The Payoff in the Third and Fourth Space
Before discussing the specific groups in the fandom, it is crucial to identify the values of the two forces, the fans and the professional industry. Upon first glance, the fact that many of the otaku groups do not exist for or seek out monetary gains from the industries in the first place might seem to make the point of precarity and flexible labor unimportant. Since much of the works created by the fandom has little to no direct economic or social effects on its participants' first and second space of home and work, as will be shown in later nodes on the path, the unstable nature of their job of creating and distributing works may appear insignificant. However, it is important to recognize that the works of otakus are not completely free; they are expecting to be paid off with rewards in the third and fourth spaces of the fandom. What the otakus are gaining, or attempting to gain, by participating is fulfillment of the desire to contribute to the fandom and a feeling of social status and belonging in the group.
The importance of status and social belonging in the third space is not an isolated event limited to the otaku. It is a persistent feature in another, completely separate youth group, the South Korean gamers. In Chee's study, one of her interviewees points out that "a primary motivator to play games in Korea [is] to achieve social acceptance among peer[s]" (Chee 235). Furthermore, the PC bangs serve as a space where "[a gamer's] talents in a game [are] scrutinized and 'peer-reviewed'" (Chee 235). PC bangs are the third space in which the Korean gamers are driven to pursue a feeling of belonging and social status. Finally, the prominence of PC bang and internet gameplay in Korea shows that the social consequences in the fourth space are not minute, which by extension and similarity of situation, indicates that the motivations and payout for the otaku are important to its participants. Hence, while the modes of payment and reward for the otaku youth culture are more flexible than those of traditional capitalist values, they are still expecting compensation for their work in the third and fourth space. Whether this flexibility in the mode of payment is actually a means of adaptation to the precarious work practices enforced on the youth by neoliberal approaches to profit is a matter of another discussion.
References
Chee, Florence. "The Games We Play Online and Offline: Making Wang-tta in Korea." Popular Communication 4.3 (2006): 225-39. Web.
Ito, Mizuko, Daisuke Okabe, and Izumi Tsuji. Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print.
The importance of status and social belonging in the third space is not an isolated event limited to the otaku. It is a persistent feature in another, completely separate youth group, the South Korean gamers. In Chee's study, one of her interviewees points out that "a primary motivator to play games in Korea [is] to achieve social acceptance among peer[s]" (Chee 235). Furthermore, the PC bangs serve as a space where "[a gamer's] talents in a game [are] scrutinized and 'peer-reviewed'" (Chee 235). PC bangs are the third space in which the Korean gamers are driven to pursue a feeling of belonging and social status. Finally, the prominence of PC bang and internet gameplay in Korea shows that the social consequences in the fourth space are not minute, which by extension and similarity of situation, indicates that the motivations and payout for the otaku are important to its participants. Hence, while the modes of payment and reward for the otaku youth culture are more flexible than those of traditional capitalist values, they are still expecting compensation for their work in the third and fourth space. Whether this flexibility in the mode of payment is actually a means of adaptation to the precarious work practices enforced on the youth by neoliberal approaches to profit is a matter of another discussion.
References
Chee, Florence. "The Games We Play Online and Offline: Making Wang-tta in Korea." Popular Communication 4.3 (2006): 225-39. Web.
Ito, Mizuko, Daisuke Okabe, and Izumi Tsuji. Fandom Unbound: Otaku Culture in a Connected World. New Haven: Yale UP, 2012. Print.
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