From perpetual foreigner to national hero: a narrative analysis of US and Taiwanese news coverage of Linsanity

Abstract

Linsanity was the buzzword of 2012 even for those who did not follow sports news. The term was coined when Jeremy Lin, an undrafted player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), seemingly came from nowhere to resuscitate the New York Knicks following a disappointing season start. Yet, Linsanity signifies a more complex phenomenon than sudden fame. As the first Taiwanese-American in the NBA, Jeremy Lin's racial background made him an anomaly on the American basketball court and a hero to Taiwanese. Media portrayal of Linsanity in the US and Taiwanese contexts thus provides a rich and unique case that enables analysis of mediated constructions of ethnicity, nationalism, and identity in global media sports. By comparing media coverage of Linsanity in major US and Taiwanese newspapers, this article suggests that Lin had an ambivalent image in the US media, being simultaneously cast as a modern hero, and humble underdog with whom all Americans could identify, while also remaining a perpetual foreigner. On the other hand, coverage of Linsanity in the Taiwanese context was highly consistent, and Lin was portrayed and defended as a national hero who increased the nation's global visibility. Consequently, the phenomenon of Linsanity can shed lights on the symbolic and meaning-making function of sports journalism, as well as the constant negotiation between the global and the local in the arena of media sports.