Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to probe the breadth and depth of Asian American media contours—examining both historical and contemporary texts, considering all facets of media production and consumption, and includes the often marginalized voices of queer, mixed race, transnational, and diasporic Asian Americans. It focuses on Asian American engagements with new media technologies and the possibilities that they open up. The book also examines the role that media play in reifying the complicated connections between Asia and the United States, examining film, television, print magazines, websites, and mobile phone technologies. It emphasizes aural analysis over the visual mode that often dominates in media studies. The book moves beyond the way that Asian Americans are represented by media producers to examine the polymedia environment in which professional, "elite" Filipino immigrants exist.