Danmu subculture as a phenomenon of contemporary Chinese youth subculture

Abstract

Danmu subculture is a unique phenomenon of Chinese youth subculture in the Internet space. Its main group of people are young people who grew up with the Internet in China and are the only children in their parents' families: they do not lack parental love and do not feel any material difficulties, but they are characterised by spiritual loneliness, from which the Internet space has become their escape. This paper argues that the uniqueness of the young generation, globalisation and routinisation of the Internet are the social contexts in which the Chinese Danmu subculture emerged and developed, and its unique language form is an expression of rebellion against the culture of the parents' generation and the dominant culture, a kind of 'symbolic resistance', and manifests the cultural identity of this interesting group, the circle of Danmu subculture created by young people separates it from the dominant culture and other subcultures. It has an obvious «participatory» character, which is the secondary creation of original videos and the carnivalesque participation of youth groups in online videos. In addition, as the Danmu subculture moves beyond its unique cultural circle, a reversal for the dominant culture gradually emerges. The author presents the idea that a complex relationship is formed between the Danmu subculture and the dominant culture, which includes both rebellion and compartmentalisation as well as beneficial reversal and active neighbourhood. It is thought that over time, the Danmu subculture may become a mass culture and a tool for youth groups to identify with the dominant culture.