This project studies how the American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat performs the model minority discourse. The performance, in line with the Foucauldian tradition of discourse analysis, is understood based on the networks of events and meanings that have rendered the model minority stereotype intelligible. | ‘FRESH OFF THE BOAT’ AND THE MODEL MINORITY STEREOTYPE: A FOUCAULDIAN DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Truong Minh Hang1,*, Phung Ha Thanh2 1_ Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Pham Van Dong, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam 2_ Faculty of Linguistics and Cultures of English-speaking Countries, VNU University of Languages and International Studies, Pham Van Dong, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam Received 03 August 2018 Revised 25 September 2018; Accepted 28 September 2018 Abstract: This project studies how the American sitcom Fresh Off the Boat performs the model minority discourse. The performance, in line with the Foucauldian tradition of discourse analysis, is understood based on the networks of events and meanings that have rendered the model minority stereotype intelligible. The study informs that the model minority stereotype entered the discourse on Asian Americans through mainstream media’s rationalization of Asian Americans’ economic success in 1960s, marking a significant change in social perceptions of Asian Americans. It demonstrates that the discursive status of the stereotype has been conditioned by three power networks namely the black-white paradigm, the Asian American family, and the stereotype-based humor in American sitcoms. Fresh Off the Boat, the authors argue, participates effectively in shaping contemporary model minority discourse as it employs the three power networks in an approach more realistic and humane than mere oversimplification of Asian American experience. Keywords: Asian American, model minority, television, Foucault, power network 1. Introduction 1 This study started with an interest in Asian Americans, a minority group that is at the same time underrepresented and subject to persistent stereotypes in American culture. Despite a rapid increase in demographics, along the history of American media, Americans of Asian descent have ranked the least likely among major ethnic minority groups to
