Course:ASIA319/2024/Excessively Absurd" (鬼畜)

鬼畜 - guǐchù

Etymology of guichu

Introduction

As the world becomes increasingly digitized and culture making often occurs online, the study of online phenomena can reveal much about the current sentiments of a place and people, particularly the feelings of the youth. In 1976 Richard Dawkins introduced the concept of a meme. In his book, he delineated memes as analogous to genes in the sense they were a self-replicating chunk of information that spread through a population. It is the way catch-phrases, melodies, jokes is shared and circulated through communities. With the internet, memes can come in the form of images, video clips and short text that are shared through instant messaging, emails, forums, blogs and social networking sites. Christian Bauckhage explains, “[i]nternet memes are inside jokes or pieces of hip underground knowledge, that many people are in on.”

Like in other parts of the world, youth culture in China forms and develops in social online spaces, such as WeChat, Weibo, Douyin, Xiaohongshu and Bilibili. A popular meme format in China is the 鬼畜 (guichu or gui chu) video. Following Dawkins’ definition and Bauckhage’s explanation, guichu videos can be designated as a type of meme. The phrase guichu refers to a particular type of short form video popular on Chinese video sharing social media sites such as Bilibili. The phenomena of guichu videos has become a source of interest for scholars from various backgrounds. Academics from media studies, psychology, culture and globalisation studies have all studied guichu videos and the effects it has on youth culture. Guichu videos are a part of meme subculture which provides a space for transcultural production, while simultaneously allowing commercial brand value creation, serious political and social discourse and counterculture production.

The Meaning of guichu and Genesis of the Term

The genesis of the term guichu is difficult to explain without understanding the meaning of the term. Guichu is composed of two characters 鬼畜. The 鬼 (Chinese pinyin - gui; Japanese romaji - oni) character literally translates to ghost or spirit, while 畜 (Chinese pinyin and Japanese romaji - chu) means livestock or animal in both Chinese and Japanese. The two Japanese kanji together as 鬼畜 is pronounced kichiku meaning demonic or brutal. Thus, both guichu and kichiku come from ACGN (anime, comic, game, novel) culture. In Japanese ACGN, kichiku most commonly appears as a male character trope who is “cold, cruel, or abusive to his romantic partner” (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Kichiku). However, kichiku can generally be taken to describe the mean, cruel and brutal characteristics of a person. With the meaning of guichu and kichiku established, tracing the genesis of the word becomes simpler.

Guichu videos first appeared on the extremely popular Chinese video sharing platform Bilibili. The origins of guichu can be traced back to the early 2000s when a number of strange McDonald’s commercials aired on Japanese television. These commercials motivated viewers to make parodies on the Japanese video sharing site Niconico, one of the videos titled “M.C. Donald was obsessed with dance? Final kichiku clown Ronald M”. Kichiku in the video title refers to the demonic powers of a famous video game character whose theme song was used in the parody video. When Chinese fans uploaded the video onto Bilibili, the term kichiku was code-switched to guichu, the Chinese pronunciation of the two kanji. Over time guichu came to define a unique format of audio-visual content with funny background music, repetition of trending audio-visual material and auto-tuned melodies. The diffusion, adoption and re-adoption of the term guichu itself is an interesting study of transnational (and translinguistic) cultural flows. Along with the adoption of the term in those part of ACGN communities, the jargon is also picked up by all those who are familiar with internet culture.

An elaboration of its variegated meanings, actual usages, and value-loaded implications

