HOW MY KOREAN IMMIGRANT PARENTS TALK TO ME: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF “KIM’S CONVENIENCE”

Date
2022
Authors
Kim, Hanmin
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Neo, Rachel
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Communication
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Previous studies have focused on the impact of family communication patterns and intergenerational conflict in traditional interpersonal communication or face-to-face settings. However, mediated portrayals of communication patterns of immigrants from different generations have not received much scholarly attention. With the rise of globalization and increasing levels of immigration to Western countries and the power of media messages in shaping worldviews and attitudes toward minority groups, it is important to conduct a closer examination of how intergenerational conflict existing in Asian immigrant families is depicted within Western media content. In this sense, this paper chooses a Canadian sitcom entitled “Kim’s Convenience” as the immediate resource of this research, which will shed light on the studies of family communication and intergenerational conflict. Existing studies have so far shed light on the exaggeration of Asian and Asian immigrant characters and its psychological and sociological implications on individuals while mediated portrayals of communication patterns of immigrants from different generations have not received much scholarly attention. Previous studies only examined how content regarding Asian immigrants and other minorities are treated in the context of Western media environment with an aim to look at the societal and psychological consequences of media content. Considering such circumstance, this paper explores how Asian immigrants and their intergenerational issues are portrayed in a Western comedy show. This paper involves a qualitative thematic analysis of the scripts of the first three seasons of the show. The investigation was aimed to: 1) uncover how this sitcom depicts intergenerational conflict between family members, and 2) identify ways in which the four Kim family members attempt to bridge intergenerational conflict within this specific sitcom. Results show that intergenerational conflicts within an immigrant family were created when the two generations have different social identities, expectations, stereotypes, and personalities and do not know how to communicate authentically. However, the results also demonstrate that conversations amongst family members, family bonding activities, conversation with those outside the family and reminiscing about the past together were the strategies used to overcome the difficulties mentioned above.
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Communication
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73 pages
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