Virtual space, real identity: Exploring cultural identity of Chinese Diaspora in virtual community

Abstract

With the advent of globalization, the movement of immigrants has crossed the borders and the question of identity has been more and more salient in the modern society. Struggling in different cultural frames, Diasporas’ cultural identities are constructed through the interaction between what Hall called similarity and difference in the process of displacement and relocation. The deterritorialization in the era of globalization calls the traditional notion of “community” into question. Scattered across the western hemisphere, the new Chinese Diaspora are gathering in the virtual communities to grab news, to comment on issues, and to negotiate their identities in an alien culture. Interviews with Chinese Diaspora in the North America show that the negotiation of different cultural values and practices results in the fragmented and hybridized cultural identity among them in virtual communities. This exploration of interpersonal experiences also shows that the symbiotic relationship between the physical community and the virtual community forges and strengthens such discursive cultural identity.