Comunidades imaginarias y sub-culturas de aficionados al fútbol internacional en China: Una etnografía del acontecimiento mediático de Lionel Messi en Weibo

Joaquin Estrader

doi:10.3989/dra.2025.1075

Authors

Joaquin Estrader Faculty of International Studies, SWUFE; Centro de Estudios Argentina-China, UBA https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2130-6308

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3989/dra.2025.1075

Keywords:

Public Event, Social Media, Football, Nationalism, Weibo, China

Abstract

Publicly sensitive events on social media are a contemporary phenomenon that can be analyzed through anthropological, sociological, and communicational research frameworks. Based on a socio-semantic analysis of Chinese netizens’ micro-arguments on Weibo during the February 2024 Lionel Messi incident, we examine the discursive categories and socio-cultural characteristics of congruent (football fans) and dissonant groups (nationalists). This work unveils shared patterns regarding community belonging motivations, reconfiguration of fans’ identities, and intersubjective tensions within international sports fandom communities in China.

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