ABSTRACT
The relationship between the cultural production, intimacy and identity is a complex one particularly in contemporary Asia. The media in Asia, particularly cosmopolitan Asia continually carries messages about both intimacy and identity which reflects a nationalist agenda particularly as regards gender identity, intimacy and procreation. The media conveys clear messages around various dimensions of intimacy, and identity, including gender, age, sexuality, ethnicity, ‘singlehood’ and gendered relationships. The framing of identity in the context of the media is an important mechanism in defining reflexivity and the self. Two types of messages are conveyed around the transformation of identity, which are often conflicting. A modernist conceptualization of identity framed around traditional Asian values concerning ‘filial piety’, family bonds and values, marital roles, and clearly defined models of masculinity and femininity. On the other hand and simultaneously, within a context of late modernity a conceptualization of identity is being framed around a separate set of messages, being sent out. These include discourses around women’s role in the labour market as well as embodiment. This includes debates around: cosmetic surgeries, medications, such as viagra, and reproductive technologies. These debates can be framed within the broader conceptualization of cultural production, cultural identity, modernity and in how the ‘cultural logics of global capitalism’ (Ong 1999) impact on desire, intimacy and identity. This chapter is divided into two parts: the first part deals with cultural
production and cultural identity and considers the theoretical framing of the debates which examine the intersection of globalization, production and consumption in late capitalism. This part of the chapter examines the contribution of Aihwa Ong’s (1995a, 1997, 1999, 2006) work both theoretically and empirically in the region, and particularly in the context of Islamic orthodoxy. The second part examines the framing of cultural production, intimacy and identity within a number of examples and sets of relations including: transmigrant marriages; gender, entertainment and sex-work; and paradigms of resistance around ‘agency’ practiced by different groups of women.
