ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter begins by presenting a series of snapshots illustrating recent instances, either occurring online or becoming talked about online, which have been regarded as being extreme in nature, and which either directly involve young Chinese or have become much discussed by them. Then, these instances will be analysed. Such a discussion will cautiously, in view of the fact that both Kershner (2006: 170) and Gurevich (1997) note how susceptible such a theory is to abuse, compare young Chinese experiences of the Internet with Bakhtin’s world of the Carnival, as discussed by Bakhtin in relation to the popularity of Rabelais (1984).
