Abstract
Japanese media cultures have become diversified in Malaysia, providing opportunities for local audiences to gain access to media products from varied sources and participate in its consumption. This triggers an increase in recognition for audiences as producers of rich cultural readings resulting from cross-border media consumption. This study examines the interpretations of Japanese television dramas as media text among Malaysian university students, who actively produce meanings out of their consumption. The ‘foreign’ aspects of Japanese dramas attract the students to perform negotiated readings and contested meanings in reflecting similarities and differences between Japanese and Malaysian society. Malaysian university students as audiences are capable of employing the creative process of identification with the knowledge of Japan that they already hold by sharing self-reflexive thoughts generated from the stories of their viewing experiences. I argue that cultivating discussions using Japanese television dramas serves as a platform for exploring the changing attitudes in audiences who constantly acquires cultural knowledge, values, and ideas through their consumption experiences. It is imperative to discuss the dynamics of audience narratives by considering the local socio-cultural influences towards the meanings produced. This helps to facilitate the idea of using media to enhance cultural connections that acknowledges multiple interpretations of transnational media consumption.
Author Information
Teck Fann Goh, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia
Paper Information
Conference: ACCS2014
Stream: Cultural Studies
This paper is part of the ACCS2014 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Rahman T. (2014) Consuming and Interpreting Japanese Television Dramas: Attitudes among University Students in Malaysia ISSN: 2187-4751 – The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2014 – Official Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.22492/2187-4751.20140219
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/2187-4751.20140219
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