A Foot in Both Worlds: The Bicultural Audience and Film in New Zealand

Abstract

This Masters thesis works as a pilot project to provide a platform for the development of bicultural audience reception research in a New Zealand context. For the purpose of this study, a “bicultural” person is defined as someone who is born in NZ to either one or both parents who have immigrated from a non-Western, non-European country. These criteria mean that those in the bicultural audience have a binary of cultural knowledge, space and etiquette that is distinct and at times contradictory. Bicultural people develop skills to navigate and negotiate both spaces, applying knowledge accordingly and developing the ability to adapt to their cultural environment and expectations as required. I provide a platform that concentrates on an audience that is rarely represented onscreen, but who applies a complex and sophisticated viewing process in order to achieve cinematic pleasure through the consumption of mainstream films. I begin with a survey of psychological studies that provide research on the structure, influences and effects of embodying a bicultural identity. This survey provides a foundational understanding of biculturalism, while critiquing the methodological approach to an identity that thus far, has yet to be recognized in the field of audience reception. I then refer to my own qualitative research in the form of focus groups and compare my findings with the work of bell hooks (1990,1992), in creating a rudimentary but insightful understanding of bicultural viewing processes.