Yellowface

Once The Last Front is picked up by Eden Press, June experiences a whirlwind publishing process that is quick, severe, and addictive. During this process, she not only fundamentally changes the novel with her editor but also commits to her deception, working with Eden’s marketing team to cultivate an Asian American image. Most, if not all, of Eden’s decisions concerning The Last Front are targeted to make the book, and June, more marketable. The emphasis on broad consumer appeal rather than artistic or historical substance highlights the theme of Otherness as Commodity. This section of the novel also features June’s first real conflict with another character and exhibits the ways she uses her white privilege to protect herself. June can only succeed if her fraud is kept hidden, making any implication that she shouldn’t have or couldn’t have written The Last Front a serious threat to her new life’s stability.

As June and Daniella work through The Last Front, nearly every change made reduces the Chinese Labour Corps members’ agency or softens the white characters’ racism. Daniella claims that in doing so, they are making the novel more “readable,” introducing the question about the book’s intended audience. This process erases the historical significance and context in favor of the reader’s enjoyment and sensitivity. For example, a key to understanding the role of the Chinese Labour Corps in World War I is China’s motivations, which Daniella fails to recognize as important: “The pacing really flags here, reads Daniella’s comment. Do we need all this context about the Treaty of Versailles? Seems out of place–Focus is not Chinese geopolitics, surely?” (44). Daniella does not believe that audiences will not appreciate this background knowledge despite its integrality to the plot. By being so open to these fundamental changes, June demonstrates her ignorance of Athena’s intent and message, exhibiting the ways publishing treats otherness as a commodity, presenting it in ways that white audiences will find palatable rather than telling responsible and truthful narratives.

Eden Press realizes that it can profit greatly from The Last Front because of its strong prose and interesting premise, but it also understands that it must be careful with the book’s presentation. The marketing team is concerned with how to present June, a white woman who has written a novel on Chinese history, in a way that won’t stir up controversy. When June meets with Emily and Jessica to discuss how they should position her to future readers, the conversation quickly turns to cultural authenticity. June becomes defensive when she believes they are questioning her ability to write The Last Front because she is white, and the team quickly pivots, suggesting that June publish under the name Juniper Song, believing that people will assume she is Asian American. June understands how this ploy will tap into the preconceived notions of her that readers have, flipping the responsibility of cultural sensitivity onto the reader:

We’re just suggesting the right credentials, so that readers take me and my story seriously, so that nobody refuses to pick up my work because of some outdated preconceptions about who can write what. And if anyone makes assumptions, or connects the dots the wrong way, doesn’t that say far more about them than me? (62).

She realizes how aspects of a novel, like the author’s personal life and history, can be manipulated to present a more marketable identity. This is another arena in which June’s unreliability as a narrator comes into play. Her status as a plagiarist answers her hypothetical question here, as the reader is consistently aware that June is lying. In a novel with an antihero protagonist, sections like these make Kuong’s thesis abundantly clear: The “right credentials” do matter when telling culturally specific stories.

This is strengthened through Candice Lee’s inclusion. When Candice suggests Eden Press hire a sensitivity reader to ensure that The Last Front presents a responsible and culturally accurate depiction of its Chinese characters, June mobilizes to protect herself from what she perceives as a threat. Fearing that her secret will come undone, June shuts down the idea, appalled at Candice’s accusations. Her language in these sections emphasizes the theme of White Privilege in Publishing: “Jesus Christ. Cultural appropriation? Cultural leaching? What is her problem?” (64). When Candice doesn’t back down and later posts a negative review of the novel, June complains to both Daniella and Brett, resulting in Candice being taken off of the project and eventually fired. June is able to silence another’s legitimate concerns by using her status as the author, a status only made more powerful by her whiteness, and revels in it. She is unable to see Candice’s concerns as anything but a personal attack on her, which she interprets as a form of racism.