Stepping in Karen Media World (Draft)

DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au Stepping in Karen Media World: the Construction of けAccessibilityげ and けFitげ of Imagined Karen Community This chapter examines the development of Karen ethnic media in social and historical contexts, for instance, evangelist mission of Christian missionaries, Karen nationalist movements, ethnic conflict situations and state policies. It shows that the different contexts of each Karen group and the plurality of Karen-ness have contributed to the diversity of Karen ethnic media. Those groups include Burmese Karen, Thai Karen, and resetting Karen (which is represented by Karen in Melbourne, Australia). The more the group develops a sense of being Karen and the more that identity is purposefully constructed, the more they pay attention to media. Consequently, an i agi ed Ka e o u it has existed - more obvious and forceful. This however depends on the availability of media technologies and knowledge in each period. Moreover, the examination reveals that Karen identity and Karen media interact considerably. As suggested by social identity view, Karen media as a social actor has shaped - and has been shaped by - Karenness simultaneously. To shed light on the interaction between Karen media and Karen identity, the development of Karen media is further analysed using two concepts that are accessibility and fit , based on self-categorisation theory. In brief, accessibility is the availability of a social category that can be used by individuals for self-identification. Fit is a sense of belonging to the category which the individuals can have. These concepts reveal the dynamics of Karen media in relation to the construction of Karen identity in its societal contexts, and vice versa. A sense of being Karen, which is created in different periods, by different groups and for different target audiences, contributes to the fluidity of accessibility and fit. For example, the establishment of a PwoKaren-dialect media outlet enhances the accessibility and the fit of the category Karen for Pwo Karen groups. They therefore can use the media to identify themselves as a part of Karen, even though Karen-ness is somewhat dominated by Sgaw Karen speakers. Fictional media is another example. From its beginnings, Karen ethnic media has primarily been factual media concentrating on social and political issues. Many Karen people may not be interested in the issues; and as a result, they may not feel a sense of Karen-ness. Fictional and entertainment 1 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au media presenting a Karen love story or Karen teenage characters, for instance, may perform as an alternative way for them to fit in or belong to the category Karen. De Block and Buckingham (2007, pp.12-13) suggest that the availability of media and the more frequent use of it can fa ilitate o e flexible modes of belonging and national conscious ess . The e a i atio of Karen ethnic media manifests that the flexible modes of belonging also are facilitated by narratives and representations in the media as well as the characteristics of each medium. 1. Pioneering Karen-ness - Pioneering Karen Ethnic Media 1.1 The Morning Star (Sah Tu Gaw) To explore pioneering Karen ethnic media, it is necessary to consider the emergence of Karenness and its contexts. As pointed out by several scholars, a se se of Ka e g oup ess initially existed in the nineteenth century in Burma. It considerably was a product of social, historical and political contexts in the country. In particular, the evangelisation and the British occupation of Burma had played a prominent role in creating a sense of being Karen. Several groups of people constituting the category Karen nowadays had never known and used the word Karen ..u til Ch istia issio a ies a d B itish olo ial offi e s ga e the te espe ta ilit (Jorgensen, 1997, p.vi). After people identified as Karen have existed, many inventions for and/or by the Karen people have also introduced, for example, Karen nation, Karen history1, Karen literature and Karen media. Regarding Karen media, the Morning Star (or Sah Tu Gaw in Karen) was the earliest Karen monthly media outlet established in 1841 by Francis Mason, an American Baptist missionary. It was one of the e a gelists lite a p o otio s which included the invention of Karen writing scripts and the establishment of Christian schools for Karen. These promotions were clearly driven by religious aims. For instance, after the written Karen was invented in 1832, the translation of the New Testament and the Bible from English into 1 The most comprehensive Karen history text, History of the Karen, was written in the 1930s by a Sgaw Karen Journalist, Sau Au La or Saw Aung Hla. It has been reproduced and used widely by Karen, especially the people living in refugee camps and resettling in third countries (Renard, 2003, p.6). Nevertheless, it is hardly known by Thai Karen. 2 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au Karen was begun and completed in 1843 and 1853 respectively2. In the case of media like the Morning Star, it seemed to be a perfect match between the printing technology familiarly used in the Protestant Reformation since the sixteenth century; and the American Baptist s concentration on evangelical mission3. The Morning Star had been issued from 1842 to 1962. Although its establishment was primarily motivated by the evangelisation, over more than a century, it undoubtedly had been employed by Karen people themselves to create a sense of Karen-ness, or Karen national identity in particular. Buadaeng (2007, p.79) suggests that this publication pla ed a i po ta t ole linking the Karen – especially the Christian Karen – together as members of the same imagined ethnic Ka e o u it . At that time, Karen ethnic and national consciousness was becoming gradually created, especially by Karen National Association - KNA (it later was transformed to Karen National Union – KNU in 1947). The founders and the leaders of this pioneering political organisation all were missionary-educated Karen elites. Given the close relationship between missionaries and KNA/KNU, the contents of the Morning Star, to some extent, were manipulated by KNA/KNU and used to support their political and nationalist aims. Especially when Burma became independent from Britain in 1948, the Morning Star was likely to be managed solely by KNU given that a vast number of missionaries migrated from the country. This ethnic newspaper was initially printed in Karen (Sgaw Karen scripts) and English. Later, it was printed only in Karen; and in Karen and Burmese after the Second World War (KNU, 1986, p.5). This language use somewhat revealed the control of Karen (journalists/political organisations) over the Morning Star while it was developing. A KNU s ulleti stated that o e of the primary factors to promote advancement for a nation lies in its literature and news communications...we Karens had once attained certain achievement in this aspect through our newspaper - the Mo i g “ta (KNU, 1985, p.2). Inevitably, this Karen media outlet was 2 A Sgaw Karen writing script was invented in 1832 by American missionary Reverend Jonathan Wade with the assistance of several Karen Christians. A decade later, a writing script was devised in Pwo Karen, another main Karen dialect. Besides religious publication, a number of Karen textbooks, thesauruses and dictionaries have been produced since the late 1830 and have been used in schools so far (Worland, 2010). 