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Article published In: Journal of Asian Pacific Communication
Vol. 28:2 (2018) ► pp.281–302

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Migrant youth identity work in transnational new mediascape

A case study of what it means to be Korean for migrant adolescents

 | Geroge Mason University
Published online: 10 August 2018
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https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.00013.kim
Abstract
This paper argues that transnational new media space is an important developmental context for migrant youth who have multiple social networks across geographical and cultural locations. Informed by the ecological model of development and literacy studies, this paper examines Korean migrant adolescents’ sense of self and belonging in relation to the three intertwined identity categories – nationality, race, and ethnicity; and the role of new media in youth’s identity negotiation and representation. Using an ethnographic case study design, this paper analyzes adolescents’ identity work reflected in their verbal interviews and multimodal new media literacy practices. Findings suggest that despite the complexity of youths’ identity as seen in their shifting meaning of being Korean across national, ethno-cultural, and racial contexts, youths actively reconstructed and shared a fuller range of their identity constructs drawing on the resources and linguistic tools in transnational new media.
Article outline
  • Introduction
    • “Migrant youth” “identity work” in “transnational” “new mediascape”
    • Gaps in research on migrant youth
  • Guiding frameworks
    • Ecological multiplex of development
    • Hybridity in third space
    • New media literacy practices: Youth as designers of self
    • Transnational new media replenishing ethnicity
  • Research methods
    • Data collection and analysis
  • Findings
    • Complexity of being “Korean”
    • ‘Korean’ as national, legal identity
    • ‘Korean’ as ethnic bind
    • ‘Korean’ as ethnic option
    • Agency: Identity coordination in mediascape
    • Multimodal hybridity for complexity and agency
  • Discussion and conclusion: Identity work across and beyond borders
  • References
References (57)
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