Abstract
This thesis aims to critically analyze how media can portray queer Asian identity. Queer Asians are at a specific intersection in society, in which they are underrepresented in media because they are queer and are also underrepresented because they are Asian. Intersectionality brings theory and practice to explaining how queer Asians are placed in a discursive bind. Additionally, graphic novels are under-analyzed in communication studies despite their visual and intertextual capabilities. The graphic novel The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars portrays an intersectional representation of queer Asians, queer Asian women, and queer women of color. Using both visual rhetoric and intersectional rhetoric, this thesis analyzed the specific ways the artifact illustrated the embodiment of queer Asian identity. Through visual depictions of queer intimacy, subversive images of intersectional resistance, and the navigation of queer identity, The Legend of Korra:Turf Wars illustrates possibilities that queer Asians and other audiences can see themselves in. In doing so, it interrupts how intersecting oppressions like sexuality, race, and gender affect the media representation of marginalized groups.