3 The American Churches USA was founded in the late 1630s by following a vast of the Protestant theology. 3 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au i o siste t ith the Ge e al Ne Wi s Burmanisation policy4 adopted after the country was ruled by the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) government. The Morning Star therefore was forced to close down in 1962; nonetheless, it remains the oldest continuously-published ethnic journal in Burma. Another interesting point is the domination of Sgaw-Christian Karen over Karen-ness and the relation between religions and Karen sub-dialect groups. Many scholarly studies found that although Karen identity was plural and fluid, it has been dominated by Sgaw-Christian Karen so far. Karen somewhat has been recognised as a Christian ethnic group despite the fact that the majority of Karen people classify as Buddhists. Considering its contexts, the Buddhist Karen chiefly speaks Pwo Karen dialect. More significantly, Karen groups firstly converting to Christianity were Sgaw-Karen speakers. After the conversion, Karen nationalism was introduced which resulted in a need for uniform Karen-ness such as Karen national language5. The exploration of this first Karen media reveals one of the most important reasons for the domination of Karen identity that arose from their nationalist project. The reason is that Sgaw Karen Christians had an opportunity to participate in mass media production and print technology earlier than the other Karen sub-groups. It further can be assumed that the accessibility and the fit of the category Karen constructed by the Morning Star was somewhat limited, especially at the beginning. Only some people, such as Sgaw-Karen-literate and Christian Karen, can possibly use it to enhance their sense of being Karen. 1.2 The ‘ise of Othe “ta s Apart from the Morning Star, there were around twenty Karen ethnic media outlets established between the 1880s and the 1980s such as the Sah Tu Hah (or Evening Star) and the Daw Kalu 4 Burmanisation policy such as a downgrading of ethnic minority languages and a ban of ethnic and opposition media is one of the most important issues ethnic groups in Burma concern (Smith, 1991, p.24). 5 Sgaw Karen has been used as the official dialect in most Karen organisations and communities with the aim of the establishment of uniform Karen-ness. The other key inventions also used for this aim include Karen flag, national anthem and national ceremonies and holidays. 4 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au (or Fair Play) (KNU, 1986, pp.5-7). They all were print media mainly providing news and information about Karen societies in Burma. Those pioneering publications have been fostered by Karen nationalist motivation and they simultaneously have contributed to Karen nationalist consciousness. As pointed out by Anderson (2006, pp.40-41), print culture has played an important role in constructing an imagined national community which has brought about the emergence of a modern nation-state. Undoubtedly, the Karen publications over that hundredyear period has created, visualised and straightened their self-identification as a nation. Those ethnic media outlets can be divided by their foundation periods including before and after the Second World War. Many Karen media outlets before the Second World War affiliated with Christian organisations, for example, the Children’s Friend and the Sunrise, monthly newspapers published by the Rangoon Karen Christian Endeavour Association and the Toungoo Anglican Church respectively. They aimed to present news and stories of national affairs and religion. The rest were either media for specific nationalist purposes or general and nonreligious publications. For instance, one of the few general magazines published in this period was the Karen Magazine which presented current news, cartoons, photographs and ancient Karen poetry. At the beginning until World War II, Karen identity constructed by their ethnic media had been a likely combination between Karen ethno-national identity and Christian identity. Karen media after the Second World War, on the other hand, rarely was founded or supported by particular Christian groups as a number of missionaries fled the country and Christian organisations were terminated due to the war. Besides, the war has motivated the media to concentrate on fostering Karen nationalism. During World War II, the intense hatred and deep conflict between Karen and Burman6 has dramatically increased (Buadaeng, 2007, p.79). 6 The term Burman specifically refers to the ethnic majority of Burma while Burmese is used to refer to all people of the country which consist of ethnic minorities. By 1989, the country was re-named as the Union of Myanmar. However, Burma/Burmese still has been used by academics, especially for researching ethnic groups (including this thesis). This is because it has represented all of the ethnic groups in the country. Also, ethnic minorities themselves prefer to use Burma rather than Myanmar. 