‘We need engineers, not Russian brides’: Cultural stereotypes in New Zealand print media and what the engineers have to say

ABSTRACT

When members of ethnic groups migrate to New Zealand, they do not expect to encounter any preconceived perception of themselves in their new country. However, international research suggests that immigrants do not arrive into a cultural vacuum. Instead they frequently find themselves placed into specific categories or ‘boxes’ based on perceptions already existing in the receiving society. Mass media have been implicated in creating and recycling the unfavourable images and negative stereotypes of different minority groups. This research engages the critical discourse analysis framework to investigate whether particular media representations influence immigrants’ understanding of how they are seen by the host population. The first study analyses the media strategies in constructions of Russian immigrants in New Zealand press over the period from July 1995 till December 2007. The analysis demonstrates the prevalence of negative images and humiliating stereotypes resulting in an inferior and deviant representation of Russian immigrants. The second study presents the data from in-depth interviews with 21 Russian immigrants in Wellington. The analysis of the interview material illustrates a significant overlap with the findings from the media study in the way the participants articulate their identity and how they view their identity constructed by the host society.

KEYWORDS:

• Russian immigrants
• cultural stereotypes
• identity construction
• media representations
• critical discourse analysis
• in-depth interviews

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

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Elena Maydell

Elena Maydell is a senior tutor at the School of Communication, Journalism, and Marketing at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand. She has a PhD in Psychology from Victoria University of Wellington. Her research interests are cultural studies, discourse analysis, media studies, cross-cultural communication, minority discourse, immigration studies, and qualitative research methods.