ASA 114
Asia as Home(land)
In this reading, Valverde explains the impact that popular culture, particularly music and video, make in the lives of both Vietnamese Natives and Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese). She introduces the chapter by describing the ways in which Paris by Night, a popular Vietnamese diasporic variety show, plays a key role in the Vietnamese diaspora. Not only do the videos entertain with popular music and performers, but they also represent true experiences and shared/hybrid cultures. The fast growing popularity of these videos in the 1980s and 90s created multilayered discussions about “artistic concerns, social gossip, copyright infringement, government restrictions, and technological advances” (30). Furthermore, the popularity does not pertain to a single region. Its global reach defies the distance and political conflict between Viet Nam and overseas. The way around the political restrictions is through the blackmarket. Through the blackmarket, professionals in the industry have found loopholes to collaborate transnationally in order to produce an entertainment that highlights the voices of these people and fans-- commonly regarding issues of assimilating to hybrid culture.
This culture of pirating videos reminds me of my own family in which my uncle has always pirated movies, including Chinese movies and TV series. The difference, however, is that my family are just being cheap Chinese, while the focus of the reading is to exemplify how political dominations have impacted the music/entertainment industry. I believe this also has to do with the two generational differences, as many of the Viet Kieu written about regarding Paris by Night are first generation, while my uncle is second generation and started pirating later in his life. Therefore, the cultural and generational contrasts are key to what makes my family experience different to those in the reading.
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