5 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au Similarly to the Anglo-Burmese Wars7 that Karen served in the British Army; in World War II, they allied with the British to fight against the Japanese and the Burman army. This war resulted in the Japanese occupation of Burma from 1942 to 1945 (so eti es it is alled The Japanese Era ). During the Japanese occupation, Karen and Burman had many fights and a vast number of their people were killed. The context as such tended to be the motivation behind the emergence of many Karen nationalist-centred media from the late 1940s forward, or when British re-occupied Burma. Almost all of the Karen media resumed and newly- established has apparently been produced with political aims. Some examples were the Karen Vanguard Journal pu lished a g oup of Ka e outh f o the ‘a goo U i e sit ; a d se e al KNU s publications including the Thu Wunna Taing (The Golden Land), Tha Noo Htoo and KNU Bulletin. Karen secessionist movements8, ethnicity and nationhood obviously were covered and highlighted by the media while Christianity was significantly less of a focus. Most of the Karen media, both before and after World War II, was published in Karen language. Anderson (2006, p.44) suggests that print languages of particular groups have underpinned atio al o s ious ess as the ha e eated u ified fields of e ha ge a d o In the process, Anderson further points out, the u i atio . people g aduall became aware of the hundreds of thousands... of people in their particular language-field . Karen-language ethnic media therefore has been used to construct a sense of collectiveness for Karen society. In addition, some Karen media has constructed and insisted the existence of their group for the others by using the so-called world language - English. There were Karen publications printed in two languages, Karen and English, and some only in English such as KNU Bulletin. Rather than creating a sense of Karen-ness among Karen communities, the publication ai ed to p o ote a better understanding of the cause of Karen Revolution and the current situatio i Bu a fo international communities (KNU, 1986, p.7). Compared with the Morning Star, the production of English-language media outlets definitely was driven by different contexts. At the pioneering 7 The Anglo-Burmese Wars consisted of three wars between the 1820s and the 1880s. 8 The independence from Burma used to be the primary aim of KNU. However, at present they aim to call for a federal system. 6 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au time, it was because the Karen writing script was a very new invention and not every Karen could read and write it. Also, given the Morning Star linking to evangelical missions, missionaries possibly intended to use the media to get attention and continuous supports from their Christian organisation. Alternatively, after World War II and especially after the Burmese independence, the use of English has resulted from the fact that Karen has demanded the attention of international communities such as human rights organisations and international media. Put simply, the use of languages in Karen media is strategic and functional. Moreover, it has been gradually motivated by Karen ethno-national consciousness. Regarding non-political media outlets, even though there were only few of them, these were a significant part of the construction of Karen identity. By the o epts a essi ilit a d fit , this kind of media enhances the accessibility and the fit of the category Karen, particularly for Karen sub-groups. For instance, the e as a Ka e o e s o thl , Our Home, published after World War II. Its contents included domestic science, literature and health for women. The magazine, to some extent, had spread a sense of Karen-ness to women who might rarely connect with political and military issues. Implicitly, this woman magazine also has conveyed national consciousness to their readers as it has been structured within the idea of Karen nationhood. A o di g to Billig , p. , atio hood p o ides a o ti ual a kg ou d fo their (nations ) political discourses, for cultural products, and even for the structuring of e spape s . Billig calls this type of national consciousness as banal nationalism o nationalism in everyday life. In terms of sub-dialects and religions, the Taw Hsoo Nya (Advance Forward) was another example of the enhancement of accessibility and fit. As it was likely to be the first Pwo Karen print media, it initially provided the accessibility of being Karen for Pwo Karen audiences. As a result, the audiences could feel fit or have a sense of belonging to Karen collectiveness. Similarly, non-Christian media outlets also could be used by Buddhist or Animist groups to identify themselves as Karen. Without doubt, the role of the ethnic media in increasing the accessibility and the fit of the imagined Karen community has considerably led to the 7 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au straightening and forcefulness of Karen ethnicity and nationhood. Whether or not, the media has explicitly presented the idea of nationalism. 1.3 The Interruption of Karen Media Advancement9 The advancement of Karen ethnic media has been interrupted in the 1960s, specifically since 1962 when military autocrats have taken over Burma. Participation in public affairs and media production in the country has totally been under government control. Eventually, Karen and other ethnic media outlets were liquidated. Karen media, as reported by KNU (1986, p.7), mostly was closed down and the only few allowed published was tight egulatio s i posed o the g oups i Bu a du i g the ilita . As suggested B oote ith g eat diffi ulties due to , p. , eth i edia egi e a e ge e all s alle , u de fu ded, a d less p ofessio all de eloped, a d the efo e st uggle fo e og itio a d sustai a ilit . The political situation had interrupted the Karen media advancement for about three decades. Karen literature such as historic textbooks might be used and distributed, however the continuous circulation of news and current issues by the ethnic media like the previous time is most probably more powerful to gather and mobilise the society. As noted by Anderson (2006, p.35), apart from consuming the same stories, mass media such as newspaper provides individuals the feeling of the almost p e isel si ulta eous o su ptio . That feeli g eates and maintains their imagined community by linking them with ones replicating the activity. Additionally, without Karen media, Burmese government media was more easily used to manipulate Karen people. A Karen journalist said that while she was living and studying in Burma, she had never been aware of any media of Karen and the importance of knowing information about Karen communities. She further explained that at that time she was not 9 Academic literature on Karen media this period and also before this period is very limited. The political situation in Burma and the academia itself seem to be key reasons. Before the 1960s, investigators who had researched on Karen mainly were anthropologists. Karen media has gotten only little, or even no attention from them. After the 1960s, scholarly study on Karen has rarely been conducted in Burma, but Thailand as it has been more practical (Renard, 2003, p.9). Moreover, although media scholars might be interested in and be able to conduct research by this time, the data and information of Karen media would be very rare and also not be easy to collect. 