60 pages • 2 hours read
R. F. KuangYellowface
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Cultural Context: The Publishing Industry
The publishing industry has long been criticized for its racist treatment of marginalized voices, both on the page and in the office. The industry largely employs white people, especially in management positions; the PEN America report on race and equity in book publishing reports that in 2019, editorial departments were 85% white and executives were 78% white. The issue extends beyond publishing house offices, with 80% of both literary agents and book reviewers being white. This concentration of white employees in book publishing, combined with systemic racism more broadly, has resulted in 95% of all published books having white authors (Tager, James & Rosaz Shariyf, Clarisse. “Reading Between the Lines: Race, Equity, and Book Publishing.” PEN America, 17 Oct. 2022). These statistics are important to keep in mind while considering unreliable narrator June Hayward’s assertions about her disadvantages as a white author; while she believes that Athena Liu has advantages because she is Chinese American, the data indicates that authors like June are more likely to be successful.
Many of the most striking examples of racism in Yellowface can find contemporary, real-life comparisons in the publishing world. Non-white authors who do receive publishing contracts often experience racism in the industry, from lower advances than their white peers and smaller marketing budgets to microaggressions from their publishing teams. At the same time, criticism of the publishing industry has sometimes resulted in the industry commodifying marginalized stories. This manifests in publishers using works by authors from marginalized backgrounds to boost their reputations as progressive while still largely publishing books by white authors. In many ways, Yellowface brings the toxicity of the publishing industry to life through June Hayward, a white woman who profits off a Chinese American woman’s narrative.
Yellowface tackles multiple aspects of whiteness in publishing. For example, Eden Press punishes Candice Lee, an AAPI character who insists that they hire a sensitivity reader for The Last Front. June, offended by her insistence pushes back, and Candice ultimately loses her job and is ostracized from the industry. Candice’s character highlights not only the lack of diversity in publishing offices but the ongoing industry of retention, where entry-level hires fail to stay in publishing long enough to advance to higher positions.
Historical Context: The Chinese Labour Corps
The subject of Athena Liu’s novel The Last Front is the Chinese Labour Corps, a Chinese workforce sent to European allies during World War I. In doing so, China hoped to open up post-war geopolitical opportunities. In the centuries leading up to World War I, China had been the most powerful and influential nation in the global East. However, a series of events, including losing the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and the establishment of European enclaves in Shanghai (France), Hong Kong (Britain), and Qingdao (Germany), resulted in a substantial decline in China’s power. Chinese leaders saw World War I as an opportunity to establish equality with European nations on the global stage and earn a seat at the table in the post-war world. Despite declaring neutrality, China offered troops to the British, although they and the other allies did not want Chinese aid.
Although kept from fighting, China influenced the war through labor, and 1916 marked the beginning of the Chinese Labour Corps, which “repair[ed] tanks, assemble[d] shells, transport[ed] supplies and munitions, and help[ed] to literally reshape the war’s battle sites” (Boissoneault, Lorraine. “The Surprisingly Important Role China Played in WWI.” Smithsonian Magazine, 2017). Most of these laborers were illiterate peasants, and just as Athena writes in Yellowface, their labor remained largely unrecognized, particularly diplomatically. China’s goal in providing support was to regain complete control of the Shandong province, which had been taken back from the Germans by Japan. If it could reclaim this land, it could supplant Japan as the main power in the region. Chinese workers provided substantial support to their allies and worked through the end of the war. Many of these laborers suffered life-altering injuries and died. However, the European powers sided with Japan, letting it maintain its holdings in China and its status as the regional power.
Chinese laborers suffered greatly during World War I despite not serving in combat roles. Many died on the journey from China to Europe; for example, on February 17, 1917, a German submarine sank the Athos and killed 600 Chinese laborers onboard. This prompted the British to reroute the laborers through Canada, an operation kept secret throughout the war. To keep this secret, Canadian newspapers were banned from reporting on the laborers, and it was later reported by the Halifax Herald that, “They were herded like so much cattle in cars, forbidden to leave the train and guarded like criminals” (Boehler, Patrick. “The Forgotten Army of the First World War: How Chinese Labourers Helped Shape Europe.” South China Morning Post). The poor treatment continued once the laborers reached their destinations, and this prompted China to establish a Bureau of Overseas Chinese Workers to address the workers’ conditions. Its work resulted in laborers receiving compensation for workplace injuries, including mental health conditions. The story of these laborers is complex and buried in history, needing devoted individuals like the fictional Athena Liu to bring their story to light.
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