Yone Noguchi’s Impersonation in “The American Diary of a Japanese Girl”
The first Japanese person known to write and publish an American novel, Yone Noguchi disguises as a Japanese female diarist to counter the orientalist representations of Japanese cultural and feminine images in early twentieth-century United States. His impersonation in “The American Diary of a Japa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
2019-12-01
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| Series: | Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices |
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| Online Access: | http://journals.rudn.ru/polylinguality/article/viewFile/22558/17634 |
| Summary: | The first Japanese person known to write and publish an American novel, Yone Noguchi disguises as a Japanese female diarist to counter the orientalist representations of Japanese cultural and feminine images in early twentieth-century United States. His impersonation in “The American Diary of a Japanese Girl”, however, results in a conflicting androgynous voice in which the male competes with the female, as well as in a number of contradictions that compromise characterization and plot development. Situating Noguchi in cultural and historical contexts, this essay examines his identity and reception as a translingual writer of English, and the contradictions found in the novel. |
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| ISSN: | 2618-897X 2618-8988 |