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"The warmest kind of distance" How Chinese spectators engage with mediated suffering in Puujee on Douban

Wu, Yunga LU (2026) MKVM13 20261
Media and Communication Studies
Department of Communication and Media
Abstract
This thesis examines the Chinese audience’s emotional response and moral position
towards mediated distant suffering on Douban under the documentary Puujee.
Drawing on Boltanski’s Politics of pity, Chouliaraki’s analytics of mediation and
Schein’s concept of internal orientalism this study conducts a qualitative single case
study on Douban 210 comments. Used Thematic coding to identify recurring themes
and patterns in audience responses, then used discourse analysis to examine how
commenters construct representations of main character Puujee and her family,
articulate the audience's moral positions, and how they negotiate meanings around
suffering through language.
This study asks questions around how they construct distant... (More)
This thesis examines the Chinese audience’s emotional response and moral position
towards mediated distant suffering on Douban under the documentary Puujee.
Drawing on Boltanski’s Politics of pity, Chouliaraki’s analytics of mediation and
Schein’s concept of internal orientalism this study conducts a qualitative single case
study on Douban 210 comments. Used Thematic coding to identify recurring themes
and patterns in audience responses, then used discourse analysis to examine how
commenters construct representations of main character Puujee and her family,
articulate the audience's moral positions, and how they negotiate meanings around
suffering through language.
This study asks questions around how they construct distant sufferers, how they
position themselves as spectator, how platform culture and broader Chinese cultural
and political repertoires shape these responses and forms of emotional expression.
The findings contribute to the field of mediated suffering, by extended its theoretical
frameworks beyond western contexts. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Wu, Yunga LU
supervisor
organization
course
MKVM13 20261
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Mediated suffering, Douban, moral spectatorship, internal orientalism
language
English
id
9229363
date added to LUP
2026-06-17 11:14:13
date last changed
2026-06-17 11:14:13
@misc{9229363,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines the Chinese audience’s emotional response and moral position
towards mediated distant suffering on Douban under the documentary Puujee.
Drawing on Boltanski’s Politics of pity, Chouliaraki’s analytics of mediation and
Schein’s concept of internal orientalism this study conducts a qualitative single case
study on Douban 210 comments. Used Thematic coding to identify recurring themes
and patterns in audience responses, then used discourse analysis to examine how
commenters construct representations of main character Puujee and her family,
articulate the audience's moral positions, and how they negotiate meanings around
suffering through language.
This study asks questions around how they construct distant sufferers, how they
position themselves as spectator, how platform culture and broader Chinese cultural
and political repertoires shape these responses and forms of emotional expression.
The findings contribute to the field of mediated suffering, by extended its theoretical
frameworks beyond western contexts.}},
  author       = {{Wu, Yunga}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{"The warmest kind of distance" How Chinese spectators engage with mediated suffering in Puujee on Douban}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}