SAVORING STEREOTYPES: EXPLORING ORIENTALIZED NARRATIVES THROUGH AMERICAN REACTIONS TO EAST ASIAN FOODS ON YOUTUBE
This study conducts a comprehensive multimodal analysis of online food reaction videos (OFRV), uploaded by Buzzfeed, featuring Americans consuming and engaging with East Asian foods. Employing social semiotic theory, Orientalism, and colonialist discourses as theoretical lenses, this research aims to discern how these videos contribute to narratives that perpetuate the orientalized view that East Asian culture is fundamentally different from American culture and examine how these narratives are constructed multimodally via the YouTube platform. The methodological approach involves moment analysis, multimodal transcription, and in-depth analysis of selected moments to unravel narrative patterns and the various multimodal methods employed. Findings reveal pervasive decontextualization, stigmatizing, and an us vs. them paradigm surrounding the food, which reinforces orientalized portrayals. The study identifies distinct narrative patterns such as savagery, strangeness, sickness, and fear surrounding representations of Asian food, highlighting the multifaceted ways these narratives are constructed. The term "gastronomic orientalism" emerges from the analysis, encapsulating the complex process by which these videos utilize food representation to create an oriental narrative. This paper not only illuminates the multimodal construction of gastronomic orientalism but also contributes to future research by introducing a qualitative analysis method. The findings from this research suggest that media producers should prioritize cultural sensitivity and inclusivity to counter othering narratives against Asians in online media. Additionally, it suggests that future studies delve into more diversified video content and incorporate quantitative methods to yield more generalizable findings on cultural representation narratives.
History
Degree Type
- Master of Arts
Department
- Communication
Campus location
- Fort Wayne