網際網路與紐約福州移民的聯誼會：一個網絡選美事件與家鄉記憶的個案研究

Abstract

自1980年代以來美國不斷扭從福州地區來的大批移民潮，這些福建新移民喜歡聚集在紐約市曼哈頓華埠的東百老匯街，並於華埠成立了上百個聯誼會，在這些傳統的華人社團裡，尋求鄉親朋友在精神、財務和法律的支援。2004年時有位年輕的福州移民成立了一個福建人社區（Fujianese.com）網站，吸引了新來的移民，並成為同儕之間的社會互助機制。本文以遷徙中的紐約福州移民為對象，探討他們的聯誼會如何受到網際網路的影響，分析這些以家鄉認同為基礎的新移民中，網路使用者與非網路使用者間可能的差異？網路對傳統同鄉會與虛擬同鄉會在文化身份建構與次族群（sub-ethnic）動員方面又可能帶來什麼差異？作者將通過2005年的一個網路選美事件和福州移民的家鄉記憶來回答上述的提問。

With the mass outmigration to the United States in the past three decades, Fujianese migrants from Fuzhou region have been making their presence felt since the early 1980s and made East Broadway of Manhattan Chinatown in New York City their home in the U.S. They established hundreds of friendship associations (”lianyihui”聯誼會) as clubhouses in Manhattan Chinatown, to network with their fellow emigrant village relatives and friends. They sought mutual spiritual, financial and legal support in these traditional Chinese organizations. In 2004, a young Fuzhou migrant established the website Fujianese.com. It appealed to the recent migrants and served as a social support mechanism for a peer group. This paper explores how the fellowship association of Fuzhounese in diaspora is under the influence of the Internet. The fellowship association of new Fujianese immigrants is largely based on hometown identification. Do the Internet users differ from the non-Internet users in their fellowship association? What is the difference between the traditional and virtual hometown associations in cultural identity construction and sub-ethnic mobilization? The authors will try to answer these questions by examining a Miss Internet event in 2005 and the hometown memory of Fuzhou migrants.