One thing all three of these stories have in common is overt racism, which is at times downright offensive. The Monkey King feels like a victim of racism and so he strikes back at the other deities that saw him as inferior. The sitcom starring Chin-Kee (even typing that name feels wrong, I must admit) shows the title character as a walking amalgamation of every racist stereotype and caricature of Asian people every created. Jin Wang's story has him being the victim of racism, but he seems to have racist views as well. Given all the overtly displayed racism in this story, what do you think that the author is saying about racism?
Finally, the artwork in this story is very different from every other novel we have read. The style is very cartoony and very colorful, which seems like an odd choice given the subject matter. But I also think that Yang makes some very interesting choices with regards to the artwork, such as having Chin-Kee (Ugh!) have yellow skin or having the Monkey King break out of a comic panel into nothingness. Do you think the art style works for this book? Why or why not?
The braiding of the three stories was really well done, I thought. It served as a way to say that everyone sees racism differently. While this was a story of an American Asian boy, I think the story of the Monkey King could be used to tell the story of anyone who feels like the "other". Reading the parts with Danny and Chin-Kee was so uncomfortable, but I don't think we could've fully understood Jin/Danny's struggle without it.
ReplyDeleteThe art used in ABC was really eye-catching. The style seemed to be a blending of American and Chinese comics. The drawing is close to being anime with really clean simple lines, but the colors are so attention grabbing. Sort of like the four-color era that was discussed in McCloud's book.
The tissue holding them together (at this point in the story) is the thematic ‘big ideas’ that Yang is trying to articulate. He even tells us what some of them are very early on in the story during the scene with the young Jin and the Herbalist. ‘When I grow up I want to be a Transformer’. ‘It’s easy to become anything you wish as long as you are willing to lose your soul’.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really interesting technique for me, because the stories were SO seemingly disparate from one another that it immediately made me trust that the author had bigger goals in mind than just an A to B kind of story. So from that point on I was reading really carefully and looking for the connective tissue at the broader level between them.
I love how selective Yang is in what he’s showing and not showing. Most of the other things we’ve read this semester have been ‘this happened, and then this happened next, and then this happened next, etc.’ I’ve been very critical of this lack of restraint in those other works, so I was excited to see it done so well here. While that does happen a bit with the Monkey King story, he’s borrowing from mythological/epic fiction so I get it. But in the other two stories, Yang is so good about choosing very specific moments in the lives of his characters that articulate his broader themes. (The encounter with the herbalist for example, or the moments with Danny that are really only one particular scene each time).
I had originally thought that the part about the Monkey King had been a story that Jin’s mother or someone else had or was telling him but as I read further I felt like that couldn’t have been what was going on. At the same time I wasn’t sure what to make of Danny’s side of the story except maybe he was exaggerating how his cousin acted because of his and everyone else’s idea of how Asian’s act and talk but I am still not sure. I’ll admit that I’ve already finished the comic but I won’t spoil it for anyone but I think it was strongly hinted at all along that these characters are fighting their identities but that through fighting they don’t come any closer to be being a part of the in crowd or being happy with themselves.
ReplyDeleteEach story certainly has its own outlook on how racism is viewed and handled. In the case of the Monkey King the idea is that no matter how much a minority might change themselves to be more like the majority they will still retain their racial features and won’t be accepted any more than if they hadn’t changed themselves. Chin-Kee displays how racism is often treated like a joke which is particularly notorious on TV even to this day in what many people consider an extremely politically correct country. Because we’re led to believe that this kind of caricatures are funny we never think anything off it unless they are overtly racist like Chin-Kee. Jin exemplifies how racism can be internalized. Jin has grown so use to people making fun of him for being himself and all around not being white that he tries so hard to act white without any trace of his Asian heritage if he can help it. When he fails he lashes out at Wei-Chen and tries to mold his friend so he is less Asian as well. It’s painful to watch and hard to believe some people have to live like this.
