Portrayal of Cancel Culture in Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Mangesh Bhaurao Shamkure

Portrayal of Cancel Culture in Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Author(s)	Dr. Mangesh Bhaurao Shamkure
Country	India
Abstract	Abstract: The novel entitled Yellowface by R.F. Kuang is a critical dissection of cancel culture, which endeavours to examine its mechanics, consequences, and inherent contradictions through the downfall of protagonist June Hayward in a very precise manner. The novel is a portrayal of cancellation as a networked phenomenon that rapidly amplified through social media platforms and anonymous online critics. It leads to the swift erasure of nuance in favor of viral spectacle on social media platforms. The journey of June from celebrated author to pariah is triggered by accusations of plagiarism and cultural appropriation. It illustrates the immediacy of digital platforms which fuel outrage and moral posturing. It always bypasses substantive evidence or context. Kuang has critically explored the weponization of identity politics within this process, which reduces individual motivations to simplistic narratives of racism (framed as “yellowface”) and enables performances of moral superiority that preclude genuine accountability or redemption. Moreover, the narrative critiques the role of institutions by depicting publishers engaging in performative allyship and damage control that commodifies social justice rather than promoting ethical reckoning. The theme of narrative manipulations is central to the novel. In this process of narrative manipulations, truth is blurred as critics construct reductive realities as per their agendas and weaponize history and personal relationships systematically. In this way, Yellowface gives emphasis on the psychological toll and dehumanization in cancellation by depicting the lowering of people to symbols of their perceived worst actions, stripped of identity and denied pathways for growth. Thus, it exposes cancel culture as a destructive force that always gives priority to spectacle over meaningful justice.
Keywords	Yellowface, R. F. Kuang, Cancel Culture, Identity Politics, Social Media, Performative Allyship, Narrative Distortion, Dehumanization, Reputational Destruction, Moral Absolutism, Systemic Critique.
Field	Arts
Published In	Volume 6, Issue 1, January-February 2024
Published On	2024-01-05

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Portrayal of Cancel Culture in Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

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