Asian migrant workers and their everyday use of the media in Korea

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

More than ten years ago, Appadurai deemed the interconnectedness of media and migration as the markings of the “world of the present” and as sources of the “feature of modern subjectivity”. Both the media and migration have opened up possibilities and opportunities for all sorts of people, changing the very fabric of everyday living. Since the mid 1980s, a steady flow of migrant workers from the South and South-East Asia migrated to Korea, and they are now an integral part of the Korean economy, culture and society in general.
This study focuses on Asian migrant workers’ patterns of media use in Korea to reveal a cross section of their everyday self-making processes. An analysis of in-depth interviews with ten migrant workers reveals that 1) the migrants experience a significant change in both the media ecology and needs after migration, and 2) the patterns of media use position migrants as both active audiences and alternative producers. During the beginning stages of their stay in Korea, the migrants actively use television and the Internet as a source of information/education, communication, entertainment/escape, and motivation/reflection. As their stay prolongs, they participate both directly and indirectly in various forms of alternative production, through which they actively resist against the stereotype of the problematic and helpless foreigner.
Ultimatley, through the social capital gained by the use of the media, the migrants rethink their position and role within Korean society. First, the media is no longer a source, but a powerful tool with which they can achieve their personal goals. Second, the media allows them to see, hear and speak beyond their immediate surroundings which engenders an empathetic and yet critical view of the world. And lastly, as a result of the first two, the media ultimately changes the meaning of production in their lives. The migrant workers are not merely producing goods but actively producing media content; they are “paid back” and “earn money” for their labor through the experience and knowledge acquired within the Korean media ecology.