I really enjoy this art style and I don’t find it hard to take it seriously. It has a kind of style that you associate with childhood which is what this comic is primarily about and works well for it.
The colorful style and overt racism contribute to the feeling I get that the novel is similar to a caricature. Yang seems to highlight racial stereotypes in order to demonstrate the ridiculousness of them. When I am reading the novel, I am intensely aware of racial prejudices. I like what Chelsea said about the “four color era” and I wonder if Yang chose these colors as a throwback to the racial tensions that existed outside the comic industry during that time. I also wonder if the “four color” system led to perpetuate racial stereotypes in early comics, simply by a need to differentiate characters from each other and even from the villains. The artwork seems so surreal and “other,” but I still find myself connecting with Jin and wanting him to succeed.
ReplyDeleteThese stories are definitely pretty different at first glance, and I think they're meant to be that way. Who else can have one book that features a monkey king, an asian child stuck in an almost all white school, and an incredibly racist stereotype trapped inside a sitcom-esque experience? And yet he does it, and it doesn't feel wrong. I still don't fully see where they are going to connect, but I like it. They definitely seem to have an overarching theme that could be lining up, with that idea of just trying to fit in and kind of become what you aren't. I'm not sure if they're meant to be connected on a lower narrative level, or if it's all just meant to be connected in the higher plain of ideas. Either way, I like the idea of it. This was one book I didn't really want to put down because I was excited to see where it was going, and how they were going to be intertwined further.
ReplyDeleteThe author does seem to be having a weird response to racism in a way. He definitely seems to be wanting to fight racism, at least through all his characters. And yet, at the same time, each of the characters seems to embrace racism in a different way. The monkey king is still racist towards other monkeys, and wants to be not like them, by fighting discrimination he is receiving. Jin still feels like he doesn't quite like other asians as well, and we see him trying to be more like the white guys. And the Chin-kee story is just so bizarre, and really feels like it plays with racism by bringing it to the extreme way that everybody views it. And maybe he's overplaying that to show something. Maybe it's not really that way, that's just the way our character is perceiving it? I guess we'll see.
I love the art style. Race and color are something that go hand in hand, so I think it's poignant that color is heavily represented. It's supposed to be a prominent feature of the comic book. I think it's also important to the author that it feels like a comic book, because so much of the racism is hyper-racist. I think he's trying to create a safe place where we can view this and realize maybe the ridiculous-ness of it, maybe the harshness of it. It's an interesting approach, but I really like it.
Since I have had the fortune to have read American Born Chinese before, I know what connects all three stories. (SPOILERS!) No, but really...I think that what connects these three stories is what connects American Born Chinese to other bildungsromans: a struggle for identity. The Monkey King and Jin Wang both struggle with who they are and wish that they could be some one else, and Danny wishes that his cousin was some one else. Danny wishes that he wasn't related to Chin-Kee. So, these characters are fighting that inner turmoil within themselves to come to terms with their race. I know that, personally, after 9/11, I had difficulty accepting that I was Arabic. I certainly didn't tell any one because I was afraid. I imagine that it felt a lot like being German or Japanese in America during World War II.
ReplyDeleteI think that Gene Luen Yang uses racism to show just how terrible (and foolish) racism really is. The Monkey King is shown as a victim of racism (to a degree), and responds by forcefully demanding that his oppressors accept him. Jin Wang is a victim of perhaps the most realistic depiction of racism, and undergoes a change in himself in order to escape it. Chin-Kee, on the other hand, is outrageously racist and seems to embrace it and impose this on all others around him (I agree that the name sounds wrong, but at the same time it is an incredible incorporation of a negative, racist term used to counter racism...much in the same way that the N-word is today or the term Incognegro was in Incognegro). Thus we get three different responses to racism: A poor response to racism (the Monkey King), one that only encourages negative stereotypes and dislike for others; A fairly common, realistic response to racism (Jin Wang), one that is sad but also sadly true; and another poor response to racism (Chin-Kee) from the total opposite end of the spectrum. Yet all three responses do not encourage racism in the readers, but rather garners sympathy for the victims of racism in the hope of doing away with racism altogether.
