The Re ‐ institutionalisation of Popular Fiction – the Internet and a New Model of Popular Fiction Prosumption in China – Chao Shih-chen
Abstract: The rising popularity of internet literature is closely associated with a new model of production and consumption of popular literary works as the internet has become the platform for the new model. Acknowledging this transformation, this paper aims at examining various changes in a digital Chinese literary field rendered by the internet. By adopting Bourdieu’s notion of the literary field, this paper attempts to analyse the rise of the new digital literary field in China using Qidian Zhongwen Wang as a case study. The example of this most commercially successful literary portal website demonstrates the shift in the roles of various agents in an online literary field.
Keywords: China, Internet Literature, Literary Field, Popular Literature, Prosumption