Searching for home: Explorations in new media and the Burmese diaspora in New Zealand

Description: 

ABSTRACT: "This study examines the place of new media in the maintance of Burmese diasporic identities. Political oppression in Burma, the experience of exile and the importance of opposition movements in the borderlands make the Burmese diaspora a unique and complex group. This study uses tapoetetha-kot, an indigenous Karen research methodology, to explore aspects of new media use and identity among a group of Burmese refugees in Auckland, New Zealand. Common among all participants was a twin desire to share stories of suffering and to have that pain recognised. Participants in this project try to maintain their language and cultural practices, with the intent of returning to a democratic Burma in the future. New media supports this, by providing participants with access to opposition news reports of human rights abuses and suffering; through making cultural and linguistic artifacts accessible, and through providing an easy means of communication with friends and family in Burma and the borderlands."... Keywords: Burma, Karen, refugee, diaspora, indigenous, political activism, new media, tapotaethakot VIOLET CHO

Creator/author: 

Violet Cho

Source/publisher: 

PACIFIC JOURNALISM REVIEW 17 (1) 2011

Date of Publication: 

2011-05-20

Date of entry: 

2011-09-16

Grouping: 

  • Individual Documents

Category: 

Language: 

English

Local URL: 

Format: 

pdf

Size: 

85.07 KB