Guichu in popular culture

Guichu banner on Bilibili

Guichu refers to a type of fan-made video content that involves remixing existing video footage with fast-paced, frequent sound repetition to create a new and often absurd narrative. Mostly prevalent on Chinese media platform Bilibili, guichu operates as a ‘semiotic artifact’, serving as a dynamic platform for audience interaction and engagement. Following the emergence of the McDonald's advertisements on the platform, Bilibili users transformed the editing style of guichu to incorporate more rapid repetition, rhythm, synchronization of sound and movement, and syllable-level manipulation of source sound materials to create new sentences or sound effects. This in turn completely changed the original media material altogether. Guichu not only refers to a genre of video content on streaming platform, but it has also evolved into a specific, grassroots video-editing technique on the platform. To foster transcultural creation, Bilibili established an independent guichu section in 2014, allowing fans to upload videos featuring various editing techniques (e.g., Autotuning, Vocaloid, etc.). The majority of material used in guichu comes from a wide array of source materials ranging from celebrities and newsreaders to reality TV guests and cartoon/anime characters. Bilibili also introduced a subsection called Tutorials and Demonstrations, aiming to assist new uploaders from the community and sustain the growth of guichu culture. Unlike other similar media content that rely on incongruous subtitles or ‘fakesubs’ for humour, Bilibili’s guichu videos split and remix the original footage to create new performances. For example, celebrity footages can be remixed and edited to make them sing a country's national anthem. A common editing technique used in guichu is kong'er (Chinese: 空耳, meaning: empty ear), also a loanword from Japanese (soramimi). Kong'er involves a significant number of comments playfully misinterpreting foreign languages based on phonetic transcription. In Zhang et.al's example, the famous line Und doch habe ich allein (‘And yet, I am alone’) was interpreted by Bilibili viewers as wo dao hebei sheng lai (我到河北省来) which translates as ‘I have come to Hebei Province’, a northern province in China near Beijing.

Synonyms, Antonyms, and Hypernyms

Synonyms

Guichu is derived from the characters 鬼 (pinyin: guǐ, meaning: ghost) and 畜 (pinyin: chù, meaning: beast). The combination of the two characters is used to refer to out-of-ordinary behaviour, usually as cruel and ruthless as a devil or beast. There are no direct synonyms for guichu under this definition, as it is not commonly used in the Chinese language and originated as a term from Japan.

Guichu is also similar to the term AudioMAD (Chinese: 音MAD, pinyin: yīn MAD), abbreviated from Audio-basedMAD (Chinese: 音系MAD, pinyin: yīn xì MAD). While AudioMAD focuses more on remixing existing video content, guichu's editing style takes it a step further to create new effects altogether. AudioMAD is not to be confused with the term MADVideo (Chinese: MAD片). MADVideo focuses on the combination of the material picture and the background music, while AudioMAD focuses on the combination of the material sound and the background music.

Antonyms

There are no antonyms for guichu under the Chinese language.

Hypernyms

• 网路文化 (pinyin: wǎng lù wén huà) - Internet culture
• 网路迷因 (pinyin: wǎng lù mí yīn) - Internet meme
• 哔哩哔哩 (pinyin: bì lī bì lī) - Bilibili
• 编辑 (pinyin: biān jí) - Edits
• 视频 (pinyin: shì pín) - Video

Western or non-Chinese counterparts

Brainrot culture

President-elect Donald Trump

The term brainrot became popularized mostly among Generation Alpha and associated with the current meme culture online. Brainrot refers to a state of mental preoccupation or obsession with a particular subject, often to the point where it feels overwhelming or all-consuming. The term is used to describe the feeling of being unable to think about anything other than a specific piece of media, a meme, or a cultural phenomenon. Brainrot culture is mostly prevalent on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. The rapid and repetitive nature of meme cycles, viral challenges, and trending topics becomes addicting to its viewers. Brainrot culture is quite broad, as it can refer to a variety of internet content. Unlike guichu, some brainrot video contents don't require editing, remixing, or adding effects. For content to qualify as brainrot, it must be considered stupid, mindless, and time-wasting. An example of brainrot content similar to guichu would be the video edits of President-elect Donald Trump singing to a variety of songs such as 'Shape of You' by Ed Sheeran, 'Havana' by Camila Cabello, and 'Despacito' by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee. Clips of Trump's speeches at his rallies are mashed together based on the phonetical sounds spoken. The audio is then edited with autotune to match the melody of the song. Finally, the video is accompanied by an instrumental version of the chosen song to produce the final product. These types of videos have gained millions of views on various streaming platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram, and Youtube.

