‘FRESH OFF THE BOAT’ AND THE MODEL MINORITY THESIS: A FOUCAULDIAN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Abstract

This graduation paper, consisting of six chapters, studies the historical conditions for the intelligibility of the thesis and how the ABC primetime sitcom Fresh Off the Boat facilitates the model minority thesis. Adopting Foucault’s theory of discourse analysis, it regards the model minority thesis’ historical conditions as a network of meanings and power relations that render the thesis intelligible to many people in a context. As the recent years have witnessed an increase in Asian American representation in mainstream American media, the research seeks to discover possible changes happening in the system of narratives on Asian Americans. Central to the study is the attempt to identify the power relations among different subjects produced by the model minority discourse, which are characterized by the term ‘power networks’. The research’s findings reveal that the perceived economic success of Asian Americans is rationalized by mainstream media through the introduction of the model minority thesis into the discourse on Asian Americans, which highlights and commends characteristics of strong work ethics, excellent academic prowess, and superior upward mobility, among others. How Fresh Off the Boat manifests the model minority thesis is featured extensively through the three power networks: the black-white paradigm, the power network of a stereotypical Asian American family, and the power relations established by patriarchy and racial stereotype-based humor in American sitcoms. The series’ depiction of the model minority image appears to have employed a more humane approach as opposed to the oversimplified, caricatured representation of Asian Americans in the past.