Anna W. Marshall (The Pennsylvania State University)
This paper explores the social landscape of WeChat among the Sunshine Dance Club of Central Pennsylvania. WeChat plays a central role for the club in learning, rehearsing, and performing Asian folk dances and serves a diasporic channel for the club members to communicate their social life and cultural activities with their communities in Asia. Drawing upon survey questionnaires, interviews, and participant observations, the article analyzes the cultural and social significance of the club and discovered how online and offline communities are engaged and mutually constructed to define values, broaden transnational connections, facilitate solidarity, and affirm bicultural identities.
Part of 05-12 Theorizing Global Asian Folklore Studies: Remaking Fluid Boundaries, Friday, November 03, 10:30 am–12:30 pm