YouTube poop

I'D SAY HE'S HOT ON OUR TAIL by SuperYoshi

YouTube Poop (YTP) is internet slang for a humorous or surreal video mashup made of clips from a television show, movie, other video, etc. with visual and auditory effects. As the name suggests, YTP videos are prevalent on the media sharing platform YouTube. This form of content is described to be humorous, vulgar, satirical, obscene, absurd, profane, annoying, confusing, or dramatic. Its origins can be traced back to the early 2000s, from a video called The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 REMIXED!!!", renamed to "I'D SAY HE'S HOT ON OUR TAIL" by the creator SuperYoshi. From the mid-to-late 2000s, YTP content was considered to be one of the most popular types of video on YouTube. However, netizens soon saw a decline in popularity from the genre in the late 2010s. Luke Dorhmel cited the downfall of YTP due to undergoing fragmentization from a large single community with a shared set of sources into a series of sub-communities, each with their own preferred source material. As a result, sub-communities began to develop their own set of convoluted "references-within-references" even further. It is common within the YTP community where the work of one creator is used as the underlying work for another video, thus making it a subculture of remix culture. Most YTP content is derived from materials such as movies, television shows, anime, cartoons, commercials, or other YouTube videos.

An exploration into social, cultural, and political tensions

The online and social nature of guichu allows for the "brainwashing" effects of repetition and addictive style to showcase any given topic through an entertaining satirical entertainment of mockery and ironic tones. The guichu concept has not only introduced this new genre but also been an influence to pre existing forms of social media content, like chuchuwen.  Originally mashups to worship idolized celebrities; intended to show off the star and build adoration within the fandom. The content varied with their protagonists and the presence/absence of subtitles and gradually extended to include more than real-world celebrities but also virtual characters of novels or games, but generally, they followed a consistent editing style with hedonistic functions that showcased the protagonist’s charisma and the editors’ editing skills. Chuchuwen content became a vessel for more critical narratives after the influences of guichu. The redesign of chuchuwen proved that social, cultural, and political issues were easier addressed under the guise of mockeries and brain rot.

Political Satire and Resistance

The satirization of social, cultural, and political issues are manifested through humorous parodies often littered with judgemental undertones or blatant commentary on the issue. In one famous video, an animated Trump passionately narrates himself being a patriotic Chinese spy who was born in the Sichuan province of China. The apparent absurdity of a then US president being a Chinese spy created an ironic atmosphere with rewritten lyrics such as, “I was hysteria in the face but clam in my heart and I covered myself in service of my homeland” and, “My heart belongs to the [Chinese] party, the country, and the citizens.” A Chinese national flag was photoshopped into a heart shape and attached to a photo of Trump talking in front of the American national flag, exaggerating the sarcastic feeling of this mashup. Such content not only comments on international tensions between China and the United State, but also reflects a broader cultural phenomenon of "fandom nationalization" Trump who was intensifying his harsh policies against China with an aim to win a second presidential election was reduced into a digestible comedic character. This creative outlet also helps evade CCP censorship; addressing political issues and power structures indirectly allows younger audiences to resonate with these ideas and provide a safe platform for that expression.

Activism in Mashup Videos

The easy access and quick creation time for guichu narratives allows for timely updates on prevalent injustices. While these videos are often comedic, the political activism is sometimes more obvious. A significant example is the controversy surrounding the Communist Youth League of China's two anthropomorphic characters, particularly the female character, Jiangshanjiao. Netizens commentated, saying it was "State sanctioned misogyny" because of the way she embodied traditional gender norms that are considered outdated. There were displays of sexism found in comments under Jiangshanjiao's official account, asking "Do you have periods" or, "Are you giving out your body in exchange for a job promotion? This incited emotional responses. Using guichu mashups, the feminists shared their anger about the disrespect to Jiangshanjiao. A video was made to mock the hostility towards women and to expose the imbalance of power between women and men. Its lyrics peered into a woman's struggles:

"Why are you always so gloomy?

In this unfair situation,

Feeling like a drowning fish.

How come equal rights become a talk to yourself?

This confusing world, these indifferent people" .

The call for change had not been hidden behind a quick joke, instead the video became a vehicle for feminist discourse.

