Narrative Authority, Paratext, and Identity in R. F. Kuang's Yellowface.

In this paper, I use a narratological approach to analyse the use of metafiction, untrustworthy first-person narration, and paratext in R.F. Kuang's Yellowface (2023). The novel's self-referential highlighting of authorship as a constructed act of performance places it in the context of metafiction,...

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Publicado en:Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language & Literature Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 11 - 25
Autor principal: Mustafić, Nadira Puškar
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language & Literature Jun2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Narrative Authority, Paratext, and Identity in R. F. Kuang's Yellowface.
      aug:
        au: Mustafić, Nadira Puškar
        affil: International University of Sarajevo
      su:
        Paratext
        Narration
        Authors
        Cultural appropriation
        Fiction writing techniques
        Publishing
        Identity (Psychology)
      sug:
        subj:
          Paratext
          Narration
          Authors
          Cultural appropriation
          Fiction writing techniques
          Publishing
          Identity (Psychology)
      keyword:
        Metafictional narration
        narrative authority
        paratextual framing
        R. F. Kuang's Yellowface
        racialised publishing
        untrustworthy first-person narration
      ab: In this paper, I use a narratological approach to analyse the use of metafiction, untrustworthy first-person narration, and paratext in R.F. Kuang's Yellowface (2023). The novel's self-referential highlighting of authorship as a constructed act of performance places it in the context of metafiction, as defined by Patricia Waugh and Linda Hutcheon. Wayne C. Booth, James Phelan, and Greta Olson help explain the degrees and effects of unreliable narration in the novel. June Hayward, its central character, transforms from a first-person unreliable narrator into an untrustworthy one. According to Gérard Genette, paratext, or material surrounding stories, influences how they are received and may destabilise their narrative authority. Yellowface exposes how the publishing industry and digital discourse shape the circulation of racialised narratives in the novel. Together, these perspectives show that Yellowface presents narrative authority as a product of form, institutional mediation, and reader response.
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    language: English
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