Diversity or Doom?

Thankfully, the 21st century has been more kind and embracing to the various cultures that are featured around the globe. Especially in the world of media, specifically books, there has never been a more diverse and welcoming catalog of content to consume. Tons of novels and fictional works are being created by those who are from underrepresented backgrounds. One of these creators is Rebecca F. Kuang, a Chinese American author who has written numerous bestsellers, including “Babel,” “The Poppy War" series, and most recently, “Yellowface”. With her latest work, she has managed to explore the modern reception of diversity, and how people can use it ignorantly or maliciously.

“Yellowface” details the path of a young white author named June Hayward. After witnessing the death of her more successful colleague and friend, Chinese American author Athena Liu, she manages to get a hold of one of Liu’s unfinished manuscripts. Initially wanting to publish it in her friend’s memory, she ends up publishing the work as her own, along with rebranding herself as Juniper Song and appearing ethnically ambiguous with her author photo. Throughout the novel, we witness the backlash that she receives from her cultural appropriation, both online and in person, reading into her thoughts that constantly try to justify her actions.

With these things in mind, some people may ask: what is cultural appropriation? Looking at the Britannica definition of the term, cultural appropriation is, “when members of a majority group adopt cultural elements of a minority group in an exploitative, disrespectful, or stereotypical way.” This can include wearing cultural garments as a simple Halloween costume or adopting certain practices and traditions not related to your culture as an aesthetic or for social gain.

While the book is supposed to be a satire exposing the publishing industry, it does make the average reader wonder about the state of cultural appropriation today. Does it still hold an active presence in our society, and what is considered cultural appropriation in media? With the promises of diversification being delivered, are they done with the right intentions? Analyzing the novel further, we will delve into these questions to understand the state of diversity and representation in the modern age.

At a glance, many readers had their interesting thoughts on the book. Receiving a 3.89 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, “Yellowface” has been generally well-received. “I think the book overall did a good job exposing the inner workings of the publishing world as well as the struggles many aspiring authors may encounter,” said Stuart Avvampato, one of the many readers of this book. “I loved ‘Yellowface!’ I think it’s a novel that might rub people the wrong way, but I saw it as a book to (lightheartedly) make fun of the book community,” said Sydney Sedloff, another reader. She has a point, as some people do not enjoy certain aspects. Cindy Pham, an online creator who is infamous

for her book and movie reviews, had differing opinions. In her video, “The problem with ‘Yellowface’ by RF Kuang: my thoughts on race, class, and the publishing industry,” she summarizes her thoughts on the book. “Yellowface felt very chronically online rather than reflective of the real-life publishing industry,” she said, highlighting the numerous references to Twitter and the online discourse in the novel.

Before delving into appropriation, an interesting point to tackle first is diversity, especially in the entertainment world today. While we have seen better representation in media in recent years, it is still a controversial issue on both sides, especially with the idea of using certain people as “tokens,” to show that they “care” about minority voices without actually putting in effort to diversify the field. “I

think that there definitely is a push to hire or secure a handful of ‘token races’ in order to play into the market where there are demographics that would desire that. And although I believe diversity hires could be helpful, I don’t think that the way that media industries today are handling it [is] being carried out in a beneficial way. Instead of being merit-based in its hiring process and allowing for smaller actors/writers/etc to enter the limelight, it seems as though a lot of media industries... tend to try to secure the small handful of already successful/token figures to hire instead,” said Avvampato. Sedloff goes into further detail on the potential motivations behind these

industries.

“I don’t feel that the publishing houses and other companies are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They’re doing what June did. They realize that they can a lot of money by supporting minorities. They know if they don’t diversity, their income will suffer for it.”

With powerhouses prioritizing money and their reputations, minority communities see these kinds of gestures as pandering and ingenuine, whereas many non-minority members, like June in the novel, feel as if these industries only care about minority voices and push theirs away. “There are white authors who still believe that publishing favors people of color and that white people are becoming

more of a minority and they are the ones that are being marginalized from having their stories published...” Pham said regarding the publishing industry. However, she immediately debunks this claim by providing author demographic statistics from Wordsrated.com, which shows that roughly 75% of authors within the U.S. are white as of 2021. While minority percentages are growing, they are still heavily underrepresented, therefore throwing any opposing claims right into the garbage.

In terms of its dealing with cultural appropriation, there were mixed opinions and interpretations of its handling. While Avvampato found some accuracies in the novel compared to the real world, Sedloff stated that it wasn’t necessarily “black or white,” with a singular action not being appropriation but the entire process being appropriation. When trying to analyze this subject, it is

not uncommon to see many people struggle with what’s considered cultural appropriation and what’s not. The author, R.F. Kuang, even added her thoughts on this matter when she was being interviewed by the New York Public Library, describing how formatting the book was intentional with the modern way we discuss this issue. “‘Yellowface,’ is an interesting contrast between style and content, because I’m trying to unpack all of these difficult questions about cultural appropriation and identity and the commodification of marginalization, but I’m using this style that’s sloppy and easy and reductive because that’s how discourse is on Twitter,” she said. “But I was trying to use this reductive mode of narrative to unpack something that should not be so easily reduced.” Especially with the way that we communicate today online, it is easy to jump to conclusions on certain controversies. While it can be capable of holding people accountable, it can be harsh, and false accusations can easily stir in the air. It certainly doesn’t help those who are confused about the limits of cultural appropriation. Even with solid definitions, interpretations of specific instances can vary from one person to the next. However, the ultimate determiner of cultural appropriation is

whether something is being used with genuine respect for the culture.

While tons of people in the novel were offended by June Hayward writing minority stories, readers had split thoughts on this topic, mainly when it comes to authors who are part of the majority writing minority characters. However, the main consensus was that as long as proper research and care go into accurate representation, it’s possible and acceptable. “Authors are absolutely capable of accurately portraying minorities correctly. The same thing happens with mental health struggles, class/wage differences, gender differences, etc. What is required of those authors though is more research,” said Sedloff. “I do believe that these authors are in fact capable of accurately and appropriately portraying these topics. I believe the hurdle would be higher for these individuals due to the subtle nuances that would be hard to portray without being of that culture/minority demographic, but I do believe that it is possible,” said Avvampato. There are numerous examples where authors succeed and fail in this venture, such as Lisa See winning numerous awards for novels like “China Dolls,” and “Shanghai Girls,” and only being 1⁄8 Chinese from her great grandfather’s side, and there’s Naomi Novik with her novel “A Deadly Education,” which had controversial portrayals of minorities, mainly involving fantastical world-building aspects that highlighted negative features. While this wasn’t her intention, the lack of care and awareness caused numerous communities to be offended.

Despite its praises and criticisms, “Yellowface” is a reflection of the progress and setbacks that we have made over the past few decades in media. While we have made great strides in diversity and representation in the media industry, we still have a long way to go before it is considered a truly safe space. Not only do companies need to prioritize diversity as a moral issue rather than a cash grab, but people also need to be educated on the signs of cultures being represented inaccurately. With constant jumping to conclusions and a lack of confidence in these sensitive issues, it is essential to put everyone on the same page. Putting in the work on both ends is essential to making actual progress toward cultural understanding and appreciation, not just in the media that we consume, but in our daily lives.