A Socio-cultural Analysis of Carnivalesque Languages on Corruption Incidents in Chinese Digital Context

Abstract

Discussion on corrupted cadres is heated in the Chinese digital context, which is categorized as being carnivalesque by the Chinese academy. However, it did not draw enough attention from English literature. Under Carnivalesque theory, this paper tends to fill the gap. The objective of this study is to explore the language production of the carnivalesque vernacular in the Chinese digital context. it collects 325 comments on Chinese social media on the expose of corruption and conducts in-depth interviews with 16 informants as attenders of the online Carnival. The results of the study revealed a landmark compilation of the hot debates on corruption in public discourses and illustrates the content and form of carnivalesque languages in a Chinese context. In content, it serves as a vehicle of a mentality of hatred for the rich behind a complexity of emotions and assists in negotiating with authoritarian censorship mechanisms through egao production. Besides, it is a complex of disengagement from and return to the compared language in reality.