Diasporic Discourse Online: Imagining the Homeland in Cyberspace

Abstract

Nations can be seen as constructed and maintained by technological innovations. The eminent scholar Benedict Anderson underscored this as he noted the case of the Philippines' nation building process through print capitalism. Starting with Jose Rizal's novels written in Europe, there seems to be a phenomenon of imagining the homeland from the outside, something that has become a common exercise with globalization and its myriad results, such as diaspora and transnationalism. With the coming of technologies associated with the global exchange of locals, Filipino migrants have become more interactive. The Internet has become the ultimate medium through which the sense of community has been projected and re-articulated across time and space. This article explores the use of the Internet as a tool for virtual construction and imagination of the homeland and describes how Filipino migrants de/construct their homeland by comparing and contrasting it with the host nation, without necessarily compromising national myths and symbols.