View source for Kuso

{{short description|East Asian internet subcultures focusing on parody}}
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'''''Kuso''''' is a term used in [[East Asia]] for the [[internet culture]] that generally includes all types of [[camp (style)|camp]] and [[parody]]. In [[Japanese language|Japanese]], {{Nihongo|''kuso''|糞,くそ,クソ}} is a word that is commonly translated to English as [[Profanity|curse words]] such as [[fuck]], [[shit]], [[damn]], and [[bullshit]] (both ''kuso'' and ''shit'' refer to [[feces]]), and is often said as an [[interjection]]. It is also used to describe outrageous matters and objects of poor quality. This usage of ''kuso'' was brought into [[Taiwan]] around 2000 by young people who frequently visited Japanese websites and quickly became an [[internet phenomenon]], spreading to Taiwan and [[Hong Kong]] and subsequently to [[mainland China]].

=={{anchor|Background}}From Japanese ''kusogē'' to Taiwanese ''kuso''==
The root of Taiwanese "''kuso''" was not the [[Japanese language|Japanese]] word ''kuso'' itself but {{Nihongo|''[[Kusoge|kusogē]]''|クソゲー}}. The word ''kusogē'' is a [[clipped compound]] of {{Nihongo|''kuso''|糞,くそ||feces}} and {{Nihongo|''gēmu''|ゲーム||game}}, meaning "crappy (video) games". This term was eventually brought outside of Japan and its meaning shifted in the West, becoming a term of endearment (and even a category) towards either bad games of nostalgic value and/or poorly-developed games that still remain enjoyable as a whole.

This philosophy soon spread to Taiwan, where people would share the games and often satirical comments on [[Bulletin board system|BBS]]es, and the term was further shortened. Games generally branded as ''kuso'' in Taiwan include ''[[Hong Kong 97 (video game)|Hong Kong 97]]'' and the ''[[Death Crimson]]'' series.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

Because ''kusogē'' were often unintentionally funny, soon the definition of ''kuso'' in Taiwan shifted to "anything hilarious", and people started to brand anything outrageous and funny as ''kuso''. Parodies, such as the Chinese robot [[Xianxingzhe]] ridiculed by a Japanese website, were marked as ''kuso''. ''[[Mo lei tau]]'' films by [[Stephen Chow]] are often said to be ''kuso'' as well. The [[Cultural Revolution]] is often a subject of parody too, with songs such as ''[[I Love Beijing Tiananmen]]'' spread around the internet for laughs.

Some, however, limit the definition of ''kuso'' to "humour limited to those about [[Hong Kong comics]] or Japanese [[anime]], [[manga]], and games". ''Kuso'' by such definitions are primarily [[doujin]] or [[fanfiction]]. [[Fictional crossover]]s are common media for ''kuso'', such as redrawing certain [[bishōjo]] anime in the style of ''[[Fist of the North Star]]'', or blending elements of two different items together. (For example, in ''[[Densha de D]]'', both ''[[Initial D]]'' and ''[[Densha de Go!]]'' are parodied, as Takumi races trains and [[Drifting (motorsport)|drift]]s his railcar across multiple railway tracks.)

In [[China]], earlier ''e'gao'' works consisted of images edited in [[Adobe Photoshop]]. An example of this would be the [[Little Fatty]] internet meme.<ref>Meng p. 37.</ref>

==Compared to ''e'gao''==
In Chinese, ''kuso'' is called "''e'gao''" ({{Lang-zh|s=恶搞|t=惡搞|p=ègǎo}}), with the first character meaning "evil" or "gross" and the second meaning "to make [fun] of [someone/something]." In 2007 the word was so new that it was not listed in Chinese dictionaries.{{update inline|date=October 2015}}<ref name="egao">Wu, Jiao. "[http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-01/22/content_788600.htm E'gao: Art criticism or evil?]" ''[[China Daily]]''. January 22, 2007. Retrieved on January 25, 2012.</ref>

According to Christopher Rea, "''E'gao'', the main buzzword associated with online Chinese parody, literally means 'evil doings' or 'malicious manipulation{{'"}}; he notes that ''e'gao''{{'}}s "semantic associations [to ''kuso''] can be misleading, however, since ''e'gao'' is not fundamentally scatological—or even, as the Chinese term might suggest, malicious. In its broad usage, it may be applied to parody of any stripe, from fan tribute-mimicry to withering mockery. In a more restricted sense, it refers the practice of digitally manipulating mass culture products to comic effect and circulating them via the internet. The term ''e'gao'' may thus be interpreted in multiple senses, as it denotes variously a genre, a mode, a practice, an ethos and a culture."<ref>Christopher Rea, "Spoofing (e'gao) Culture on the Chinese Internet". In ''Humour in Chinese Life and Culture: Resistance and Control in Modern Times''. Jessica Milner Davis and Jocelyn Chey, eds. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013, p. 151.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Asia|Internet|Comedy}}
* [[Internet meme]]
* [[Internet slang]]
* [[List of Internet phenomena in China]]
* [[Japanese mobile phone culture]]
* [[Shitposting]]
* [[Internet troll]]
* [[B movie]]
* [[Détournement]]
* ''[[Kuso Miso Technique]]''

==References==
===Sources===
* Meng, Bingchun. "[http://gmc.sagepub.com/content/7/1/33.short From Steamed Bun to Grass Mud Horse: E Gao as alternative political discourse on the Chinese Internet] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104014952/http://gmc.sagepub.com/content/7/1/33.short |date=2015-11-04 }}." ''[[Global Media and Communication]]''. April 2011. Vol. 7. No. 1. Pages 33–51. DOI 10.1177/1742766510397938.
* [http://asia.ubc.ca/persons/christopher-rea/ Christopher Rea], "Spoofing (e’gao) Culture on the Chinese Internet." In [https://www.hkupress.hku.hk/pro/280.php Humour in Chinese Life and Culture: Resistance and Control in Modern Times] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215053848/https://www.hkupress.hku.hk/pro/280.php |date=2017-12-15 }}. Jessica Milner Davis and Jocelyn Chey, eds. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013, p.&nbsp;151.

===Citations===
<references/>

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|kusogē}}
{{Wiktionary}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070711154814/http://kusoness.com/ kusoness.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061101173150/http://www.kusohappens.com/ KusoHappens]
*[http://www.richyli.com/report/2003_08_30.htm KUSO came, RichyLi.com] URL accessed on 3/30/2006. {{in lang|zh}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060415131055/http://edad.com.cn/datou/kuso/index.htm Let's Kuso!] URL accessed on 3/30/2006. {{in lang|zh}}

[[Category:Humour]]
[[Category:Chinese culture]]
[[Category:Internet culture]]
[[Category:Japanese words and phrases]]
[[Category:Internet in China]]