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Culture meets Media: The representation of the cultural identity of bilingual families in Modern Family and Fresh Off the Boat Masterarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Master of Arts (MA) an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Erlis Laçej am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Ao. Univ.- Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Hermine Penz Graz, 2020 Declaration of Authenticity Unless otherwise indicated in the text, references or title, I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely the product of my own scholarly work. I take full responsibility of any inaccuracy of fact or faults in the reasoning. Graz, am Unterschrift der Studierenden June 2020 Erlis Laçej ____________________ ________________________ i Acknowledgements First, I would like to express gratitude to my supervisor Ao. Univ.- Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Hermine Penz, for her continuous support and guidance on this thesis. I am thankful for all her academic inputs and advices that helped me carry through with my research. I would like to extend my thanks to my academic coordinator and dear colleague, Mag. Dr. Jennifer Schumm, for all the motivation and encouragement throughout the whole writing process of my thesis. I am also very grateful for all her support throughout my entire Master’s degree. To my close friends, thank you for being such an amazing support system! I am blessed to have you in my life. And finally, I would like to thank my parents Kujtim and Fatmira, and my brother Hans. I am forever grateful for all your unconditional love and support, and for the constant encouragement to follow my dreams. Thank you for always being there for me! ii Table of Contents 1. Introduction 1 2. Literature Review .......................................................................................................... 2 2.1.The functions of language ........................................................................................... 3 2.1.1. Adjusting to the cultural framework of society ................................................... 7 2.2.Deconstructing the multifaceted process of identity ..................................................... 8 2.2.1. Identity and culture: a view from linguistics ....................................................... 9 2.3.Acquiring bilingualism: Young vs Adult .................................................................. 12 2.3.1. Bilingualism and biculturalism ........................................................................ 14 2.3.2. Understanding the functionality of code-switching .......................................... 16 2.4.Cultural representation in the televised media............................................................ 19 2.4.1. Channeling American cultural theories ............................................................. 20 2.4.2. Detecting the stereotype ................................................................................. 23 2.4.3. Media discourse .............................................................................................. 25 2.5.Critical Discourse Analysis in a nutshell ................................................................... 27 3. Methodology and data ................................................................................................ 28 3.1.Using Critical Discourse Analysis in practice ........................................................... 29 3.2.Modern Family: An overview .................................................................................. 32 3.3.Fresh Off the Boat: An overview .............................................................................. 34 4. Data categorization of the analysis ............................................................................... 35 4.1.Deconstructing the bilingual character(s) in Modern Family ....................................... 37 4.1.1. Subcategory nr 1 .............................................................................................. 38 4.1.2. Subcategory nr 2 .............................................................................................. 44 4.1.3. Subcategory nr 3 .............................................................................................. 47 iii 4.2.The Asian American identity in Fresh Off the Boat ................................................... 52 4.2.1. Subcategory nr 1 ........................................................................................... 53 4.2.2. Subcategory nr 2 ......................................................................................... 60 4.2.3. Subcategory nr 3 .......................................................................................... 61 4.3.The similarities between Fresh Off the Boat and Modern Family ............................... 62 4.4.Presenting the findings .............................................................................................. 70 5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 72 6. Works Cited ................................................................................................................ 74 7. Appendix ..................................................................................................................... 81 iv 1. Introduction Several issues surrounding today’s society include indisputably the question of self-identification. It is a rather problematic topic to deal with as it tackles the difficulties and the limitations that labels and categorizations bring about. On the one hand, it serves as a method of subtracting the individuality amongst each of us. On the other hand, it unites people into groups that potentially fall under the same category. Thus, creating a dichotomy in the general quest for identification and representation. On world Hispanic heritage month, June 2019, the famous American actress America Ferrara had a TED talk on the issues concerning her identity as an American with a Latin background. She stated that “her identity is her superpower, and not her obstacle”; after realizing she was not given a role because she did not embody the characteristics of a typical Latin woman. She had to shift the stereotypes and fight against the cultural norms that society had set. She continues by stating “collectively, we are what the world actually looks like” (TED, 2019). Television has long been one of the biggest telecommunication mediums. On the one hand, it is not strictly bound to bring about a radical change in society but rather has the power to spread awareness and information. On the other hand, one of the prevailing roles of media and televised communication is the entertainment of the masses. As the years went by, more attention started to be paid to the message these kinds of programs carry through. The cultural representation that television series exemplify is tremendously crucial. Consequently, the message carried through it should be met with equal importance. In this thesis, I aim to find out how the cultural identity of the bilingual families is represented in two notable American television series, namely Modern Family (2009-2020) and Fresh Off the Boat (2015-2020). These two series have displayed the unique representation of intercultural relationships, bilingual families, and the quest for identity in the mainstream television realm. As such they have contributed to spread the message of diversity, multilingualism, and the importance of keeping in touch with one’s heritage. Additionally, in this analysis, I aim to find out whether the interculturality, bilingualism and the identity that these characters carry is shown with regard to any stereotypical depiction. Thus, this analysis aspires to further understand how the particular portrayal and character development in these two television series contribute to the major frame of cultural representations. 1 2. Literature Review According to Omoniyi and White (2006: 1), identity is rather tricky to define because of its complex construction. Many theorists and researchers have established the definition of identity as “non-fixed”. This observation occurs simply because identity cannot possibly be determined only by one’s self, given that it is also “co-construed by others”. The main influencing elements are those of the society and people surrounding us, with which we may or may not get to share the same values and principles. Another just as important and prevailing component in identity construction is culture. Three very important aspects come into play when talking about culture and identity; that is the culture we come from; the culture we live in; and the culture we feel we belong to. Identity cannot be restrictedly defined or determined by culture, even more so the culture we have been born into. Recognizing a fact, for instance the culture one is born into and the culture one feels as part of, are mutually interrelated, but could as well be not referring to the same process. People in general may or may not decide to identify with the culture they are born into, or the one of their parents, since the place they live in and the people they are surrounded by have a lot more influence on the process of identity construction. To begin with, similarity is one of the essential markers of identity. After all, identical things are the same and that notion is what reinforces the concept of the identity. Personal identity is a “summary of all of our individual traits and dispositions, thus defining the uniqueness of every

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