This article examines the practice of egao, or online parody, in China as an act of cultural citizenship. Looking at user-generated parodies derived from a viral meme called Mom Please Hit Me Once More, it explores how young netizens negotiate their collective identity, memory and social changes through participatory cultural production online. Broadening the purview of citizenship practice while highlighting its cultural and affective dimension, this article reveals how the Internet provides a space for creative modes of civic expression and lifestyle politics – a hybrid space where entertainment and politics converge, while tensions between tradition and modernity play out.
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