(Re)Constructing Asian American Identity Through Stand-Up Comedy

 We will be discussing graduate student Jenny Snyder’s work in progress on Asian American identity (re)construction through stand-up comedy.

The data Snyder analyzed includes a short video excerpt of a 2012 performance by stand-up comedian Ali Wong, as well as comments that viewers left in response to this video on YouTube (video link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oItPQRZ3xpI). Snyder transcribed over five minutes of the six minute clip, which showed Wong using a variety of linguistic choices as well as Asian (American) stereotypes. Additionally, looking at the YouTube comments will reveal a pattern that shows the intersection of race and gender.

--
This workshop series provides space for faculty and students at the University of Louisville to share research on how language and other semiotic resources mediate social worlds. We aim to develop interdisciplinary dialogue among scholars from a variety of disciplines who study talk, text, interaction, semiotics, visual communication/design, and mass media. We are sponsored by the Commonwealth Center for Humanities and Society, the Department of English, and the Department of Comparative Humanities.

For more information, contact our Graduate Student Coordinators or visit our website here.