Abstract

Though more recent Asian American representation in media has been lauded, the majority of portrayals have been considered to be stereotypical misrepresentations. Because negative media representations can have a detrimental impact on people's self-concepts and their views of others, it is important to understand how Asian Americans are representing their own identities online. In order to understand how Asian Americans are negotiating their own ethnic, racial, and national identities online, constant comparative analysis was employed to examine patterns and themes in the visual and textual communication of Asian American Instagram posts. Their cultural identities were communicated as a cultural blending, which included the use of Asian, American/Western, and Asian American cultural values, products, and behaviors. Together, these factors provided insight into the construction and communication of a multilayered identity, mirroring the process of the communication theory of identity. This study indicates that multicultural identity analysis can be applied to visual texts and Instagram can provide more fluid, authentic representations of identity despite its inability to account for internal multicultural identity conflict. Further, not only are values, products, and behaviors components of culture, but they are also facets of identity that can be portrayed visually.

Degree

College and Department

Fine Arts and Communications; Communications

Rights

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