Mobile Cultures: New Media in Queer Asia

Scholars, artists, and activists from a range of countries, the contributors chronicle the different ways new media galvanize Asian queer communities in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, and around the world. They consider phenomena such as the uses of the Internet among gay, lesbian, or queer individuals in Taiwan and South Korea; the international popularization of Japanese queer pop culture products such as Yaoi manga; and a Thai website’s reading of a scientific tract on gay genetics in light of Buddhist beliefs. Essays also explore the politically subversive possibilities opened up by the proliferation of media technologies, examining, for instance, the use of Cyberjaya—Malaysia’s government-backed online portal—to form online communities in the face of strict antigay laws.

Contributors. Chris Berry, Tom Boellstorff, Larissa Hjorth, Katrien Jacobs, Olivia Khoo, Fran Martin, Mark McLelland, David Mullaly, Baden Offord, Sandip Roy, Veruska Sabucco, Audrey Yue

Chris Berry is Associate Professor in Film Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is author of A Bit on the Side: East-West Topographies of Desire and editor of several books including Memoirs from the Beijing Film Academy: The Genesis of China’s Fifth Generation, published by Duke University Press.

Fran Martin is Lecturer in the Cinema Studies Program at La Trobe University in Australia.

Audrey Yue is Lecturer in the Cultural Studies Program and Department of English at the University of Melbourne in Australia.