“It was about topics that related to Asian Americans” ​ ​ A Narrative Analysis of the Asian American Experience in the AsianBossGirl Podcast Thea Naree Media and Communication Studies: Culture, Collaborative Media, and Creative Industries Malmö University Two-year Master Thesis (15 Credits) Spring 2020 Course codes KK649A & KK644B Supervisor: Temi Odumosu Examiner: Erin Cory Abstract Following the development of Asian American representation in the United States media in the 21st century, this thesis aims to explore the alternative narratives provided by the AsianBossGirl podcast which started in 2017 to fill the gap in the mainstream media. Intersectional framework has been operationalized to conduct an in-depth reading of their narratives, and complemented by the theory of uses and gratification to investigate the impacts that they have on their audiences. The results demonstrate that their narratives of Asian American experience deviate from both cultural and stereotypical traditions. They contest the norms through relatable, subversive ​ ​ ​ and authentic content that resonate with their listeners. However, through the intersectional ​ lens, this thesis is able to identify the danger of neglecting multidimensionality in the Asian American communities which encompass a diverse immigration history in the United States. Keyword: narrative analysis, Asian American, podcast, representation, diasporic identity, intersectionality, theory of uses and gratification 1 Acknowledgement Without all the encouragement and guidance during the past couple of months, this thesis would not have been possible. Hence, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards various individuals who have been part of this long, yet rewarding journey. To my thesis supervisor, Temi Odumosu, thank you so much for supporting, guiding and challenging me to develop in my writing, from start to finish. It has not been easy, but you have shown me that persistence and dedication will help me get through this marathon. I am fortunate to have you as my thesis supervisor. To my examiner, Erin Cory, thank you so much for your valuable feedback. To Gabriella, thank you for always being the friend that listens and comes with wise words. And thank you for being there for me through the tough time during my self-quarantine. To Young, I sincerely appreciate your comforting words and unconditional understanding. It has meant a lot. To my mom, thank you for providing me with the endless mental support during the conduction of this thesis. Mom, I love you! To everyone who has helped me in sharing and/or participating in my questionnaire. You all are awesome. Lastly, to the ABG podcast, thank you for the opportunity to conduct a research that has been more than a research. It is a vital part of the reconciliation with my own identity as a third culture kid. 2 List of figures Figure 1. Dr. Fu Manchu performed by Christopher Lee Figure 2. Labov’s structural model Figure 3. Questionnaire Figure 4. Graph excerpted from the questionnaire shows the ages of the respondents 3 Table of content 1. Introduction 5 1.1 Research questions and thesis outline 6 2. Contextualization 8 3. Literature review 10 3.1 Asian American identity and its challenges 10 3.2 Representation of Asian diaspora in the United States 12 4. Theoretical framework 16 4.1 Intersectional framework 16 4.2 The theory of uses and gratifications (U&G) 18 5. Methodology 20 5.1 Research design 20 5.2 Sampling 21 5.3 Narrative analysis 23 5.4 Questionnaire 24 5.4.1 Data collection 25 5.4.2 Results 27 5.5 Ethical considerations and limitations 28 6. Analysis 31 6.1 Analyzing the ABG podcast for key narratives: Ep. 22, 29 and 30 31 6.1.1 Episode 22: On Role models and relatability 31 6.1.2 Episode 29: Assimilation and subversion 34 6.1.3 Episode 30: Something old and something new 37 6.2 The emerging foci 40 6.2.1 Challenging the norms 41 6.2.2 Relatable and active community members 42 6.3 Intersectional reading of the ABG podcast 44 6.4 Relatability, connection and content neglected by mainstream media 45 7. Concluding discussion 51 7.1 Alternative narrative of the Asian American experience 51 7.2 Empowering, yet insufficient 53 8. List of references 56 9. Appendices 62 4 1. Introduction “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these things do not mix?” The Joy Luck Club, 1989, p. 254 This quote excerpted from The Joy Luck Club book reminds me of growing up between the ​ European cultures and Southeast Asian values, where I always struggled to reconcile the depictions of Western society in mainstream with media and the work of establishing of Asian roots that were narrated by my family. Organically, I internalized normative Western images into my own identity, which influenced to how I looked at myself as well as at other people of Asian descent living in the West. To conform with the norms, I never questioned what I was not exposed to and instead I tried to relate my personal experiences