Market manipulation and immaterial labor

Guichu’s presence on platforms like Bilibili has led to a unique intersection between brand culture and user-generated content, where the creativity of guichu videos is leveraged by marketers to promote products in subtle ways. Marketers use guichu’s popular videos for its potential influence on informal brand promotion. This relationship between brands and the user culture highlights the concept of "immaterial labor," as described by Arvidsson (2005), where users contribute to brand-building activities without direct compensation. Brands benefit from this “free labor” as users consciously or unconsciously promote goods and services; it leaves marketers with the potential to exploit guichu culture without the community’s knowledge or consent. This may lead to ethical issues, as the influence of user generated content might be altered for purposes beyond its original intent.

Studies related to the keyword

The catchy, easy-watching and easily replicable format of guichu presents several opportunities for meaning making and culture creation but also has the ability to promote negative behaviours.

There has been research based on how platform cultures and subcultures are discursively constructed by the design of the platform interface. In Zhang and Zhao's study, the results have shown that Bilibili discursively frames and legitimizes video-sharing practices by establishing a folk taxonomy of video genres and integrating subculture into its menu design. Using guichu as an observation, the study concludes that the interface of Bilibili evolves guichu into a unique video-sharing practice on the website. Bilibili promotes guichu culture by providing users with necessary tools and content to develop content while also creating its own subcategory on the site. This also legitimizes multiple authorships in its content: 1) original video producers; 2) the uploader or material curator, and 3) commenters and ‘fake’ subtitlers. Therefore allowing fans to directly partake in culture creation.

Online spaces also allow for subversive expressions of fandom expression. This is done through videos uploaded on Bilibili. Chen asserts guichu videos represent a playful expression of youth identity making by enabling fans to remix and mashup familiar ACGN content. This type of engagement elevates fans from passive consumers of content to content producers; aiding identity creation through what Chen calls “playful prosumption” (Zhang and Zhao's elaboration on the process of prosumtion can be found above). Using “danmaku” or “danmu” (real-time bullet screen comment function) creators and viewers can interact with each other and the media authorizing these prosumers to share in a collective identity in real time. Guichu and other danmaku interactions allow fans to articulate and negotiate complex identities in a humorous way that resonates within a community but may appear nonsensical to outsiders.

It is precisely because of the engaged involvement of youth in guichu culture and overwhelming presence on Bilibili that brands have recognised it as a medium extending their influence on younger generations. The popularity and proliferation of guichu videos makes it a popular format for promoting their brands and products. Brands exploit the existing resources on Bilibili to naturalize and legitimize their presence in market society. It also illustrates how brands reappropriate unique youth cultural expression to drive market operations.

Despite the positive cultural and commercial capacity of online prosumption, Yang et al. finds consumption of videos (short-form videos like guichu, mukbang, pornography etc.) can indicate addictive behaviours. Bilibili’s platform features like push notifications and auto -scrolling prolongs viewing, while guichu videos are particularly engaging for some. The humorous aspects and editing style make these videos addictive to watch.

Conclusion

As digitalization accelarates, studying online phenomena like guichu offers insights into the cultural values and sentiments amongst the youth in China. Guichu videos are a unique cultural genre through which inside jokes disseminate. Through platforms like Bilibili, where most guichu videos are shared, youth perform and create identities. Guichu videos have transformed into culture makers and markers, creating and reflecting youth identities while participating in global meme culture. The phenomenon of guichu illustrates the power of digital media to shape and reflect cultural values in contemporary China, particularly among avid users of social media.

Guichu has evolved into a versatile tool for satire, social critique, and even brand promotion, bridging entertainment with deeper commentary on societal issues. Its adaptability has allowed it to address sensitive topics like political tensions, gender norms, and the pressures of consumer culture in ways that resonate widely while bypassing censorship while fostering a sense of collective online identity. Guichu’s rise also highlights the complexities of immaterial labor, where user creativity contributes to brand promotion, without users’ explicit awareness.

Guichu's popularity highlights the dual role of digital media as a tool for both entertainment and critical commentary. It underscores the importance of online communities amongst youth while negotiating identity and ideology in a rapidly changing world. By mirroring the views of Chinese youth, memes serve as a useful medium for self-expression, community and transcultural exchange.

References

This resource was created by Course:ASIA319.