8 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au much interested in media, however, she noticed that the Burmese radio focused only on military songs or news about the military government (personal communication, December 15, 2011). Also, Kuroiwa and Verkuyten (2008, p.403) found that some Karen youth growing up in Burma have received a series of negative labelling of Karen and KNU from media in the country. Such negative pictures made them ashamed to be Karen. These illustrate that the interruption and limitation of Karen media arisen from the Burmanisation policy inevitably has interrupted the development of Karen-ness. Karen society has lacked an important tool to use for creating Karen-ness. In other words, Karen people have lacked the accessibility and the fit of the category Karen. This is likely to be a key reason that later KNU has supported the foundation of several Karen media on the Thai-Burmese border in the 1990s. The 1990s can be marked as the beginning of modern Karen media history. At this period, many of Bu a s e iled edia - both Burman and ethnic groups - was established in its neighbouring countries, especially India and Thailand. They have played a key role in circulating news and information among their people (Brooten, 2011, p.242). Several Karen media outlets have been founded along the Thai-Burmese border. The advancement and the availability of media technologies have brought about vibrant movements of Karen media and its diversity. These will be explored in the next section. The following exploration of the contemporary Karen media from the 1990s also includes ethnic media of other two Karen groups. These are Thai Karen and Karen resettling in third countries. Both groups have never established their media before the decade. In the case of resettling Karen, it is clear that their communities have considerably emerged for less than a decade. Thai Karen, on the other hand, has resided in Thailand for an impressively long time. Nevertheless, their self-identification of Karen-ness only began in the early 1990s. It was later than in Burma by far and, therefore, media recognised as Karen media has just existed in Thai Karen communities in the 1990s forward. 9 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au 2. Karen Ethnic Media at the Present Time 2.1 Thai-based Karen Media by and for Burmese Karen The establishment of Thai-based ethnic media of Burmese Karen was likely to relate to a dramatic increase of refugees from Burma since the 1990s, especially after the fall of the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw in 1995 when a myriad of Karen was forced to flee to Thailand. Kwe Ka Lu (KKL) and Karen Information Center (KIC) are two pioneers of Karen ethnic media based in Thailand. The main offices of KKL and KIC are both located in western Thailand which is close to the Burmese border. KKL established in 1995, and followed by KIC in 1997, are significantly well-established organisations given that they have operated over a decade until now. They also are well-known within worldwide Karen communities. Both of them, to some extent, intend to deal ith Ka e ide tit issues. K e Ka Lu, fo i sta e, de la es that KKL is a faint and effective non-violent action against ethnic chau i is Ka e ultu e a d la guage , so hi h seeks to u a ise the etai i g the Ka e la guage a d usage is esse tial to the p ese atio a d de elop e t of Ka e ultu e Pea e Wa Fou datio /Bu a Issues, K e Ka Lu pa a. . KKL and KIC initially have been fostered by KNU, but the affiliation has later been terminated. It is partly because not every Karen is closely connected with KNU or supports KNU s politi al a d military action. Besides, due to the fact that both of them presently are funded by international NGOs and voluntary donations, the credibility and transparency of the media is required. They therefore prefer identifying themselves as independent media rather than media serving a particular political organisation. For this reason, KKL and KIC could be classified as professional media; all the more so because they consist of staff divided by job responsibilities and working with time commitments. In addition, these media organisations have set up their particular professional missions and objectives framing their staff s performance. KKL and KIC have similarly started producing newsletters which have primarily targeted Karen in Burma and Karen taking refuge in Thailand. After that, their websites have been developed (www.kwekalu.net in 2005 and www.kicnews.org in 2009) in order to communicate with wider 10 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au society including Karen resettling in third countries and migrant workers or students in central Thailand. The newsletters have still been produced given that many of their audiences are unfamiliar with or cannot access internet such as many Karen communities in Burma. However the printing volume has been decreased consistently. The digital copies of the KIC newsletters now are also available on compact discs (CDs). The move to online media leads KKL and KIC to the interest in visual-audio media. Apart from the availability and affordability of digital media equipment in recent years, the video projects emerge because the media practitioners think that ideos a e used to o e o e isi le a d ta gi le essages a d att a t audie es attention (KKL editor, personal communication, December 22, 2011). Those videos are presented in various forms such as news, investigative reports and short documentaries. This development shows that digital media technologies and audio-visual media foster the enhancement of the accessibility of Karen-ness. This new media allows illiterate Karen people to connect with a Karen sense of identity. Also, as online media is accessible from everywhere, scattered Karen communities worldwide have the possibility to use the media to maintain their sense of being Karen. Conversely, Karen media can gather the scattered communities together by creating an imagined community of Karen for them. Considering language use, all of the KKL productions use Sgaw Karen while KIC uses Sgaw Karen in newsletters; and Burmese in website and digital newsletters (on CDs). In June 2011, KIC launched a new website, Karen News (www.karennews.org), to provide English-language news and current issues relating to Karen. The website is run by KIC in coordination with other Karen ethnic media and non-media organisations including KKL that contributes articles and features for the website. English and Burmese are used quite clearly to communicate with broader communities such as Burman, other ethnic and international audiences. Also, this can increase accessibility for some Karen people who are more fluent in Burmese or English. The use of Sgaw Karen language and its domination10, on the other hand, leads me to an interesting question. 