Gene Yang's Utilization Of Magical Realism In American Born Chinese

How does Gene Luan Yang’s utilization of magical realism in his graphic novel American Born Chinese examine how shame motivates one to accept Western normativity? American Born Chinese is a graphic novel created by Gene Luan Yang. Yang’s choice of title conveys the book’s central theme of identity and the emotional conflict about expressing one’s cultural identity in a discriminative environment. American Born Chinese has a unique format that follows three separate storylines. One of these storylines follows Danny, an American high school boy whose cousin –Chinkee—is visiting. Through Danny’s storyline, Yang’s incorporation of magic realism is most prevalent. Magical realism is a specific mode of writing where fantasy invades everyday life.

It's characterized by its juxtaposition between the rationality of reality and supernatural activity. Literary critic Ray Verzasconi explains the environment that led to the creation of magic realism as “an expression of the New World reality which at once combines the rational elements of European super-civilization and the irrational elements of a primitive America.” (Moore) Yang’s American-born Chinese displays magic realism’s co-existence of opposing realities between differing civilizations by portraying a rational and “superior” American culture and a “primitive” and magical Chinese culture. By displaying Danny’s Chinese culture as a magical, irrational presence, Yang expresses Danny’s view of Chinese culture being unsuitable for his chosen American civilization. Danny’s view was created due to his traumatic experience of cultural identity being rejected by his American peers, leading to the formation of his shame towards Chinese culture. Yang’s authorial choice uses magic realism to display the result of this Words:1500 Candidate Number: kmb769 2 traumatic experience, as magic realism is “where the unrepresentable can be expressed”

Danny’s presence was created to relieve his true identity—Jin Wang—of his feelings of inferiority that are created due to offensive actions such as stereotypes. Through the persona of Danny, he can escape stereotypes that ruined his image of being an accepted part of American culture. Yet, Chinkee’s unwelcome presence ruins this escape, with Danny still being directly confronted with the same stereotypes despite his “True American” Danny identity. Chinkee, throughout Danny’s storyline, acts as a foil for Danny, constantly making his life difficult, paralleling how Jin’s life became difficult due to prejudice. Therefore, Chinkee embodies the biases that create Danny's shame for his original identity, leading to his subsequent concealment. These prejudices are represented in Yang’s diction when writing Chinkee’s dialogue. Chinkee makes his first appearance and Words:1500 Candidate Number: kmb769 5 incorrectly says, “Harro Amellica.” (Figure 2). This continues and throughout the graphic novel, Chinkee repeatedly switches the “r” and “l” sounds in his