[Commlist] New book: The Evolution of the Chinese Internet

We would like to announce a new publication from Stanford University 
Press, which we hope will be of interest.

*The Evolution of the Chinese Internet*

Creative Visibility in the Digital Public

*Shaohua Guo***

*_https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781503614437/the-evolution-of-the-chinese-internet/ 
<https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781503614437/the-evolution-of-the-chinese-internet/>_**__*

*__*

*Receive a 20% discount online:*

*CSLF2020*

*__**__*

“Built on over a decade of scrupulous field research and perspicacious 
on-site observations, this book puts itself on the must-read list of 
intellectual endeavors inquiring into the way of being on China’s 
ever-evolving internet. Subtly contextualized and dexterously 
historicized, the narratives embed rich concepts in the flesh and blood 
of everyday life, virtual and real.”*—Zixue Tai, University of Kentucky *

“Guo brings much-needed historical and literary sensitivities to the 
study of complex technological forms. Her innovative approach sheds 
critical new light on the history, culture, and politics of the Chinese 
internet. Highly recommended!”*—Guobin Yang, University of Pennsylvania*

Despite the widespread consensus that China’s digital revolution was 
sure to bring about massive democratic reforms, such changes have not 
come to pass. While scholars and policy makers alternate between 
predicting change and disparaging a stubbornly authoritarian regime, in 
this book Shaohua Guo argues that this dichotomy misses the far more 
complex reality. /The Evolution of the Chinese Internet/traces the 
emergence and maturation of one of the most creative digital cultures in 
the world, through four major technological platforms that have marked 
trends in internet use over the past two decades: the bulletin board 
system, the blog, the microblog, and WeChat. Guo transcends typical 
narratives, structured around the binaries of freedom and control, to 
argue that Chinese internet culture displays a uniquely sophisticated 
interplay between multiple extremes, and that its vibrancy is dependent 
on these complex negotiations. In contrast to the flourishing of 
research findings on what is made invisible online, this book examines 
the driving mechanisms that grant visibility to particular kinds of 
user-generated content, offering a systematic account of how and why an 
ingenious internet culture has been able to flourish. Guo highlights the 
pivotal roles that media institutions, technological platforms, and 
creative practices of Chinese netizens have played in shaping culture 
on- and offline.

*Shaohua Guo*is Associate Professor of Chinese at Carleton College.


*Stanford University Press**| December 2020 | 344pp | 9781503614437 | PB 
| £23.99**

*Price subject to change.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------