The Transnational Identity of New Second Generation Migrants and the Role of Media : A Case Study of Young People in New York City and London

The objective of this study is to explore how electronic media influences the construction of transnational identity. In recent years, increasingly more people have begun to move back and forth between two or more countries and to connect transnationally using satellite television and the Internet. It is discussed that as a result, migrants begin to construct new transnational identities, and the identity of the “new second generation” is often the focus of attention. Therefore, I have conducted a case study of young second generation Japanese in New York City and London in order to explore the influence of electronic media on identity construction. The results show that there are three identification patterns among the young people: (1) Japanese, (2) national identity other than Japanese, and (3) transnational identity. The process of their identification is affected by specific factors: parents, language, race and ethnic relations, and back-and-forth movement. As for electronic media, the Internet has greatly influenced the young people's identity negotiation. After the Internet became available to them, the young people began to watch Japanese television programs far more frequently than they had previously watched them, by using free video-sharing services such as YouTube and Veoh. They also began to develop networks with other young second generation Japanese around the world by using social networking services such as mixi or Facebook. These electronic media enable them to negotiate their identities by “thinking across spaces.” In conclusion, electronic media leads some of the young people whose parents are of different nationalities and who were brought up in more than two countries to form new transnational identities. These young people use electronic media as a means of constructing new identities to transcend their national identity, which tends to emphasize cultural and ethnic homogeneity