Tongzhi to Tongxunlu: The Change of Gay Identity Labels and Queer Discourse in China in the Age of Platform Capitalism

Tongzhi (literal translation: comrade; slang for gay people) used to be the label gay people in China refer to themselves and an extensively studied term in queer China scholarships. However, in the last decade, that identification has been associated to another word – tongxunlu (literal translation: phonebooks; new slang for gay people), which emerged due to the development of social media and the booming of short-video industry. This evolution of labels - from the dominant use of tongzhi, to today’s tongxunlu - indicates a change in the social, cultural and political context for queer people in China and is an indispensable part of the contemporary queer discursive formation. Being a watershed moment as it is, very little research and insights exist around the discourse of tongxunlu. Hence, this paper argues that the emergence of tongxunlu as a new identity label for gay people and its use signify some crucial cultural and political moments in China that heavily influence the process of identification and the sense of community of Chinese queer people. Moreover, in today’s Chinese society, queer visibility is non-existent in the mainstream culture and media. Meanwhile, cultural censorship aims to erase that visibility even more while the state’s heterosexist ideological control is prevalent. Nevertheless, despite the mediation of platform capitalism in every aspect of our lives with the rise of digital platforms, the decentralisation of content production makes it more difficult for the state to regulate and contain muffled voices. This paper then, through a digital queer Marxist lens, examines why such linguistic changes happened, and how, situated in such a complex sociopolitical climate and digital material condition, the emergence of tongxunlu and an array of discursive formations with it inform the ways above conditions are (re)constructing and mediating queer identities and lives in China today.