Date of Graduation
Summer 8-15-2024
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in International Studies (MAIS)
College/School
College of Arts and Sciences
Department/Program
International Studies
First Advisor
Brian Dowd-Uribe
Second Advisor
John Zarobell
Abstract
Chinese animal consumption practices faced intense scrutiny as COVID-19 spread around the globe, sparking a media frenzy that exposed deep-seated prejudices. This study investigates how, in the first year of the pandemic, the top daily newspapers in the United States perpetuated harmful stereotypes and ideologies. By conducting a rhetorical framing analysis combined with an ideological rhetorical criticism of 38 articles from major U.S. daily newspapers, this research uncovers how the media problematized these practices through the use of framing, and how these frames promoted carnistic colonialism, Orientalism, and Yellow Peril tropes. The dominant frames used to describe Chinese animal practices were identified using rhetorical framing analysis, while ideological rhetorical criticism was implemented to identify the power structures and ideologies that informed the frames. This analysis showed that the media actively employed frames steeped in Orientalist narratives, Yellow Peril tropes, and notions of carnistic colonialism, constructing China as an uncivilized “Other” to a superior West. I argue that the ethnocentric fixation on framing Chinese animal practices as “weird” and “exotic” deflected attention away from other pressing political and socioeconomic factors can drive zoonotic disease outbreaks. This study advocates for culturally sensitive and socially fair media representations of non-Western groups and marginalized groups, demanding multi-optic perspectives and a critical analysis of dominant media narratives.
Recommended Citation
Earnshaw, Maia, "Carnistic Colonialism and Yellow Peril Rhetoric: Analyzing U.S. Media Framing of Chinese Animal Consumption During COVID-19" (2024). Master's Theses. 1585.
https://repository.usfca.edu/thes/1585
Included in
Animal Studies Commons, Asian American Studies Commons, Food Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Human Geography Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Rhetoric Commons, Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons
