Asian Perspectives on Digital Culture

<p>In Asia, amidst its varied levels of economic development and diverse cultural traditions and political regimes, the Internet and mobile communications are increasingly used in every aspect of life. Yet the analytical frames used to understand the impact of digital media on Asia predominantly originate from the Global North, neither rooted in Asia’s rich philosophical traditions, nor reflective of the sociocultural practices of this dynamic region. This volume examines digital phenomena and its impact on Asia by drawing on specifically Asian perspectives. Contributors apply a variety of Asian theoretical frameworks including <i>guanxi</i>, face, <i>qing</i>, <i>dharma</i> and <i>karma</i>. With chapters focusing on emerging digital trends in China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, and Taiwan, the book presents compelling and diverse research on identity and selfhood, spirituality, social networking, corporate image, and national identity as shaped by and articulated through digital communication platforms. </p> <p><strong>Part 1: Overview </strong> 1. A (Digital) Giant Awakens – Invigorating Media Studies with Asian Perspectives <em>Sun Sun Lim and Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano </em><b>Part 2: Self and Identity </b> 2. Face and Online Social Networking <i>Sun Sun Lim and Iccha Basnyat</i> 3. My Letter to Heaven via Email - Translocal Piety and Mediated Selves in Urban Marian Piety in the Philippines <i>Manuel Victor J. Sapitula and Cheryll Ruth R. Soriano</i> 4. Exploring Confucianism in Understanding Face-ism in Online Dating Sites of Eastern and Western Cultures <em>Michael Prieler </em><strong>Part 3: Groups Processes and Collective Imaginaries </strong>5. Credibility, Reliability, and Reciprocity: Mobile Communication, <i>Guanxi</i>, and Protest Mobilization in Contemporary China <em>Jun Liu</em> 6. The Local Sociality and Emotion of <em>Jeong</em> in Koreans’ Media Practices <em>Kyong Yoon</em> 7. Ritual and Communal Connection in Mobile Phone Communication: Representations of <em>Kapwa</em>, <em>Bayanihan</em> and "People Power" in the Philippines<em> Cheryll Soriano and Sun Sun Lim</em> <strong>Part 4: Discourses and Discursive Constructions of Meaning </strong>8. What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in India? Discursive Constructions of CSR as <em>Sarva Loka Hitam</em> in Online Narratives of Companies in India <em>Ganga S Dhanesh </em>9. Shadow and Soul: Stereoscopic Phantasmagoria and Holographic Immortalization in Transnational Chinese Pop <em>Liew Kai Khiun </em>10. Tweets in the Limelight: The Contested Relationship between (Dis)harmony and Newsworthiness <i>Yenn Lee </i> <strong>Part 5: Conclusions and Ruminations</strong> 11. Asian modernity and the post human future: Some reflections <em>T T Sreekumar </em>12. Re-Orienting Global Digital Cultures<em> Gerard Goggin</em></p>