An unfulfilled future: digital nostalgia and the affective logic of ‘golden age’ rock for Chinese youth

In recent years, the nostalgia for China’s rock ‘golden age’ has continued to develop on digital platforms, with young music fans playing a key role as practitioners, constantly invoking this historical experience through practices such as ‘online archaeology.’ This study, based on discourse analysis methods and drawing on 339 user-generated content and interviews with 21 young individuals, explores the spatiotemporal dimensions and cultural logic of this nostalgic practice. The research finds that, temporally, young people intertwine personal memories of their youth with cultural imaginings of the ‘golden age,’ constructing a value system centred on rebellious spirit, authentic selfhood, and idealism. Spatially, they generate symbolic cultural belonging through nostalgia for ‘hometowns,’ ‘livehouses,’ and ‘music communities,’ in response to emotional ruptures and identity crises in the present. This article argues that this digital nostalgia practice not only serves as an emotional regulation mechanism for individuals in the face of a disordered reality, but also projects a collective imagination of a generation regarding an ‘unfulfilled future,’ making the rock ‘golden age’ an important symbolic resource and emotional outlet for young people confronting the current challenges.