|
In the 21st century, electronic communication technologies are becoming more abundant and less expensive. As a
result, the "virtual Chinese family" phenomenon has started to surface in Canada. Virtual families are ethnically Chinese families that are separated by the Pacific Ocean-while the children are studying in Canada, the parents are working in Asia. These families are contradictory because they are acoustic, time-biased consanguine communities living in the visual, space-biased world. Canadian economist and media historian Harold Innis developed a media theory that can be used to better understand the phenomenon of virtual families. This seemingly ironic phenomenon can also be analyzed by applying Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan's methods for achieving "integral awareness." This article illustrates how the Canadian communication paradigm presented by Innis and McLuhan enhance the understanding of virtual families, which is a part of the Chinese diaspora culture.
Innis's ideas about media balance cannot be comprehended unless the concepts of time-biased and space-biased communities
are illustrated. Innis argues, "that a key factor distinguishing societies is the degree to which they are time-bound and space-bound" [1]. Time-biased communities, according to Innis, in their purest forms are oral cultures that emphasize continuity [2]. Since human minds have a limited capacity to store knowledge without writing, time-biased societies have a limited ability to develop new knowledge due to the time and energy required to conserve knowledge [1]. Furthermore, Innis states that the knowledge conserved by time-biased societies tend to be more practical ones, such as the ones that are related to the seasons, as well as cultural knowledge that preserve traditions [4]. Time-biased societies are confined geographically and there is an emphasis on common good, and since many share the same knowledge, there is little room for individualization [5]. Time-biased communities use time-binding media, such as clay, stone and oral communication to record relevant knowledge to maintain local culture [6].
On the other hand, space-biased communities, according to Innis, are societies that do not require physical boundaries
in order to maintain control [7]. They do not value continuity with the past and their social relations tend to be impersonal [8]. Unlike oral societies, space-biased societies do not value time or continuity. Instead, time is broken up into discreet, uniform, and measurable chunks that can be evaluated in money-terms [9]. In other words, space-biased societies differ from time-biased societies because their mode of thought is "more linear, more rational, more detached, less intimate or personal, and less reliant upon tradition" [10]. Therefore, space-biased societies are more concerned about conquering new territories, and creating new markets for economic profit, rather than maintaining cultural knowledge and values [11]. As a result, space-biased societies use space-binding media, such as the telephone and the Internet, to engender impersonal and commoditized exchanges that are also instrumental in territorial expansion and control [12].
Having illustrated the characteristics of time-biased and space-biased societies, it is evident that Chinese virtual
families are time-biased entities living in the space-biased 21st century. Although traditional Chinese families have some time-biased characteristics, they are not time-biased societies in their purest forms. For instance, traditional Chinese families practice filial piety [13], which emphasizes respect for elders and one's ancestry. Therefore, it is implied that Chinese families regard continuity with the past as a significant aspect of their lives. Furthermore, there is little room for individualization in a traditional Chinese family because the ideal is "subordination of individual will for the common good of the family." Virtual families, as a result, are also time-biased entities because they are Chinese families and share many of the time-biased characteristics. On the other hand, it is also apparent that Chinese virtual families live in a space-biased world, because they exist without a necessity for geographically confined space. Family members are often separated between North America and Asia, and many use space-binding media, such as the telephone, the Internet, and web cameras to communicate and maintain familial relations. Furthermore, satellite children live in Canada, which does not have as much emphasis on one's past and ancestry as in Asian countries. Therefore, Chinese virtual families are contradictory entities that have both time-biased and space-biased characteristics.
What is interesting about Chinese virtual families is that they attempt to improve their contradictory situations by
using space-binding media to cultivate time-biased relations. Innis argues that, "pre-eminence of any medium in a culture... carries with it inherent limitations, or biases and new media may arise to correct or compensate for these limitations, restoring balance or stability" [14]. In other words, Chinese virtual families attempt to restore balance in their contradictory situations by using space-binding media to manage the physical distance between the family members. At the same time, they use filial piety as a time-binding medium to mediate familial relations and time-biased values in space-biased North America. In addition, Innis also states that "a communication medium's bulk and weight help set its time-binding versus space-binding qualities, thereby affecting profoundly the development of the civilization" [15]. Similarly, new media have a significant impact on Chinese virtual families because space-binding communication technologies are abundant and inexpensive, and used by Chinese families to maintain familial relations across geographical distance. In other words, Chinese virtual families use space-binding new media to strike a balance and to assist the continuity of time-biased ideals, such as filial piety.
Innis' concept of time- biased Chinese virtual families using space-biased new media to strike balance within their
contradictory situation can be further enhanced by using McLuhan's ideas about acoustic and visual space. He states that we need to understand the functions of our brains in order to comprehend the notions of acoustic and visual space. According to McLuhan,
[16].
