Human Will in Digital Discourses About Shamanism

This study investigates how human will is articulated, negotiated, and reimagined within the discourses about Shamanism of Northeast China, with a particular focus on user-generated content from the Douyin platform (Chinese TikTok). Drawing on the data collected from comments between 2020 and 2024, this research employs a triangulated methodology integrating Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling, the Discourse–Historical Approach (DHA), and virtual ethnography. In traditional Shamanic belief systems, human will is conceptualized not as purely autonomous, but as inherently relational—interwoven with ecological responsibilities, ancestral spirits, and cosmological forces. While previous studies have explored Shamanism’s cultural and performative dimensions, they have largely overlooked the ethical and philosophical constructs of human agency embedded within Shamanic practices, especially in their digital adaptations. This study reveals that contemporary digital discourse simultaneously preserves, transforms, and commodifies Shamanic concepts of human will. Users express reverence, nostalgia, critique, and playful reinterpretations, demonstrating that digital platforms serve both as spaces for cultural continuity and dynamic meaning-making. By analyzing online discursive practices, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of how indigenous spiritual frameworks negotiate modern visibility, identity, and ethical agency in the digital era.