I loved the art style! We have been suffering from a terrible lack of color. (Seriously. Any one else notice that?) Perhaps this is because I grew up on 60s and 70s Marvel and DC comic strips (even though I was born in the 90s), but I have always loved the colorful aspect of comic books. That being said, I think that besides my own personal opinion, the artwork of American Born Chinese is very well utilized. The simplicity allows for a clearer reading of the novel, not having to spend so much time focusing on the panels just in an attempt to make out what is going on (such as in King). This way, the story comes through and, rather than being a distraction, the artwork is a vessel for this powerful story.
It should be know surprise to find racism happening in this story, but there more to that. The book focuses on three narratives, each with their own story and experience. Yet they are all tied together by one message that is explained at the end of the book, acceptance. When I say this, I'm not referring to racial tolerance, but acceptance in one's identity. Throughout Jin Wang's story, we see him struggling with fitting socially. The other two stories serve as supportment of the point that the author is trying to make. And when they come together at the end, the message is clear that Jin should stop trying to be something he is not and accept who he is. The method that the author has gone on this is brilliant. I couldn't think of a better way to do this other than what this book did.
ReplyDeleteAs McCloud explained in Understanding Comics, color is used to emphasize the major points that happen within the story. So yes, the art style does work with the book because it shows clarity towards the stories and emphasizes the point it was trying to make.
I love narratives like this; narratives where the author tells us several different stories all connected in some way, but the reader has to be patients to find out how. Whether it's "Love Actually" or "Cloud Atlas" or "13 Conversations About One Thing," books or movies that are a compendium of stories hinging on one theme or having one common connection amidst all the others are just thrilling. And being focused on the theme of racism is particularly interesting and fairly effective.
ReplyDeleteThe use of the 3 different story types (the more fantasy, the sitcom, and the realistic) really serves to round out the topic. The sitcom story (Chin-Kee) serves to show typical views of racism and really puts the spotlight on just how absurd it really is. While I feel like the contrast of that juxtaposed to the realistic story (Jin Wang) shows what racism really is like, and the effects of it in a really powerful way. The fantasy (monkey king) one is a little bit harder to place, but I feel it does show really strongly the way someone who is discriminated against can lash out, and ultimately add to the discrimination, both by proving the discriminators right to some extent, and becoming a discriminator against others like them.
Much like Sebastian, I have also read "American Born Chinese" before this class. I remember wondering how all three stories would intertwine and connect. Up to the point we read to for today I was stumped so I will give nothing away here. All three stories deal with isolation whether it be a lonely kid at school to the monkey trying to rub elbows with the gods.
ReplyDeleteColor works with Yang's more lighthearted approach. I don't mean that dismissively, but compared to "King" or "Maus" both the artwork and overall tone are a bit more relaxed and I find it welcoming. I find the colorful images to compliment the colorful narrative.
I too love when authors or writers go outside the narrative box through multiple narratives that don't always function in a linear format. By doing this, Yang kept "American Born Chinese" interesting by providing shorts rather than 3 feature lengths. Also I think by doing this he is showing a bracketing, bracketing in photography is the process in which you take a number of photos all in ascending exposure times to find the right one, of different types of isolation due to racial issues.
ReplyDeleteThe art style to me is clean, nice and playful. Yang did not take many chances within the style of art, for he used many oriental motifs. He did this well though, each page is set up as if it was an ancient oriental print, small, centered, to the point and allows the images to breathe, the white negative space around the frames. As a printmaker, I really appreciate Yang including this in his comic, it allows space for the reader to think, slow down and really question what he is trying to get at.
