Media Technologies for Work and Play in East Asia

“From the political economy of regulations to representation, identity and labour, this book embraces a multiplicity of perspectives on the digital economy. The authors deftly explain how new forms and practices of work and play drive social transformation and create new cultural landscapes in and beyond Asia.” Anthony Y.H. Fung, Chinese University of Hong Kong

“An engaging, well-researched account of how digital technologies are changing the ways people work, play, interact and construct their identities in Japan and the two Koreas.” Alisa Freedman, University of Oregon

“The bleed of work and play is the cornerstone of all digital life today. This impressive collection offers multiple angles onto this entanglement from the perspective of Northeast Asia.” Marc Steinberg, Concordia University

“… a timely riveting page-turner if you are interested in technical communication studies, cultural studies, game studies, or political economy and trying to answer this question: how work and play are (re)defined through technology-mediated interactions in the emerging techno-cultural spheres of Northeast Asia?” Technical Communication

Micky Lee is Professor of Media Studies at Suffolk University in Boston.

Peichi Chung is Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Introduction ~ Micky Lee and Peichi Chung

Part 1 ~ Gender Online and Digital Sex

Sharing, Selling, Striving: The Gendered Labour of Female Social Entrepreneurship in South Korea ~ Kyooeun Jang

‘For Japan Only?’ Crossing and Re-Inscribing Boundaries in the Circulation of Adult Computer Games ~ Patrick W. Galbraith

Part 2 ~ Governance and Regulations

The New Personal Data Protection in Japan: Is It Enough? ~ Ana Gascón Marcén

Phenomena and Phobia Through Pokémon GO: An Analysis of the Reactions on the Augmented Reality Game in Japan ~ Deirdre Sneep

How Do Materiality and Corporeality Inform the Intellectual Property Debate? A Case Study of Pirated Media in North Korea ~ Micky Lee and Weiqi Zhang

Hyperreal Peninsula: North Korea’s Nuclear Cinema and South Korea’s Digital Revolution ~ Elizabeth Shim

Part 3 ~ Techno-Identity and Digital Labour Condition

‘Too Many Koreans’: Esports Biopower and South Korean Gaming Infrastructure ~ Keung Yoon Bae

South Korea’s Esports Industry in Northeast Asia: History, Ecosystem and Digital Labour ~ Peichi Chung

Representations of Play: Pachinko in Popular Media ~ Keiji Amano and Geoffrey Rockwell

The Work of Care in the Age of Feeling Machines ~ Shawn Bender

Conclusion ~ Peichi Chung