"Tropic of Orange"

Book Review # 99357

English > Analysis
Ethnic Studies > North American
Literature

"Tropic of Orange"

This paper examines Karen Tei Yamashita's views of multiculturalism in "Tropic of Orange".

1,062 words () | 4 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses Yamashita's "Tropic of Orange" that deals with the cultural and economic issues intimately associated with globalization. The paper focuses on a single passage from the book and explains Yamashita's view that cultural diversity has been reduced in the West to the experiences that can be easily packaged and sold via the existing channels of global capitalism. The paper highlights the idea that multiculturalism has become a commercial venture.

From the Paper:

"In Tropic of Orange, Karen Tei Yamashita utilizes the (non)tropes of magical realism to deliver a very specific vision of America's future. As many critics have noted, Yamashita's Tropic of Orange deals with the cultural and economic issues intimately associated with globalization and the uneven development of different parts of the world, with a strong division drawn between nations in the North and those in the South (Wallace 145; Gier and Tejeda). Yamashita's examination of place and border is set against the backdrop of modern Los Angeles, arguably one of the most commercially cosmopolitan cities in the world. It is, we quickly learn, both a part of the United States but simultaneously an entity distinct from that national body."

Sample of Sources Used:

Gier, Jean Vengra and Tejeda, Carla Alicia. "An Interview with Karen Tei Yamashita." Jouvert Journal of Postcolonial Studies 2.2 (1998). 6 Sept. 2006 <http://social.chass.ncsu.edu/Jouvert/v2i2/yamashi.htm>.
"Karen Tei Yamashita." VG: Voices from the Gaps. 18 May 2005. 5 Sept. 2006 <http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/yamashita_karen_tei.html>.
"Karen Tei Yamashita: A Twist on the Mix." Logernaut Reading Series. Fall 2001. 6 Sept. 2006 <http://www.loggernaut.org/interviews/karenteiyamashita/>.
Wallace, Molly. "Tropics of Globalization: Reading the New North America." Symploke Winter-Spring 2001: 145-161.