Reimagining the Self in Virtual-Physical Third Spaces

• In Event: Reimagining Youth Learning and New Spaces for Digital Action

Abstract

This study examines how Chinese rural-to-urban students use self-sponsored digital media practices to navigate identity, agency, and belonging amid systemic marginalization. As they enter elite urban schools, their rural backgrounds—stigmatized through the hukou system and suzhi (quality) discourse—mark them as inferior. Drawing on Third Space theory and sociocultural literacy perspectives, the study explores how youth use digital literacies to resist stigma, reimagine rural identity, and negotiate hybrid selves. Based on narrative inquiry with four students, data include interviews, social media artifacts, and affective maps. Findings reveal that digital media functions as a generative third space for emotional resilience, feminist expression, and critical reflection, offering insights into how marginalized youth reshape identity and possibility across digital-physical terrains.

Authors

• Xuanya Zhou, University of Florida

• Huan Gao, University of Memphis