in Search of A Voice

Karaoke and the Construction of Identity in Chinese America

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Communication, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book in Search of A Voice by Casey M.K. Lum, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Casey M.K. Lum ISBN: 9781136490309
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: October 12, 2012
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Casey M.K. Lum
ISBN: 9781136490309
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: October 12, 2012
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Originating in Japan early in the 1970s as a simple sing-along technology, karaoke has become a hybrid media form designed to integrate mass-mediated popular music, video images, computer graphics, and the live musical performance of its human users. Not only has karaoke become a multimillion-dollar entertainment industry, its varied uses have also evolved into diverse popular cultural and social practices among many people around the world. Based on a two-year ethnographic study, this book offers a penetrating analysis of how karaoke is used in the expression, maintenance, and (re)construction of social identity as part of the Chinese American experience. It also explores the theoretical implications of interaction between the media audience and karaoke as both an electronic communication technology and a cultural practice.

This book analyzes the social origins of karaoke and the dramaturgical characteristics of karaoke events, and explains how various musical genres are reframed as karaoke music. It also visits the numerous karaoke scenes in their natural context -- the sites of the actual consumption of media products, such as expensive private homes and fancy hotel ballrooms in the affluent suburbs of New Jersey, working-class restaurants and nightclubs in the multiethnic neighborhoods in Flushing, Queens, and Cantonese opera music clubs in New York's Chinatown. Finally, the book offers an intimate analysis of how karaoke has been adopted by several interpretive communities of first-generation Chinese immigrants not only as popular entertainment but also as a means to help (re)define their social identity and way of life.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Originating in Japan early in the 1970s as a simple sing-along technology, karaoke has become a hybrid media form designed to integrate mass-mediated popular music, video images, computer graphics, and the live musical performance of its human users. Not only has karaoke become a multimillion-dollar entertainment industry, its varied uses have also evolved into diverse popular cultural and social practices among many people around the world. Based on a two-year ethnographic study, this book offers a penetrating analysis of how karaoke is used in the expression, maintenance, and (re)construction of social identity as part of the Chinese American experience. It also explores the theoretical implications of interaction between the media audience and karaoke as both an electronic communication technology and a cultural practice.

This book analyzes the social origins of karaoke and the dramaturgical characteristics of karaoke events, and explains how various musical genres are reframed as karaoke music. It also visits the numerous karaoke scenes in their natural context -- the sites of the actual consumption of media products, such as expensive private homes and fancy hotel ballrooms in the affluent suburbs of New Jersey, working-class restaurants and nightclubs in the multiethnic neighborhoods in Flushing, Queens, and Cantonese opera music clubs in New York's Chinatown. Finally, the book offers an intimate analysis of how karaoke has been adopted by several interpretive communities of first-generation Chinese immigrants not only as popular entertainment but also as a means to help (re)define their social identity and way of life.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Financing Universities In Developing Countries by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Europe’s Place in Global Financial Governance after the Crisis by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Child Trauma Handbook by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Smart Thinking by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Thinking German Translation by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Discounting and Environmental Policy by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Sociocultural Contexts of Language and Literacy by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Beyond Critique by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Inference to the Best Explanation by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Rio by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book The Jam Book by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book The Modernization of the Western World by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Social Justice and Educational Measurement by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book Intellectuals and Reform in the Ottoman Empire by Casey M.K. Lum
Cover of the book John Stuart Mill's Deliberative Landscape (Routledge Revivals) by Casey M.K. Lum
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy