Floating Lives: The Media and Asian Diasporas (Critical Media Studies: Institutions, Politics, and Culture)

__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 Cover 1 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 Figures and Appendixes 12 Contributors 14 Acknowledgments 16 Chapter 1: Diasporas and the Media 18 Shifting Ground 20 Delineating Diaspora 26 Constructing a Research Object 34 Australia as a Situated Research Field 38 Public "Sphericules" and Policy Scenarios 43 Chapter 2: Chinese Cosmopolitanism and Media Use 52 The Chinese in Australia: Global Diaspora in Microcosm 53 Narrowcast Institutions: SBS and New World 59 Distribution of Chinese-language Video and Film in Australia 71 Results of Household Interviews (Survey Phase) 81 Results of Household Interviews (Ethnographic Phase) 95 Floating Lives 105 Chapter 3: Popular Media of the Vietnamese Diaspora 108 Basic Demography 110 "Structured in Dominance": The Vietnamese Media Diet 113 "The New York of the East": Hong Kong Attractions 119 Vietnamese Diasporic Video 126 Conclusion 144 Chapter 4: Hollywood Down Under: Fiji Indian Cultural History and Popular Assertion 161 Different Diasporic Indias 165 Demography of Fiji Indians in Australia 171 Media and Identity Politics 173 Indenture and Beyond 175 From the Ramayan to Bollywood 178 Fiji Indian Cultural Ecology in Australia 186 Intercommunal Discord and Cultural Assertion 191 Fiji Indian Youth Culture and Post-Zee Bollywood 197 Diasporising Bollywood 199 Conclusion 204 Chapter 5: Mi Arai Mai Mai Mai? Thai-Australian Video ways 210 Thai-Australian Connections 212 Thai Community use of Broadcast TY, Radio and the Press 217 Ethnic Videos and Thai Urban Culture 222 Thai Video Stores: A Product or a Community Service? 224 Thai Community Video Use and Cultural Representation 227 Thai-Australian Media Use and Cultural Identification 234 Conclusion 238 Select Bibliography 242 Index 262 Diasporas And The Media / John Sinclair And Stuart Cunningham -- Chinese Cosmopolitanism And Media Use / John Sinclair ... [et Al.] -- Popular Media Of The Vietnamese Diaspora / Stuart Cunningham And Tina Nguyen -- Bollywood Down Under : Fiji Indian Cultural History And Popular Assertion / Manas Ray -- Mi Arai Mai Mai Mai? : Thai-australian Video Ways / Glen Lewis And Chalinee Hirano. Edited By Stuart Cunningham And John Sinclair. Originally Published: St. Lucia, Queensland : University Of Queensland Press, 2000. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Content: Diasporas and the media / John Sinclair and Stuart Cunningham -- Chinese cosmopolitanism and media use / John Sinclair [and others] -- Popular media of the Vietnamese diaspora / Stuart Cunningham and Tina Nguyen -- Bollywood down under : Fiji Indian cultural history and popular assertion / Manas Ray -- Mi arai mai mai mai? : Thai-Australian video ways / Glen Lewis and Chalinee Hirano.