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This book explores Chinese social media and its role in empowering ordinary Chinese netizens to challenge and influence government and mainstream media policies and practices in ways not possible prior to widespread availability of digital media.

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Chinese New Media Cultures in Transition: Weibo and the Carnivalesque is an important contribution to international scholarship on Chinese social media and its role in empowering ordinary Chinese netizens to challenge and influence government and mainstream media policies and practices in ways not possible prior to the widespread availability of digital media. This book develops a new model for understanding Chinese netizens´ model of participation in online discussions-Carnivalesque Participatory Discourse-that integrates Bakhtin´s concept of Carnivalesque discourse with concepts drawn from the Chinese cultural context, Weiguan and Meizhi . The model is then applied to case studies of three different major social media events in China, illustrating the usefulness of the model and illuminating scholarly understanding of the features and social-political significance of Chinese online discourse. Chinese New Media Cultures in Transition demonstrates that participating in online discourse and communities in China that are not explicitly political but are playful and humorous can lead to citizen empowerment.

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List of Figures - Acknowledgements - List of Abbreviations - Introduction - Carnivalesque Discourse: Analysing Civic Participation in Chinese Social Media - Media Regulation: An Ongoing Campaign - Weiguan and Meizhi : Modes of Civic Participation in Contemporary China - Playing Word Games: Subversive Pleasures Through Civic Participation Media Events - A Case Study of China´s 2011 High-Speed Train Accident - Chinese Social Media, Empowerment and the New Sense of Entitlement: Case Studies of Panbi and Can I Swear? - Conclusion - Appendix.

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"This book makes a substantial and original contribution to knowledge in an area of growing international interest. Minghua Wu develops strong case studies that are effectively illustrative of her overall themes. Her ability to link Western and Chinese scholarship on the development and operation of sites such as Weibo makes this an important contribution to the internationalization of digital media or social media." -Terry Flew, Professor of Communication and Creative Industries, Queensland University of Technology

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