice and cultural norm in China as elsewhere (de Seta & Proksell, 2015;Zhang, 2017).…”

Section: Influence Of Agementioning

confidence: 54%

Towards an understanding of Chinese tourist photography: evidence from the UK

Sharpley

Gammon

2017

Current Issues in Tourism

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The relationship between tourism and photography has long been subject to academic scrutiny. However, the extent research has adopted a primarily Western perspective, exploring the photographic practices of Western tourists. Conversely, more limited academic attention has been paid to the photographic practices of non-Western tourists. In particular, although China is now the largest source of international tourists, few attempts have been made to date to how and why Chinese tourists engage in photography during their international travels. This paper begins to address this gap in the literature, seeking to identify the extent to which the photographic practices of Chinese tourists are determined by what may be referred to as a 'Chinese tourist gaze'. Drawing on research undertaken amongst Chinese tourists in the UK, it reveals a number of influences that determine the nature and significance of the Chinese gaze, including the traditions of pre-modern travel in China, contemporary socio-economic transformations in China, the role of the Chinese state, and technology, the latter suggesting the increasing adoption of a more universal, de-exoticised (photographic) gaze.

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Section: Influence Of Agementioning

confidence: 54%

Towards an understanding of Chinese tourist photography: evidence from the UK

Sharpley

Gammon

2017

Current Issues in Tourism

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“…As one of China's oldest social media platforms, QQ provided his informants the most services and possibilities to manage their presentation of self (Gofman 1959), using functions as varied as music and video streaming to private and group-based messaging. In contrast, recent work on rural-urban migration (Wang 2016), and other Chinese urban contexts (De Seta and Proksell 2015;De Seta 2016a;Holmes et al 2015;Sun 2016) have found WeChat to be the fastest growing and most popular form of social media among young urbanites.…”

Section: The Alterity Of Digital Chinamentioning

confidence: 90%

So ‘Hot’ Right Now Reflections on Virality and Sociality from Transnational Digital China

Coates¹

2017

Digital Culture &Amp; Society

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A reflection of both the intensity of sharing practices and the appeal of shared content, the term ‘viral’ is often seen as coterminous with the digital media age. In particular, social media and mobile technologies afford users the ability to create and share content that spreads in ‘infectious’ ways. These technologies have caused moral panics in recent years, particularly within heavily regulated and censored media environments such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This paper uses the spread of a ‘viral’ sex video among young Chinesespeaking people who live transnational lives between Japan, China, and Taiwan, to reflect upon the question of ‘viral’ media as it is conceptualised more broadly. Their position both inside and outside Sinophone mediascapes affords a useful case study to think beyond purely institutional discussions of Chinese media, and focus on the ways media practices, affects, and affordances shape patterns of content distribution. It examines the language and practices of ‘virality’ among Chinese-speaking people in Tokyo and shows how the appeal of content like the sex video ‘digital stuff’ on WeChat are typically a digital amplification of pre-existing social practice. Described in terms of ‘sociothermic affects’ (Chau 2008) such as ‘fever’ and ‘heat’ (re/huo), the infectious nature of media is imagined in different but commensurate forms of virality that precedes the digital age. In the digital age however, virality is also made scalable (Miller et al. 2016) in new ways.

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“…Urry and Larsen (2011) suggest that many tourists have present, future and imagined audiences in mind when they pose for a camera, and at the core of this is presenting an idealised image or socially desirable image of oneself to others. This article argues that photo-taking and sharing have become ubiquitous and omnipresent in Chinese society (Seta and Proksell, 2015; Zhang, 2017), and ‘selfies’ have become an everyday performative and social practice that has also become ingrained into contemporary Chinese touristic practices. However, at present, little research has been carried out on identifying the cultural uniqueness of Chinese tourist photography apart from a study by Li et al (2017), on their photographic gaze which is heavily influenced by state narratives of modernity (see Oakes, 1998) and by digital technology.…”

Section: Tourist Photographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Performing love, prosperity and Chinese hipsterism: Young independent travellers in Pai, Thailand

2019

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Young independent Chinese travellers are increasingly visiting Pai, a small town in northern Thailand, in part influenced by the popularity of the 2009 Thai movie 'Pai in Love'. Using a performance perspective, combined with theory on affordances, which have not not yet been applied in the growing body of research on Chinese tourists, this paper examines the wide variety of performances in Pai by young independent Chinese travellers, many of which revolve around tourist photography. Drawing upon participant observation and in-depth interviews with Chinese travellers in Pai, the findings reveal that many young Chinese independent traveller performances in Pai revolve around the creation of online self-identities of prosperity and globalisation, love and alternative social identities such as Chinese hipsterism or Xiao Qing Xin. Central to many of these hybrid performances is the digital camera, which affords new, more playful, embodied ways of encountering and interacting with tourist attractions, whilst simultaneously offering a means of recording and refining performances which are then distributed via the 'statusphere'. The paper's use of a performance lens provides new insights into Chinese tourism consumption, and highlights the importance of physical, material and social affordances in performing tourism.

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The Aesthetics of Zipai: From Wechat Selfies to Self-Representation in Contemporary Chinese Art and Photography

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

Towards an understanding of Chinese tourist photography: evidence from the UK

Towards an understanding of Chinese tourist photography: evidence from the UK

So ‘Hot’ Right Now Reflections on Virality and Sociality from Transnational Digital China

Performing love, prosperity and Chinese hipsterism: Young independent travellers in Pai, Thailand

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