Chen, Chiung Hwang

Dr. Chiung Hwang Chen, an Assistant Professor of International Cultural Studies at Brigham Young University-Hawai‘i, received her Master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Iowa. Most of her publications have related to Mormonism, Asian Americans, gender/ethnicity, journalism, and media within the realm of cultural studies. She also has keen interests in international/intercultural communication and media studies in China, Taiwan and the Pacific Islands.

Mormon and Asian American Model Minority Discourses in News and Popular Magazines

2004 0-7734-6375-5
Manuscript situates news and popular magazines’ coverage of Asian Americans and Mormons within model minority discourse, explains the discourse’s problematic nature, and points out how the two discourses shape power relations between majorities and minorities in American society. The book employs critical discourse analysis, a powerful tool to uncover ideology within dominant discourses and challenge unequal power structures in society. By so doing, it aims to improve society for minority groups. The book also explores journalistic narrative. By following conventional narrative forms and shared cultural meanings, journalists often adopt established cultural norms and reinforce status quo ideologies. Chen’s goal is not simply to analyze the model minority discourse in news and popular magazines or merely to provide a critique of journalists’ conventional narrative forms. She also uses her analysis of journalistic discourse as a means of consciousness-raising—for both minority groups and journalists—and to further encourage alternative approaches to writing about minority groups.