Yamada Eimi and the Value of <em>Trash</em>

• Main Author: Hunt, Mariah Christina
• Format: Others
• Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2017
• Subjects: Yamada Eimi; Bedtime Eyes; Trash; Japanese female identity; patriarchal power; race.; Classics
• Online Access: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/6339; https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=7339&amp;context=etd

This paper addresses the collusion with and contradiction to patriarchal power structures of race and femininity in Yamada Eimi's Bedtime Eyes and Trash. In moments of Bedtime Eyes, particularly the final novella "Jesse," and Trash, Yamada contradicts her irresponsible portrayals of Japanese female and black male identity often found in her fiction. This paper will discuss ideological shifts in Yamada's narratives through a textual analysis of Bedtime Eyes and Trash, arguing that through changes in narrative that affect character development, "Jesse" and Trash begin to deconstruct some of the detrimental power structures that shape much Yamada's fictional works.