한⋅중 웹소설의 향유방식 전환 — 인터넷 밈의 사례를 중심으로

Abstract

Due to the sharing of web environment, Both Korean and Chinese web novels are transforming alongside the web environment. This paper reveals these transformations in Korean and Chinese web novels through the perspective of enjoyment-method. For this purpose, this paper provide the examples of the memeification of web novels. An Internet meme, is a form of play that seeks amusement through various types of contents such as text and images, shared on the internet. Currently, web novels in both Korea and China are being memeified in diverse ways by readers. These memes not only serve as a form of word-play seeking amusement, but also as a multimedia content that transforms to various media based on the web, providing audiovisual enjoyment. Internet memes spread very quickly by replication and modification like virus. Especially, With the adoption of Web3.0, more and more Internet services are using AI recommendation algorithms, making Internet memes swiftly integrated into recommendation algorithms. With the help of algorithms, Internet memes are penetrating more and more web-based contents, the speed of penetrating is becoming more quickly. Within this trend, both Korea and China are witnessing the phenomenon of completed web novels being revived. Unlike fanfics that based on the original work or the media-mix of web novels using the intellectual property of web novels, memes serve as a play for amusement that navigates numerous contents by themselves. Thus, they offer readers new ways to enjoy web novels.