Yellowface: R.F. Kuang’s Thrilling Satire On Cultural Appropriation
Let’s talk and review the book that’s sparked conversation about the publishing industry, microaggressions, and cultural erasure.
By: Rishta Tamang
On my journey to get back into reading, I stumbled across an interesting recommendation given to me by Storygraph. With a bright yellow cover and eyes that looked similar to mine, the title caught my attention: Yellowface.
That isn’t a title you give a book without some serious thought. It’s a deliberate choice that has layers to it.
With such a bold name, I dived headfirst into the story, reading it online at first as I didn’t want to buy a book that might fall off in a few chapters. However, Yellowface exceeded my expectations and kept me on my toes the whole time. After a few pages, I knew I needed to get my hands on a physical copy.
One of the most interesting aspects about the story is June Hayward, our main character and one of the most unreliable narrators I have ever met.
The story is as follows: June Hayward is a struggling writer, failing to make successful pieces of literature with a publishing firm that couldn’t care less about her. Meanwhile, her friend Athena seems to have it all, from a successful writing career, popular novels, and a firm that coddles her as their ‘literary darling.’ When Athena dies in a freak accident, June flees the scene with Athena’s latest manuscript in hand—a story about Chinese laborers during World War One— and decides to publish it as her own. She makes choices that blur ethical boundaries in both her art and in real life, and as questions about her credibility arise, she finds herself struggling to defend herself, suffering from the consequences of her actions.
While it deals with some heavy topics, the satirical elements complement and enhance the narrative. It has a climax that will keep you on the edge of your seat, with an inconclusive ending that will leave you confused and unsettled just as much as I was, wondering if this is justice in its own sense or if it feels terribly unfair. The themes of orientalism caricature, guilt, imposter syndrome, and the effects of social media and cancel culture on mental health make it a gripping story.
Sometimes, it felt like June Hayward wasn’t a villain, but that everyone around her was just terrible and enabling her to do the wrong things. They justify her actions and dim them down to mere misunderstandings, concerned with maximizing profit rather than realizing how it teeters on the edge of being morally wrong.
The ethical dilemmas that June Hayward deals with in the book leaves you rooting for her in one chapter, then absolutely despising everything she stands for in the next.
Kuang’s writing is done so deliberately and makes you realize just how hypocritical the publishing industry is: profiting off of marginalized voices and audiences yet hardly giving them credit where credit is due. It forces readers to wonder if we have ever contributed to this problem without even knowing. The publishing company asks June Hayward to become more ethnically diverse rather than choosing to support an Asian author, which highlights the unethical practices in the publishing industry.
Yellowface is a fantastic read and will stay with you for long after you put down the book. The vague ending won’t give you all the answers, but instead will make you think and let you live with the uncomfortable truth that this isn’t fiction, but a pressing issue about cultural appropriation and the systematic flaws in publishing and big businesses as a whole. You might reflect on whether people advocate for the right reasons or their own selfish ones. It is a must read with not too many chapters, yet is filled to the brim with issues that exist in our everyday lives.