10 Among Karen sub-dialect groups, Sgaw and Pwo constitute a majority of ethnic Karen. The rest such as Pah and Bwe are by far smaller. Also, only Sgaw and Pwo have their own writing scripts, which were invented by missionaries. However since the beginning of Karen ethnic media history, there are only few Pwo media Karen outlets. 11 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au Due to the fact that Karen sub-dialects are related but unintelligible, can non-Sgaw Karen possibly develop a sense of groupness from this Sgaw-Karen-language media? It is true that Sgaw Karen has dominated Karen media long before the period of KKL and KIC. Notwithstanding, this comes into more considerable question because of the difference in nature between print and audio-visual media. The domination of Sgaw Karen language as such is unsurprising. It obviously results from the historical context within which the construction of Karen identity is initiated by Sgaw Karen groups. This can be seen as a block of non-Sgaw Karen to belong to this imagined Karen community. Exclusion also happens outside of media spaces and within the broader Karen society. For example, Kuroiwa and Verkuyten (2008, p.401) found that Pwo Karen youth felt excluded from a Karen school community where a majority of students and staff were Sgaw Karen, and Sgaw dialect was officially used. However, those Pwo youth sought and found other elements which made them feel a belonging to Karen-ness. For example, they relied on Karen historical narrative telling the common origin of all Karen sub-groups. This shows that the language aspect of the category Karen does not provide any fits for non-Sgaw Karen as it excludes them from the category. Nonetheless, other aspects can compensate and thereby replace them in the group. In the case of media outlets, even though they only use Sgaw Karen, it does not mean that only Sgaw Karen can feel a belonging to Karen-ness created by the media. This is because, firstly, nowadays a number of non-Sgaw Karen can use Sgaw dialect and some can use Burmese. The languages are taught in schools in refugee camps and KNU-controlled areas in Burma. These non-Sgaw Karen people therefore can access the media and use it. Secondly, a wide range of news and stories covering all Karen sub-groups a d the o e e all are a ati es i.e. Ka e history) can construct the fit of Karen-ness for non-Sgaw Karen. More importantly, sound and image elements used in the media possibly can play a significant role in overcoming or compensating the sense of exclusion of different dialects. Some examples include various images of Karen people in traditional outfits and the sound of the Karen harp or other traditional music instruments. Consequently, non-Sgaw Karen audiences can feel part of the imagined Karen community in the media sphere. 12 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au Besides professional media organisations like KKL and KIC, there are a fair number of Burmese Karen groups on the Thai-Burmese border which are enthusiastic about producing media. Some media projects have been established as a part of Karen-based NGOs. Those have been mainly used to support the o ga isatio s o je ti es such as a Karen community radio project run by the Karen Student Network Group (KSNG). Also, some projects have emerged on occasions by like-minded people or colleagues. Kaw Lah Media Group, for example, is a web-based media group that produces Karen radio programs, news clips and documentary videos. It affiliates with the Karen Teacher Working Group (KTWG), a Karen educational non-governmental organisation, and some several other NGOs. Kaw Lah Films is a prominent project of Kaw Lah Media Group. Since 2003, Kaw Lah Films has produced several medium- and long-length documentaries including Karen Education Surviving, Ceasefire, The Violen e that is Every ody’s Secret and Which Way Home?. These videos reflect various issues about Karen society such as education, domestic violence and resettlement. These show their determined effort to produce and use media to e a i e the so ial, politi al a d ultu al issues… a d to edu ate a d aise awareness amongst both the refugee and internally displaced population (Karen Teacher Wo ki g G oup, Ka Lah Fil s pa a. . To some extent, the variety of the contents brings about the enhancement of a sense of groupness for particular Karen viewers. For instance, The Viole e that is E e od s “e et focuses on stories of Karen women and their suffering caused by domestic violence. The documentary, therefore, provides an imagined community where Ka e o e ho e pe ie e do esti iole e a d o e s ights a ti ists a belong to. There are not only factual media, but also fictional and entertainment produced by and for Karen. Some examples are songs with music videos and feature films. Thoetaubveh Video Team is one of the Karen media groups of like-minded people. It mainly produces fictional projects, for instance, an action film - 25 Ta Nay Tha (25 Years Later) and a drama-romance film - Tear of Moei River. These have been distributed offline to Karen audiences in different areas and also uploaded to video-sharing websites. To some extent, these factional media productions can help develop a sense of being Karen for some Karen individuals. Factual media, such as news 13 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au and documentaries, generally presents big or important issues in terms of social impact. Some documentaries may be presented by various creative styles (i.e. participatory documentary style used in Which Way Home?). They, more or less, aim to raise social issues to their viewers. Possibly, some Karen feel they do not belong to the imagined community as such, for instance, Karen teenagers who grew up in refugee camps and had only little interest in the Karen revolution. Fictional or entertainment media, on the other hand, provides an alte ati e fit fo them. The teenagers may connect themselves with a Ka e youngsters who fall in love and then suffer from it a ati e easie tha a Ka e leade s ho all fo a easefi e o a la k of Ka e tea he s narrative. Put simply, Karen fictional media constructs an alternative way to fit in the category Karen. Also, this imagined Karen community reveals the dynamics of Karen society at the present time. 2.2 When Thai Karen Speaks Aloud Ethnic media by and for Thai Karen is by far less