A Virtual Chinatown: The Diasporic Mediasphere of Chinese Migrants in New Zealand (Chinese Overseas: History, Literature, and Society, 7)

A Virtual Chinatown explores the reciprocal relationship between ethnic media and transnational communities by examining the adaptation of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand. What role does diasporic Chinese media play in the process of Chinese migrants'adaptation to their new home country? With China's rise, to what extent has the expansion of its'soft power'swayed the changing identities of the Chinese overseas? A Virtual Chinatown provides a timely and original analysis to answer such questions.Using a media and communication studies approach to investigate the reciprocal relationship between Chinese-language media and the Chinese migrant community in New Zealand, Phoebe Li goes beyond conventional scholarship on the Chinese Diaspora as practised by social historians, anthropologists and demographers. Written in an accessible and reader-friendly manner, this book will also appeal to academics and students with interests in other transnational communities, alternative media, and minority politics. "From a tradition of sojourning, Chinese overseas have established communities around the world that have contributed to the development of China as well as of the countries they have made their homes. There has also grown a new consciousness of identity following the emergence of China as a modern state and the expansion of a global economy. This series aims to study the people and institutions that shaped these identities and how these entities interact with other people, institutions, and communities. It seeks to bring together scholarly work that examines the spectrum of historical experiences, the writings that capture the quality of migrant lives, and the manifold responses to changing social environments."--Publisher description A Virtual Chinatown explores the reciprocal relationship between ethnic media and transnational communities by exmaining the adaptation of Chinese immigrants to New Zealand