to what I ​ could access in media. However, the older I get, the more the representational dissonance during my upbringing prompts further questions regarding what influences self-perception and I decided to start exploring the experiences of people living between worlds, outside of my own context. This attempt of mine has been facilitated by the rising trends of diversity in media production, and the amplified selection and dissemination of content produced by other Asians in the West. It is also possible because of the increasing mediatization of our interactions in the digital age where communicative technologies and globalization meet (Kleinke et al., 2018). I first discovered the AsianBossGirl podcast (hereafter ABG) in 2017, ​ and it invoked my curiosity for the representations of ethnic groups in mainstream media in the United States. As close as this podcast brought me to the reflection of people sharing similar experiences in media that do not belong to the existing stereotypical representations, it also brought me to the problematization of this topic, and consequently, the present thesis. In recent years, studies on Asian Americans in media appear to be extensive and varied, including: the shifting the images of people of Asian descent in the United States mainstream media (Kim, 2013), the representation of Asian American masculinity in the sports media coverage (Park, 2015), the impacts of the stereotypical portrayal, Model Minority, on Asian ​ ​ Americans (Shih et al., 2019), and the celebratory discourse around the movie Crazy Rich ​ Asians and its impact on the narrative of Asian American representation (Sugino, 2019). Yet, 5 studying the history of representations of Asians and Asian American experiences in the United States has revealed the gap, that this thesis paper seeks to fill. These previous research studies mostly focus on the stereotypical depictions in mainstream media e.g. movies, music, and magazines. The visibility of people of Asian descent is seemingly expanding in media, both conventional and alternative, hence, the ABG was selected as my case study to explore the unexplored area in the field of media and communication studies. Despite it being a podcast, its content is nonetheless appropriate to be subject for studying the narrative of Asian American experience and representation amidst the growing diversity in media scene. In addition to fill the gap in the research field, this thesis aims to uncover and examine the narrative of Asian American experience rendered by the ABG podcast and understand its impacts on the podcast listeners through the usage of qualitative analysis and questionnaire. To fulfill these aims, the analytical frameworks of intersectionality and uses and gratification will be further applied. 1.1 Research questions and thesis outline There are three research questions that have been formulated in accordance with the objectives of this thesis in exploring the narrative of Asian American experience provided by the ABG podcast. - How does the ABG podcast produce alternative narrative of the Asian American experience? - In what ways do issues of racial, gender and class dominance intersect in their content? - What are the effects of these narratives on their listeners? The present thesis is divided into six main chapters. To position this thesis in the media and communications research field, the next chapter provides a contextualization of Asian American representation using the existing studies followed by Chapter 3 that gives a literature review. Chapter 4 will discuss the two chosen theoretical frameworks which are intersectionality and the theory of uses and gratification. The outline of the methodological approaches and strategies is subsequently presented in Chapter 5. In addition to the methodology, there is a section dedicated to reflecting my ethical concerns in relation to the 6 limitations of this thesis. Chapter 6 presents the analysis applying the analytical approach in practice, and finally, a concluding discussion on the findings with suggestions for future research will be provided in Chapter 7. 7 2. Contextualization For clarity and contextualization of this thesis, the term Asian American needs to be established. Asian Americans are an extremely diverse population in the United States consisting of over 48 ethnic groups, according to the Census 2012 (Chan, 2017, p.13), and therefore, many scholars have faced challenges when attempting to construct an umbrella racial identity for these communities. Asian Americans as a term was first adopted by the immigrants from Asia to the United States in the 1960s and might not be applied to the new immigrants, who do not share the same historical, political and economic experiences (Junn & Masuoka, 2008, p.729). Keeping this in mind, the thesis is not intended to exclude the more recent identities such as Asian Pacific American (Patel, 2010) and Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (Chan, 2017).