@article{ART003357355},
author={Dooyoung Jeon},
title={A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge},
journal={Journal of Popular Narrative},
issn={1738-3188},
year={2026},
volume={32},
number={2},
pages={549-582},
doi={10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015}
TY - JOUR
AU - Dooyoung Jeon
TI - A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge
JO - Journal of Popular Narrative
PY - 2026
VL - 32
IS - 2
PB - The Association of Popular Narrative
SP - 549
EP - 582
SN - 1738-3188
AB - This study examines the identity of Asian Americans as represented in Season 1 of the Netflix series BEEF (2023), centering on two analytical axes: cultural citizenship and the cycle of revenge.
The anger and violence expressed by the drama’s protagonists function as resistance against the oppressive structure of the model minority myth. This resistance does not remain confined to the individual psyche but extends into intergenerational and interfamilial conflict, closely intertwined with the process by which immigrants negotiate and claim cultural citizenship within mainstream society. Meanwhile, the narrative structure in which a cycle of revenge—triggered by a trivial road rage—endlessly recurs and escalates exposes the roots of anger long concealed beneath the immigrant success narrative. Furthermore, BEEF reveals an Eastern philosophical insight—that all things are interconnected—through the symbolism of the crow and through scientific evidence, thereby positing the cycle of revenge not as a mere narrative device but as an epistemological framework for understanding the world. This study argues that, beneath this anger, there lies an exilic and refugee-like experience of losing one’s homeland and suffering cultural rupture—an experience that transcends the simple motive of economic migration.
Through this analysis, the study critically reexamines the dominant assimilation-and-success narrative frame that has long governed Asian American immigrant narratives, and illuminates the distinctive position that BEEF occupies within the broader landscape of Asian American storytelling.
KW - immigrants;Asian Americans;cultural citizenship;identity;exile;refugees;model minority myth;culinary citizenship
DO - 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
ER -
Dooyoung Jeon. (2026). A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge. Journal of Popular Narrative, 32(2), 549-582.
Dooyoung Jeon. 2026, "A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge", Journal of Popular Narrative, vol.32, no.2 pp.549-582. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
Dooyoung Jeon "A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge" Journal of Popular Narrative 32.2 pp.549-582 (2026) : 549.
Dooyoung Jeon. A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge. 2026; 32(2), 549-582. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
Dooyoung Jeon. "A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge" Journal of Popular Narrative 32, no.2 (2026) : 549-582.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
Dooyoung Jeon. A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge. Journal of Popular Narrative, 32(2), 549-582. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
Dooyoung Jeon. A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge. Journal of Popular Narrative. 2026; 32(2) 549-582. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
Dooyoung Jeon. A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge. 2026; 32(2), 549-582. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
Dooyoung Jeon. "A Study on Immigrant Identity in BEEF - Focusing on the Analysis of Representation Methods of Cultural Citizenship and the Circulation of Revenge" Journal of Popular Narrative 32, no.2 (2026) : 549-582.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.015