Therefore, we need to understand the relationship between the left and right side of the brain to comprehend the notions
of acoustic and visual space, which will provide insights for the Chinese virtual family phenomenon. McLuhan states that the right hemisphere of the brain is the qualitative, spatial-tactile, simultaneous part of the brain whereas the left hemisphere of the brain is quantitative, linear and logical [17]. In addition, the left hemisphere of the brain is also known as the visual part of the brain because its main role is quantitative, logical reasoning [18]. On the other hand, the right hemisphere of the brain is known as the acoustic side because it is responsible for identifying the "palpable imagery not bound by time" [19], and it emphasizes the pattern-like qualities of qualitative thinking [20]. McLuhan also argues that oral cultures are acoustic because they are characterized by community that use multiple sensory effects to apprehend the world whereas the Western World is visual because it is characterized by individualism and only use sight to apprehend the world [21]. Therefore, it is reasonable to argue that Chinese families are acoustic because Chinese writing is symbolic, which promotes comprehending the world with multiple sensory effects, such as the eye and the ear [22]. In addition, McLuhan also states that oriental values are primarily acoustic because they primary use the right hemisphere of the brain [23]. At the same time, they live in visual North America, using the Latin alphabet, which promotes linear, logical thinking, and is characterized by individualism [24].
McLuhan's ideas about acoustic and visual space compliment Innis's idea about time-biased and space-biased communities.
Time-biased communities are generally acoustic whereas space-biased communities are generally visual. However, McLuhan goes one step further than Innis by applying the tools he prescribes for achieving integral awareness. Integral awareness is important because it provides simultaneous understanding, and it assesses the current cultural shift between visual and acoustic [25]. By understanding the shift between the visual and acoustic, as well as the balance between the time-binding and space-binding communities, we can comprehend the contradictory situations of Chinese virtual families. The tetrad is one of the tools McLuhan invented in order to achieve integral awareness. It suggests experimental alternatives, and therefore is able to shift our perceptive focus from the past into the present [26]. According to McLuhan, the tetrad states four principles: all media forms intensify or enhance something in a culture; obsolesce something else; retrieve a phase or factor long ago pushed aside; and undergo a reversal or modification when extended the limits of their potential [27]. For instance, it is crucial to observe the various functions of space-binding media in the tetradic form in order to grasp how they shape, condition and compromise the Chinese families.
For example, if we use the tetrad to analyze space-binding media used by Chinese virtual families, we learn that they
enhance communication with the family, and specifically, web cameras enhance the notion of acoustic space. Furthermore, space-binding media obsolesce embodied, continuous, face-to-face presence as a basis for relations and could further erode filial piety. At the same time, they also erode more time-binding media, such as letter and fax writing. Web cameras also retrieve face-to-face communication, and e-mails retrieve letter writing. Finally, since space-binding media are abundant and inexpensive, when pushed to their limits, they enabled the virtual family phenomenon. As a result, there are many Chinese children in Canada, many who feel abandoned, lonely and sad. Having illustrated space-binding media as an example, it is evident that the Chinese virtual family attempts to maintain a balance for their situation. For instance, while the family members are separated by geographical distance, they use communication technology to retrieve a sense of togetherness. At the same time, we also learn that while space-binding communication technologies are useful in many ways, the togetherness of the family is compromised due to their situations. The space-binding media can only temporarily relive feelings of abandonment, loneliness, sadness or guilt. Therefore, it is evident that space-binding technologies cannot fully compensate for the absence of their parents, and they cannot receive embodied parental care and affection through space-binding media.
In conclusion, it is evident that the virtual family phenomenon is extremely dynamic and is filled with contradictions.
Virtual families are acoustic, time-biased, consanguine communities living in a visual, space-biased world. Innis's idea about striking a media balance and McLuhan's notion of integral awareness are applied to this phenomenon to provide interpretation and analysis. Concepts such as space and time biases as well as virtual and acoustic space can be used to describe and understand a Canadian diaspora experience. Finally, as we are reaching a better understanding the virtual family experience, there is still much dissatisfaction that needs to be addressed.
References
[1] Babe, Robert E. (2000). Canadian Communication Thought: Ten Foundational Writers. University of Toronto Press: Canada. p.72.
[2] Ibid, 72
[3] Ibid, 72
[4] Ibid, 73
[5] Ibid, 73
[6] Ibid, 74, 76
[7] Ibid, 73
[8] Ibid, 73
[9] Ibid, 73
[10] Ibid, 73
[11] Ibid, 74
[12] Ibid, 74
[13] Filial piety is a prominent moral system that is at the centre of Chinese behaviours and ideals. It is also the moral system that guides the Chinese family in its virtual form. Shiaw is a concept within filial piety that emphasizes the importance of ancestry and respect for elders: Jordan, "Filial Piety in Taiwanese Popular Thought", p.268.
[14] Babe, Robert E. (2000). Canadian Communication Thought: Ten Foundational Writers. University of Toronto Press: Canada. p.77.
[15] Ibid, p.68.
[16] McLuhan, Marshall and Powers, Bruce R. (1989). The Global Village: Transformations in World Life and Media in the 21st Century. Oxford University Press: New York. p.49.
[17] Ibid, 52
[18] Ibid, ix, 54
[19] Ibid, 55
[20] Ibid, ix
[21] Ibid, 55
[22] Ibid, 55
[23] Ibid, x
[24] Ibid, 55
[25] Ibid, x
[26] Ibid, viii
[27] Ibid, xi
About the Author
Kayo Chang (m_nair@sfu.ca)
|
