The language of danmei forums

Like users of other Chinese websites, Jinjiang readers and authors share among themselves an unique „Web language” (Zhou 2000). They often use initials of pinyin spellings, Arabic numbers, emoticons, words from other languagesl or Chinese characters of similar pronouncitation to replace the actual characters. The circulation of this sort of written patois unintelligible to the unitiated demarcates the boundary between insiders and outsiders. This is especially useful for danmei fans, among whom certain „jargon” phrases, many of them lifted from their original Japanese, are widely circulated not just to produce a sense of community but also to protect them from unwanted attention and censure from society. However, danmei fans also take time to educate novices and alert each other to new works worth pursuing. The content of their communication induces feelings of recognition and identification more effectively still.

Jin Feng 2009. „Addicted to beauty”: Consuming and producing Web-based Chinese „Danmei” Fiction at Jinjiang. Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, 21 (2), 10.