R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface is a darkly funny tale of the publishing industry’s cutthroat nature and the extent an author would go through to get their big break.
Enter Juniper Song. Not to be mistaken for an Asian woman—her full name being Juniper Song Hayward. When her friend, Athena Liu, the literary world’s latest darling, unexpectedly passes away, Juniper manages to snatch the manuscript of her unpublished novel. What’s it about? The Chinese Labor Front of World War I.
The novel is a treat from start to finish. A guessing game of when Juniper will be caught—if she’ll get caught—ensues within the third chapter, making it a riveting read. Yellowface also serves as a well-written character study. It doesn’t shy away from making the main character unlikeable or flawed. In fact, it puts all the worst parts of Juniper on full blast, cultural appropriation and plagiarism included.
Blurring the lines of reality and fantasy
Part of the book’s brilliance is its scathing commentary on the publishing industry and the online literary sphere. Kuang writes with a sharp bite, critiquing the industry’s habit of picking a person from a minority group and calling it a day for representation. Particularly, she called out the cycle of publishing houses making a spectacle out of a person of color’s pain and that author continuing to profit off that exploitation.
The meta-narrative does not stop there either. At some point, The Last Front—the book Juniper “wrote”—is due to be adapted into a movie. The movie adaptation of books has often become a contentious topic among the reading community. A common complaint about book-to-movie adaptations is how the essence of the novel gets toned down once it’s translated on-screen.
In Yellowface, Kuang attributes this phenomenon to the producers pushing to make the film more “marketable.” While in a meeting with studio representatives hoping to adapt The Last Front, Kuang makes it explicitly clear where the producers’ priorities lie.
“Well, how about this Colonel Charles Robertson character? … We could invest in getting someone really major, like Benedict Cumberbatch or Tom Hiddleston.”
Juniper, who is surprisingly aware enough, points out that “he’s not even a main character.”
Liar, liar, in denial
Essentially, the novel’s entire plot can be summed up in one sentence: A white woman steals a story about Asian identity from a Chinese-American author and makes it her own. The entertainment from a seemingly simple synopsis comes from the way Juniper continues to justify her actions. Her defensiveness over her work jumps out whenever someone raises this point—usually by Asian-Americans.
Juniper’s rehearsed response to her critics is anchored in her belief that writers should be able to tell a variety of stories, regardless of their background. The narrative she makes for her image is that she pursued the book’s topic because of how devastated she was over Athena’s passing. She continuously hides behind the intention of showing compassion towards a community her “best friend” had been a part of.
However, her actions reveal how complex her perspective truly is. In recurring moments of hypocrisy and microaggressions, Juniper is characterized as someone not caring nor being respectful to the community at all. On one occasion, she complains about the food served in a Chinese American Social Club—describing them to be greasy and gag-inducing. On another, she makes fun of an East Asian author’s name after being taught its correct pronunciation.
Kuang intended for readers to get mad at Juniper. The vitriol thrown at her also urges the audience to examine real-life instances of these actions. In today’s heated political climate, Juniper is a reflection of every person of privilege saying that they “mean well,” while also othering those who aren’t “of their kind.”
(Not so) good for her
The upside of a morally gray protagonist is the rush a reader can get from the build-up to their downfall. As the chapters climb to the 20th mark, one might ask themself, “When will Juniper Song Hayward get decimated by the consequences of her actions?” Ironically, Juniper does get called out multiple times—even getting canceled twice on X, formerly known as Twitter.
However, Kuang also hooks readers into Juniper’s story by making her more sympathetic. Far from a one-sided character, Kuang made the perfect balance of an unlikable yet understandable character.
Yellowface blew up for its controversial premise and the love it received was quite well-deserved. The writing was heavy-handed in its references to Asian-fishing and fetishization, unabashedly on the nose with what people from marginalized communities go through.
If you want to embark on this rollercoaster ride of a novel, you may purchase the book online or in any major bookstores nationwide.
