Floating Lives The Media and Asian Diasporas

by Sinclair, John; Cunningham, Stuart; Fox, Josephine; Hawkins, Gay; Hirano, Chalinee; Pookong, Kee; Lewis, Glen; Nguyen, Tina; Ray, Manas; Yue, Audrey

• ISBN13: 9780742511361
• ISBN10: 0742511367
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-05-25
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Floating Lives is a unique examination of media and communication within diasporic ethnic communities, using in-depth studies of some of Australia's main Asian diasporic groups: the Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, and Thai communities. Going beyond conventional cross-cultural studies of mainstream media consumption, this book explores the ethnic community as a determining force in negotiating new hybrid identities and cultures--and demonstrates experiences common to diasporic communities worldwide.

Table of Contents

Figures and Appendixes	xi
Contributors	xiii
Acknowledgments	xv
Diasporas and the Media	1	(34)
John Sinclair
Stuart Cunningham
Shifting Ground	3	(6)
Delineating Diaspora	9	(8)
Constructing a Research Object	17	(4)
Australia as a Situated Research Field	21	(5)
Public ``Sphericules'' and Policy Scenarios	26	(9)
Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Media Use	35	(56)
John Sinclair
Audrey Yue
Gay Hawkins
Kee Pookong
Josephine Fox
The Chinese in Australia: Global Diaspora in Microcosm	36	(6)
Narrowcast Institutions: SBS and New World	42	(12)
Distribution of Chinese-language Video and Film in Australia	54	(10)
Results of Household Interviews (Survey Phase)	64	(14)
Results of Household Interviews (Ethnographic Phase)	78	(10)
Floating Lives	88	(3)
Popular Media of the Vietnamese Diaspora	91	(45)
Stuart Cunningham
Tina Nguyen
Basic Demography	93	(3)
``Structured in Dominance'': The Vietnamese Media Diet	96	(6)
``The New York of the East'': Hong Kong Attractions	102	(7)
Vietnamese Diasporic Video	109	(18)
Conclusion	127	(9)
Bollywood Down Under: Fiji Indian Cultural History and Popular Assertion	136	(49)
Manas Ray
Different Diasporic Indias	140	(6)
Demography of Fiji Indians in Australia	146	(2)
Media and Identity Politics	148	(2)
Indenture and Beyond	150	(3)
From the Ramayan to Bollywood	153	(8)
Fiji Indian Cultural Ecology in Australia	161	(5)
Intercommunal Discord and Cultural Assertion	166	(6)
Fiji Indian Youth Culture and Post-Zee Bollywood	172	(2)
Diasporising Bollywood	174	(5)
Conclusion	179	(6)
Mi Arai Mai Mai Mai? Thai-Australian Video Ways	185	(32)
Glen Lewis
Chalinee Hirano
Thai-Australian Connections	187	(5)
Thai Community Use of Broadcast TV, Radio and the Press	192	(5)
Ethnic Videos and Thai Urban Culture	197	(2)
Thai Video Stores: A Product or a Community Service?	199	(3)
Thai Community Video Use and Cultural Representation	202	(7)
Thai-Australian Media Use and Cultural Identification	209	(4)
Conclusion	213	(4)
Select Bibliography	217	(20)
Index	237