advanced than the Burmese Karen ethnic media. It manifests the fact that although people known as Karen have resided in Thailand for a long time, the construction of Karen-ness by the Thai Karen has only recently emerged. This Karen identity is recognisably different from the one created by Burmese Karen. Thai Karens have obtained several inventions from Burmese Karen such as Karen writing scripts, the Karenlanguage Bible and Christian rituals integrating with Karen traditions. However, they have considerably detached from Karen national consciousness. The detachment as such is likely to be one of the most important reasons for the limited development of Thai Karen ethnic media. To understand the detachment, we have to take account of the Cold War which was spreading across Southeast Asia in the 1950s. At that time, the Thai government started several projects to induce a sense of being Thai among residents in remote mountainous areas. Karen was one of thei ta gets a d the state s st ategy was highly successful, particularly the employment of schooling to create the sense of belonging (Buadaeng, 2007, p.84). The majority of Thai Karens have subscribed to Thai-ness. Hence, they undoubtedly have been able to connect themselves 14 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au with Thai mass media (at least their Thai literacy gives them accessibility to experience Thai media); even though their group somewhat has been discriminated by the media (Friends Without Borders Foundation, 2011, pp.71-73). In the late 1980s, according to Buadaeng (2007, p.91), Karen identity as people simple, self-suffi ie t li es i ha o ho li e ith the fo est had been constructed when many Karen communities were affected by the national forest policy. The self-identification as such aims to ou te a t the state s la elli g of hill t i es as fo est dest o e s a d that justif g a ti g the Ka e e ual ights ith othe lo la d Thais . As a result, Karen ethnic media was introduced. However, there has never been any establishment of professional ethnic media organisations of Thai Ka e like Bu ese Ka e s KKL a d KIC. By the banal nationalism concept, Thai Karen ethnic media obviously has been created and structured by Thai national consciousness. Notably, the media has mainly used Thai language or Thai with accompanying Karen language11. Even though their media has been used to counter the Thai government, its banality of Thai national consciousness has constructed a sense of Thai-ness for Thai Karen. The more the media has developed, the stronger a sense of being Thai has been created. Outside of the borderline, Thai Karen and Burmese Karen are likely to be separated by the differences of imagined Karen communities constructed by their ethnic media. The Karen self-identification in Thai society over a three-decade period has fostered the creation of media presenting various Karen stories. It has started with the claim on land and natural resources followed by, for instance, the right of Karen to have Thai citizenship, the restoration and maintenance of Karen cultural heritage and the positive representation of Karen people. These also have challenged the negative portrayals of their group in Thai mass 11 The writing script that Thai Karen uses is not the same as the one popularly used by Burmese Karen which is developed from Burmese alphabet alled li a . Thai Karen media usually uses ‘o ei Karen script which is developed from Roman alphabet. The same as the lix wa, the Romei initially has been invented by Protestant missionaries in Burma. However, it was not popular among Burmese Karen. Alternatively, it was revised and brought to Thai Karen communities by Reverend Joseph Seguinotte, a French Roman Catholic missionary, in the 1950s (Seguinotte, 2007, p.xiii). 15 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au media12. The forms of the ethnic media include print, electronic and online media. Many of these productions have been supported by academics, developmental activists, NGOs and community-based organisations (CBOs). Additionally, in recent years Thai-educated Karen youth, such as a Karen student group in Chiang Rai province, have had interest in producing media to share their own view on Karen lives. Many research projects on youth cultures and identity suggest that youth cultural products are very interesting in several ways. Those products can be considered as laboratories for hybrid cultures and also as a form of resistance to adult-defined mainstream cultures (Nilan and Feixa, 2006, p.2, p.9). This thesis thus will study a case of Karen youth media enthusiasts to shed light on the dynamics of hybrid identity of Karen youth constructed in their media (the enhanced fit of the category Karen by Karen youth media will be discussed more in the case of resetting Karen). Another stimulating point I discuss here is a similar way that Burmese Karen and Thai Karen media develop the fit of Karen-ness. As pointed out by Johnson (2010, p.119), one of the most common ways that fit can be developed is the presentation of narratives of contrasting groups. It is clear that both Thai Karen and Burmese Karen media use this approach, however they rely on different elements and narratives. Karen-ness and Burman-ness are obviously contrasted in Burmese Karen media due to at least two factors. They include: the strong Karen national consciousness of Karen in Burma; and the prolonged and deep conflict between the ethnic Karen and Burman13. On the other hand, ethnic media of Thai Karen does not blatantly contrast Karen-ness with Thai-ness as the opposition between nations, but does so in more metaphorical ways. The contrast between Karen as a marginal group and Thai as the centre of authority, for example, is usually used in the presentation of Thai Karen media. Hence, although 12 A recent report of Friends Without Borders Foundation (2011, p.42) shows that the portrayals of ethnic groups in Thai mass media mostly relate to forest destruction and drug trade. In contrast, there are very few positive representations such as their role in preserving natural resources and the aesthetic and uniqueness of their culture. 13 Many Karen organisations including media presentl atte pt to lesse the ste eot pi al Ka e e sus Bu a narrative as they consider an increase of violence from this biased representation. A Karen media practitioner said that many Karen disliked Burman even though they have never experienced real conflicts with them (personal communication, December 11, 2011). 