Transnational Interest Convergence and Global Korea at the Edge of Race and Queer Experiences

Abstract

This is a story about gay/queer globalization unfolded through the narratives of Korean gay men in Seoul. In this paper, I make use of talanoa dialogues to apprehend the way race and racial hierarchies can provide insights into the conditions in which the gay subject in Seoul is intelligible in intercultural interactions. I present these narratives in the format of a thematic talanoa using Pacific Research Methodologies (PRM). In doing so, I advance a unique way to negotiate communication with participants in a cross-cultural setting, rendering myself visible as a racialized (Sāmoan) researcher. Empirically, I argue that the narratives of Korean gay men party to this study demonstrate how the Korea/local–West/global binary is an important referential, in that there exists a structural connection through immigration policies that facilitates a transnational convergence of local and global racial hierarchies. This connection, I also argue, helps to structure and position Whiteness at the apex of racial hierarchies around foreigner subjectivities in South Korea.

Practising Pacific pedagogies during New Zealand's level four lockdown: Pacific early career academics and COVID-19

“…PECA were also asked what they thought New Zealand universities could learn from their experience. The personal responses that were received by eight network members were collated, coded openly and then arranged into themes, axially coded and then underwent a thematic analysis that is presented here as a thematic talanoa (Thomsen, 2019;Thomsen, 2020a;Thomsen et al, 2021). The key themes identified were 1) adaptability and innovation, 2) the impact of equity challenges on practising Pacific pedagogies online, and 3) opportunities and challenges to nurturing the vā/wā digitally.…”

“…The key themes identified were 1) adaptability and innovation, 2) the impact of equity challenges on practising Pacific pedagogies online, and 3) opportunities and challenges to nurturing the vā/wā digitally. A thematic talanoa deploys participants' experiences to construct themes around personal narratives (Thomsen 2019;2020a;Thomsen et al, 2021). Building on, yet distinctive from a thematic analysis, a thematic talanoa constructs complexity in the analysis through centring participant excerpts as a form of storytelling, while building theory and interpretations around them (Thomsen 2020b).…”

Manalagi Talanoa A Community-Centred Approach to Research on the Health and Wellbeing of Pacific Rainbow LGBTIQA+ MVPFAFF Communities in Aotearoa New Zealand

“…These two varied perspectives and standpoints bring together key elements of Pacific research that emphasises the need to connect research praxis with community embeddedness and knowledge. 5 Both investigators are members of communities impacted by the Manalagi Project as a Sāmoan gay man and fakafifine, trans woman of Niuean heritage. The following thematic Talanoa argues that the Manalagi Project attempts to fill an essential gap that exists in our knowledge bank on the determinants of positive health and wellbeing outcomes for our communities.…”

“…This paper is structured using a brief thematic Talanoa that embeds interpretations around speech lifted directly from the in-person Talanoa centred in the paper as anchoring points for analyses and building important insights. 5…”

Introduction: Charting Provocations and Exploring New Directions for Pacific Research in Aotearoa–New Zealand from Pacific Early Career Academic (PECA) Perspectives

“…The final substantive contribution is a collaborative effort that engages new directions and concerns for PECA in the age of curated social media, digital and augmented realities. Once again engaging with thematic talanoa as a Pacific-grounded relational research praxis, 27 Seutaʻafili Patrick Thomsen, Lana Lopesi, Gregory Pōmaikaʻi Gushiken, Leah Damm, Kevin Lujan Lee, Emmaline Pickering-Martin, Fetaui Iosefo, Sereana Naepi and Litia Tuiburelevu outline how sites such as Twitter can be activated as a digital vā, offering marginalised Pacific scholars from within Pacific communities generative possibilities to congregate, connect, strategize, and resist online. 28 Journal of New Zealand Studies NS33 (2021), 1-9 https://doi.org/10.26686/jnzs.iNS33.7378…”