Returning to Tradition: Emotional Morality in Fan Fiction of 'A Dream of Red Mansions'

Returning to Tradition: Emotional Morality in Fan Fiction of 'A Dream of Red Mansions'

Cao Xueqin's masterpiece A Dream of Red Mansions is both a model of ancient literature and the subversion of many of the conventions of its literary genre. Today, it is also a popular canon for fan fiction writers on the internet. But where the original work is renowned for its subversive nature, contemporary fan fiction for it most often returns to classic social values.

Read More

The Popularity of Cotton Dolls: The Desire to Return to Childhood

The Popularity of Cotton Dolls: The Desire to Return to Childhood

Cotton dolls, originally of K-Pop idols, have become a favorite object of high school girls and young office ladies, a totem of "Peter Pan syndrome.” Baudrillard called non-functional goods "gadgets," meaning that they were divorced from practical value and had only symbolic meaning. The practical value of the cotton doll lies precisely in the implementation of the symbolic meaning on the concrete and perceptible material, which forms an interesting contrast with Baudrillard's "gadget."

Read More