16 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au the ethnic media of the both groups generates a sense of groupness in the same way that is to use oppositional groups to make Karen-ness more distinct, the meanings they generate are remarkably different. Notwithstanding, the approach as such may also diminish a sense of Karen-ness because of the fix of the self-representation in contrast to their oppositional groups. For instance, Thai Karen lives have dynamically changed and some of them may not see themselves as a marginal group with less power than other Thais. The representations of Karen constructed by some Thai Karen media that are somewhat static, thus, does not make them fit to that imagined community. 2.3 Ethnic Media and Diasporic Media of Resettling Karen In the case of resettling Karen, Karen communities in third countries have significantly emerged in the last decade. These Karen people all are Burmese Karen from the Thai-Burmese border, so they officially are identified by receiving countries as Burmese migrants or refugees. Consequently, Karen-ness is somewhat invisible, particularly in the broader society14. This is probably a key factor in that the development of ethnic media of resettling Karen has been limited. Another significant reason is that almost all of these Karen had been living in the refugee camps for a long time. They tended to attach to Karen national and ethnic consciousness created by KNU and other Karen-based organisations. As a result, they still have relied on the Thai-based Burmese Karen ethnic media. According to the editor of Karen Information Center (KIC), apart from the access to KIC website, some overseas Karen elders preferred to pay for the printed version of KIC newsletters. Some might even ask their relatives for shipping the publication from refugee camps to them (personal communication, December 15, 2011). In Australia, for example, it is not found the distinct establishment of Karen professional media organisations. Resettling Karen media producers in Australia mostly are 14 In Australia, for example, there usually has been confusion between Karen and Korean, especially in the past when there was a very small amount of Karen population in Australia (Australian Karen Organisation officer, personal communication, March 15, 2012). 17 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au either media enthusiasts who occasionally produce creative works based on their own interests; or volunteers participating in media projects or community media. Ethnic media used by Karen resettling in third countries also can be called diasporic media or immigrant media . Matsaganis et al. (2011, pp.58-59) suggest two key functions of ethnic media for diasporas including connective and orientation functions. Ethnic media can connect immigrants to stories in their home countries or communities; and also the media can orient them to receiving or new countries. Inevitably, the Karen ethnic media from the Thai-Burmese border performs connective function for resettling Karen. Its ability to connect overseas Karen to their home communities is unquestionable. They have provided various stories of Karen on the border and in Burma, both factual and fictional forms and both traditional and new media platforms. Cho (2011) conducted a research on Burmese diaspora in New Zealand and found that the research participants, which mostly were Karen, have followed media from the ThaiBurmese border. “he suggests that pa ti ipa ts ead e s ot as a dise gaged audie e ut i a highly personal manner where they connect with home and think about family and friends ho a e suffe i g i the lo atio s itte a out . Mo eo e , the edia is used to keep their most important dream alive. As pointed out by the investigator, these i ig a ts left Burma with the dream to return, one strategy to keep this dream alive is through the consumption of exile based Burmese news media (pp.198-199). In terms of orientation function, some resettling Karen communities, such as those in Australia, have been oriented by government-funded organisations edia, for instance, a series of videos produced by the Centre for Multicultural Youth 15. Those videos targeting refugee youth are divided into different themes, for example, perceptions of Australia; community culture and housing; and learning new technologies (Centre for Multicultural Youth, “ apshots f o Oz , 2011). However, the Karens in Australia tend to rely more on personal communication among relatives or friends. Besides, there are several organisations performing the orientation function specifically for their communities such as the Australian Karen Organisation (AKO) and religious 15 The Depa t e t of I ig atio a d Citize ship s Aust alia Cultu al O ie tatio videos as training materials. AUSCO) program uses these 18 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au organisations. These communication ways are likely to provide them with more specific information, which most importantly, is in their language. Furthermore, folk media and rituals relating to their ethno-national identity seem to play an important role for resetting Karen communities. A special characteristic of these folk media and rituals is that they simultaneously perform connective and orientation functions. They provide resettling Karen with link to home. Also, they integrate Karen immigrants into their new society which is not solely a receiving or host country but a hybrid one, such as the Australian and New Zealand Karen communities. Some important Karen rituals include: the Karen Wrist Tying Ceremony; the Karen Martyrs' Day; and the Karen New Year Ceremony which are organised every year by Karen across the world. By A de so s ie , p. , there is another important reason that these rituals can gather resettling Karen together and maintain their sense of groupness. It is not only because Karen people are given opportunities to meet up, but also these rituals imitate a significant nature of mass media. They provide the immigrants with imagined connections to almost the same and simultaneous rituals done by other Karen communities. These rituals, therefore, are very important for resettling Karen communities as they create the accessibility of both implicit and explicit nationalism. For instance, the implicit nationalism (or banal nationalism) includes the use of Karen language to mingle in the events and Karen traditional performances (the mix of songs, dances and costumes). An example of the explicit one is the KNU s nationalist announcement at the events. The role of these rituals and folk media (i.e. Karen dances) are stimulating research areas, especially for scholars who are interested in the acculturation issues. I however exclude them from this study because this thesis is based on the notion that ethnic media