| As Thai TV dramas become popular in China in recent years, the number of Chinese audience who turn into fans of them is becoming increasingly. This makes Thai TV dramas become a beautiful scene in Chinese TV screen after South Korean drama, Hong Kong drama and American drama. As the need of audience increases and due to the popularization of online communication platforms, a huge and systematic group is formed from fans of Thai TV dramas, making the group in internet environment a valuable research object. In new media environment, more fan audiences appear. As watching Thai TV dramas one episode after another, the fan groups also work on cultural activities. Traditional social levels are not fit for these fan groups who have similar cultural taste or personal preference and could confirm each other’s identity through special discourse system. As one of the special fan groups, what do Thai TV drama fan groups get through a series of online activities and how do they realize identity establishment within online communication platforms? To solve the problem, the author picks the most representative and classic one among many Thai TV drama fan groups——"Baidu Bar dedicated to Thai TV dramas" as the example of the thesis. Basing on the observation of the activities of online fan groups and the deep interview, as well as questionnaire survey, the thesis analyses these groups from their ways of using online communication platforms by combing cultural study, giving a special attention to the identity establishment of them within online communication platforms.The first chapter gives a brief introduction to the source and the meaning of the topic, the research overview, the research object, the core concept, the research framework and the research methods.In the main part of the thesis, the author gives a brief instruction to the development history of Thai TV dramas in China, during which Thai TV dramas have experienced hardships and smoothness from playing on traditional media to network media. However, with social cultural foundation, the popularity of Thai TV dramas is not occasional. Besides Thai TV drama’s own feature, it is also influenced by culture, policy, mechanism of transmission, technology and art. The following part gives an introduction to Thai TV drama fan groups in network environment, which is composed of separate individuals and expand rapidly in the network era. As analyzing the groups, the author introduces an example——"Baidu Bar dedicated to Thai TV dramas" and takes it as the sample for the following research. As a highly-interactive organization with a large number of Thai TV drama fans, "Baidu Bar dedicated to Thai TV dramas" is fairy popular among the fans. The author also gives a brief introduction to different sections and the user identification of the Bar in this chapter. Taking "Thai Drama Bar" as a sample to conduct general combing and classifying of the practical online activities of this group. During this process, the author finds that the motivation of online Thai TV drama fans’media using is from their pursuit of identity, their purpose of using media is to strengthen self recognition and the group sense of belongings and identity.Then it comes to the core part of this paper——how to construct identity through the media using behavior for Thai drama fans. In order to solve this problem, the author describes from the two aspects:self identification and group identification. Identity is completed in self torture and the exploration of other relationships. First, although every fan is an individual, their identity construction can’t be isolated from self-examination or the reference from interaction with others. The author divides the identity research into two parts, one aspect is from the point of individual’s ideal self present stage, the fans realizes the unification of "actual self and "ideal self by a series of self-examination activities. From the initial will expression level to mapping stage and then to downstage character extend, during the media using, the fans complete self identity according to their own intake degree. The other aspects, from the relationship between individual and others, without other’s reference, the self is not the self, other’s comments and affirm is very important to the identity construction of individual. Here, by dividing the fan type, the author explore individually from the point of group administrator, opinion leader and subtitle member, general members about how they are using media to get other’s affirm, fine judgment and recognition, and find their identity construction ways from the specific media using behavior.Self identity is for solving the problem of "who I am", while individual’s development can’t be isolated from the group, when the research of online Thai TV drama fans is expanded to fan group, then "who are we"? this problem is involved with group identity. In the research, the author borrows the research frame of "border, ideology, dialog" from social movement research to analyze how the Thai drama fan group build the group identity by "seek common inside group, seek difference outside group". Research the group identity problem from three aspects:border division of groups, preference construction of internal groups, face the challenge of external groups. To research the group in a better way, the author divides the group as three comparative variable elements from the point of expansion according to range. They are:Thai TV drama bar members and other Thai TV drama fan group, Thai drama fans and other drama fans, Subculture and mainstream culture. And discuss within every dimension about how the groups determine the border, how to strengthen internal group idea, how to face the challenge of external groups. In the dynamic interactive relationship, trying to figure out how the fan group build the identity by using media.Thai TV dramas belong to trans-cultural communication. Its transmission bears the value and ideology of Thailand, so the identity research is raised up to cultural level, and the cultural identity has to be mentioned. Because China and Thailand culture belongs to East Asia cnltuce circle, so there are many similarities not only in etiquette and custom, but also in ethical concept of value and ways of emotional expression. Especially when Chinese elements are involved in the Thai TV drama, the Thai TV drama fans will feel easy to have cultural identity by the calling of nationalism. Just like what Stuart Hall said, cultural identity is both "exist" and "change". When the value expressed by Thai TV drama exceeds the recognition of Chinese fan group, they will have conflict on recognition. Whether it is positive or negative in identity establishment, the cultural identity of Thai TV drama fans is dynamic, and they will find the balance point of cultural identity according to the situation.The last chapter is the summary of the whole thesis. Mainly systemize the relationship between online Thai TV drama fans media using behavior and identity construction, the development of new media, especially the prosperity of internet, is the motivation of Thai TV drama fans’ identity construction. Media using behavior of fan group can improve the construction of identity label, at the same time, identity construction has impact on the fan group. At the end of this research, the author also summarizes the innovation, restriction of the research and the expectation to the research is proposed. As Thailand is a country with weak influence and a small group of Thai users, there are not many researches and literatures on Thai TV dramas in our country. The author hopes that the research could provide some valuable information to the research of Thai TV play fan groups in internet environment. |
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