Chinese online fiction: taste publics,entertainment, and Candle in the Tomb

This paper examines the growing cultural trend of Chinese online fiction. Using Gans's twin concepts of taste culture and taste public, it looks at online fiction as a product of two taste cultures evident on the Chinese Web. The paper then explores the growing appeal of online fiction for consumers and producers (or readers and authors) in relation to two key issues: are there important differences between online fiction and print fiction? Is the participatory nature of online fiction leading to a reinvigoration of literary creativity in the Chinese-speaking world? The relationship between the consumer and the producer of Chinese online fiction can also be explored in terms of an attention economy, and the evolving market for this type of fiction provides an excellent example of how such an economy functions. The attention economy encourages competition for the attention of readers and consequently ensures that the values of the taste public consuming this fiction strongly dictate its content and its continued improvement as a form of literary production.