Speaking in Stereotypes: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Racial Stereotypes in British Sitcom Mind Your Language Using Fairclough’s Three-Dimensional Model

Abstract

This study investigates the ways in which racial stereotypes are reconstructed in the British TV series Mind Your Language, based on Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). In this article, we analyse the ways that how the show’s language, humour, and character interactions serve as windows into getting a deeper look at social ideologies, particularly those interconnected with race, identity, and colonial power structures. By examining conversations in the first two episodes of season 1 of the series, the study illustrates how exaggerated accents, incorrect grammar, and cultural cliches create comic effect at the cost of non-Western characters. In the end, the research maintains that the show Mind Your Language is not just based on humour, it is part of the normalisation process of linguistic imperialism and racial hierarchies. This study spreads an awareness that we should always critically analyse how the simple language in entertainment is responsible to condition the mindsets of the audience for the construction of race and cultural differences.