Yamashitas Tropic of Orange Essay - 2444 Words

Yamashitas Tropic of Orange This paper studies Yamashita’s Tropic of Orange as a magical realist text and examines the implications for such a style on the notion of the urban. Specifically, I will explore how Yamashita uses magical realism to collapse boundaries and socially transform Los Angeles into an embattled utopia for the disenfranchised. First, however, magical realism is a loaded term and some definitions are in order. In addition to important recent innovations in the form and its purposes, magical realism is in dialogue with a longer history of writing, including the epic, chivalric traditions, Greek pastoral, medieval dream visions, romantic traditions and Gothic fictions, all of which contribute a fantastic strain to†¦show more content†¦Magical realism also functions ideologically but†¦less hegemonically, for its program is not centralizing but eccentric: it creates space for interactions of diversity. In magical realist texts, ontological disruption serves the purpose of pol itical and cultural disruption: magic is often given as a cultural corrective, requiring readers to scrutinize accepted realistic conventions of causality, materiality, motivation. (3) This definition highlights the two dominant markers of the form: the use of fantasy and the counter-hegemonic disruption of cultural and social realities. Fantasy can imagine justice into the reality of an unjust world, which is why it has been so useful in postcolonial contexts and has interesting possibilities for metropolitan life. Yamashita’s novel fits squarely in this tradition, and I suggest she leverages the form to imaginatively transform Los Angeles from a plethora of racially, socially and economically distinct and, at times, antagonistic neighborhoods connected yet separated by freeways and bound within the borders of the U.S., to an embattled yet impossibly and transnationally interconnected utopian urbanity located literally on the freeway. Conventions of causality and materiality are regularly violated as the city physically and socially changes shape, congregating and collapsing distinct worlds, nations and cultures into one metropolis. Under the spell of magic al realism, Yamashita’s Los Angeles becomes aShow MoreRelatedKaren Tei Yamashitas Tropic of Orange Essay example2237 Words   |  9 Pagesdiscuss how all things came together in Larry’s life just as the critters all came together in the home in Mexico in the book â€Å"Tropic of Orange.† Many people made their way to the plot, just as many people were placed in Larry’s life, and this has played a major part in my life as well. The second section will be titled â€Å"Orange†. The orange in the book â€Å"Tropic of Orange† symbolized magic and dreams, so in this section of my paper I will discuss the great benefits of Larry’s decision to serve in VietnamRead MoreThe Tropic Of Orange By Karen Tei Yamashita1530 Words   |  7 PagesRunning Through the Six: Multiculturalism + Diversity in The Tropic of Orange Without a doubt, the cast assembled in Karen Tei Yamashita’s novel The Tropic of Orange is one of the most diverse in any novel I have ever read for a class. Unlike the typical fair of the â€Å"mostly white with a couple brown people sprinkled in† casts I normally see, Yamashita really takes it to the next level incorporating characters from almost all walks of life and several that boast many different nationalities. ItRead MoreEssay on The City of Los Angeles1470 Words   |  6 Pagespopulation of nine million reside in the city (US Census Bureau). Immigrants from all over the world move to Los Angeles because of the wide opportunities the city provides through the numerous schools and various employment occupations. In the novel Tropic of Orange by Karen Tei Yamashita we are introduce to Bobby Ngu’s and his story which subsidizes the reason to immigrate. Ngu from Singapore experienced some tough times back home with his family and his father tells him, â₠¬Å"you gotta have a future? BetterRead MoreIssues in Philippine Cinema5002 Words   |  21 Pagescourse of the battle Filipinos were forced to retreat and the Americans dominate the frame while Filipinos simultaneously exited the screen space. The setting was not in the Philippines at all as it was done in West Orange County in New Jersey with thick flora to represent the tropics of the Philippines. Filipinos were never casted in the film, instead Afro-Americans took the place of the Filipino revolutionaries, presuming that the Filipinos, whom they are subjugating, must look like the Afro-Americans