specifically refers to media relying on technologies, or broadly referred to as mass media. Also, it focuses on Karen ethnic media organisations and practitioners. Diasporic media outlets, personal communication, informative support from communities, and folk media and rituals are likely to sufficiently serve many Karen immigrants. These communication and media can provide the accessibility and the fit of Karen-ness as they need. Karen-ness in this sense includes uniform Karen-ness relating to ethno-national consciousness, 19 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au and also hybrid Karen-ness constructed in the contexts of receiving countries. On the other hand, the sense of being Karen as such possibly may be limited for some groups such as Karen youth. This is a significant reason that Karen youth seem to be the most active group involving in media production. The other reasons leading to the active involvement include the familiarity of media technologies and the affordability of equipment. In addition to resettling youth, Thai and Burmese Karen youth are also enthusiastic about producing media. The number of those media, particularly audio-visual ones, tends to increase over time. This phenomenon can possibly be regarded as a need of the young Karen to find their voice, to be recognised or even to discover their identity. In other words, each of them uses media production to find an alternative way to fit in the category Karen, or more specifically, a hybrid construct that Karenness is included, to a greater or lesser degree. The enthusiasm of Karen youth and the construction of their alternative fit by producing media a e illust ated a p oje t alled Ho ela ds . It is a pa t of a esea h p oje t o du ted La Trobe Refugee Research Centre (LaRRC) between 2008 and 2010. The project has provided a series of workshops including audio-visual media production and website creation for a group of Karen youth resettling in Melbourne. A o di g to Wildi g ,p. , the Ka e ou g people have been enthusiastic participants in the program activities, even though many had to t a el a hou ea h a pu li t a spo t fo ea h o kshop . Wilding also found that the use and the creation of media played an important role for the Karen youth in negotiating between the maintenance of Karen identity and the engagement with Australian culture as well as global youth culture. During the project, the participants created Karen pop songs and music videos which mostly presented themes of falling in love and broken hearts. All characters in the songs and videos clearly were identified as Karen. The researcher, however, seemed to wonder about the non-existence of some themes, particularly, those were likely to be a part of Karen identity and heritage, such as the political struggles. The esea he poi ts out that this is a interesting preference because it underscores the centrality of an orientation to maintain Karen identity a d ultu e p. . I te s of the o ept fit , this is a clear illustration of the construction of another version of Karen-ness in which these youth can find themselves fit. 20 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au Additionally, another case of Karen ethnic media in Australia shows that the construction of the fit of the category Karen is also determined by the production contexts and the nature and convention of each medium. In Melbourne, there is a Karen radio program broadcasting for one hour a week on the 3ZZZ radio (FM 92.3), the largest ethnic community radio station in the country. Its ai ai is to help Ka e outh e e ber who they are and to be able to understand and speak their own language even if they were born and grew up in a foreign ou t Paung, 2010, para.3). The program producers are a group of Karen youth who have voluntarily participated in this project since 2010. The program contents include information about community events and activities, news, Karen history, traditional music and interviews. These contents seem to create the fit of Karen-ness in the same way as folk media and rituals that I previously discussed. In comparison with the music videos of the Homelands project, the radio program constructs the category Karen by more explicitly linking with Karen ethnonational identity. Considering the production contexts, the creation of the fit as such is probably because this media outlet exists in traditional-media and formal-organisation contexts, for example, the radio station is partly funded by the government through the Community Broadcasting Foundation. In addition, as the radio program has a fixed broadcasting schedule and it is produced by volunteer staffs, the use of existing information like community news and Karen history may be easier and more convenient than creating their own ones (i.e. love-story radio drama). Also, the different nature of radio programs and music videos certainly provides different creative elements for the producers; even though they both are Karen youth living in Melbourne. These thus show that the enhancement of the fit of being Karen is somewhat varied by media characteristics and contexts. To some extent, the Karen media of resettling Karen, including Burmese Karen and Thai Karen media I discussed in this chapter, e eal diffe e t a essi ilit a d fit that the media constructs for imagined Karen communities. Some tend to include various Karen groups while the others probably lead to a limited sense of belonging or even exclude some Karen from the category. Nevertheless, this thesis does not aim to judge or criticise those qualities – they are not either better or worse but different. Alternatively, I consider the differences and fluidity as 21 DRAFT Manoch Chummuangpak PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Arts and Critical Enquiry m2chummuangpak@students.latrobe.edu.au an approach to understanding the self-identification of Karen ethnic media emerging and developing within various circumstances. More importantly, the performance of Karen media which may contribute to an increase or decrease of a sense of Karen groupness is viewed as the creativity of their producers. The creative aspects of the media production will be explored from a handful of case studies and discussed in the following chapter. Some of the key questions for the exploration include: How do the Karen media organisations and practitioners play with narrative elements and the nature of each medium? ; Ho does that eati e p o ess relate to the contexts of Karen and the broader so iet ? ; a d Ho does that creative process bring about the varied a essi ilit a d fit of the atego Ka e ? . 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