Rural Boy Groups: Awkward (Ga) Dance, Reflexive Gimmick, and the Livestreaming Craze in China

Abstract

Abstract This article examines the recent emergence on Chinese livestreaming platforms of what I call ‘rural boy groups’. Mostly self-employed and self-trained, the members of rural boy groups capitalize on the most accessible resources that they have – their own bodies – to become digital entrepreneurs, instead of following the conventional path as migrant workers or manual laborers in urban cities. Engaging with Sianne Ngai’s concept of the gimmick, the article investigates what makes their performance gimmicky: namely, ‘earthy taste’ (tuwei) aesthetic, ‘awkwardness’ (ga), and atmospheric interaction. It shows that this gimmicky entertainment by rural boy groups simultaneously exposes and exploits the underlying conditions of their labor, such as class divides and platform exploitation, which ends up perpetuating their precarious situation.