Since I already read through American Born Chinese, I know how the stories will eventually connect. Before this reveal, the major theme of racism is prevalent in all three. Jin and the monkey both deal with racism in a similar manner. They both begin to resent their own culture and assimilate to become a part of the in-crowd. While Chin-Kee story is obviously a hyperbolic stereotype of Asian culture. I think it is clear that the author is against racism and attempts to use humor as a method of getting his points across. The Chin-Kee parts poke fun at the stereotype, while the monkey and Jin’s stories seem to show the struggle of dealing with racism on a more personal level. I love the art style in this comic. It is refreshing to see vivid colors in our text finally. I believe the decision to include color works for this comic because if the story was in black in white, it would have a much darker tone which would take away from the humor as well.
ReplyDeleteThe racist thing that some of the characters say and believe are things that we may have heard some one say of may said or thought ourselves.I think that it was a good choice for Yang to put this subject in the book. I think anyone that reads this book should have a different appreciation for Asian people, even if you think you are not prejudice against them. It is not only Asians that go through feeling this way growing up in America. So, I feel it is something we all can relate to. As far as the art style I think that Yang made the choice to draw the book this way so that it would appeal to kids and adults. I thought the book was a good look at how some Asians may feel while growing up in a different culture.
ReplyDeleteThough the three stories seem disparate in their content, they all share the unified theme of falling under what is the perceived to be the popular Chinese identity: you have the allegorical myth ( which, given its historical elements calls into mind the traditional "wise Asian" trope), the modern stereotype (which remains pervasive even today), and the actual modern American-Chinese life. What is inherently unifying in these various threads is the sense of being treated as an outsider - especially when it comes to western eyes. Again, it's important to remember that this is a story of how a American-Chinese individual views themselves through the prism of the western eye. Thus, the world is divided up into this weird sense of mythological unknown, painful stereotypes, and a constant tone of racism that runs through both. ABC is as much as about the perception of what it means to be American-Chinese as to what it's actually like.
ReplyDeleteTo that end, the art style helps disarm some of the painful stereotypes and complicated social commentary that are present in the story. Were it done in a more realistic style (say, like, Shortcomings), the tone might be pushed too far into a negative realm. As is, the cartoony art style remains playful - even as the content remains anything but. It's not so dissimilar an approach as what we saw in Maus. And like that story, having the content feel less superficially offensive allows the reader a deeper level of access into the content itself.
At first I was a little confused by the three stories blending into one but I liked reading it at the same time and trying to connect them. As far as the racism goes, I felt so bad for these boys especially when Wei-Chen Sun was introduced to the classroom and his teacher said he came "All the way from China!" Wei- Chen Sun replies, "Taiwan." And the teacher says,"Taiwan." The way its illustrated it's like there's no break in the teacher's speech and you get the sense that he could really care less where the kid comes from. It was so funny that the same experience had just happened to Jin Wang when he entered the school except with a different teacher who also says he came all the way from China but this time Jin Wang responds, "San Francisco," and she replies, "San Francisco," with the same non-break in speech that the other teacher showed. This shows that although the teachers are trying to be nice and welcome these boys there is an expectation that just because they are Asian, that they are from China, even though one was born in America and one in Taiwan. It shows how uneducated we can be about Asian Americans in general and that many people associate Asians with China even though there are many Asian countries. Unfortunately this is a from of racism that few people realize they are practicing. I also felt bad for Wei-Chen Sun when Jin Wang didn't want to be friends with him because he was too "Chinese". When he says, "You're in AMERICA speak ENGLISH," I felt so bad for him because he was trying to speak English.
ReplyDeleteAs far as connecting the stories, I think they will be connected by myths or parables like "The Monkey King" and there will be a lesson at the end that ties everything together.
The use of the color yellow in the book is particularly interesting because "yellow" is often used to characterize skin color in anti-Asian stereotype.
ReplyDeleteAlso: check out my earlier post on caricature and comics to get more of the history behind some of Yang's choices re: depicting race and racism in American Born Chinese. http://engl3084comicsgraphicnovel.blogspot.com/2014/10/comics-and-caricature.html
ReplyDelete