The “Trauma Vampirism” of Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

Spoilers for Yellowface ahead

I adored Yellowface for many of the same reasons people loved and even hated it for. The genre of "crappy people with unchecked trauma making one horrible decision after the other" is a favorite of mine ever since I read Oyasumi Punpun.

The stellar character writing, sharp wit, insightful commentary on diversity, and pointed criticisms of capitalism already make Yellowface a good read. What elevated the novel to greatness for me was its portrayal of trauma as a commodity, a resource to be drained for all its worth.

I will be using vampire metaphors not because I think Kuang did so purposefully, but because I love vampire metaphors.

The premise of Yellowface sees June become a celebrated author after she steals the manuscript of her dead friend. Said manuscript is sourced from the stories of abused and exploited Chinese laborers in World War One.

Although June expresses genuine shock at the contents of Athena's manuscript, it doesn't stop her from viewing these horrific scenes from the past as a chance to escape her mundane and disappointing life.

She drains Athena's legacy to empower her own. Athena's fame, money and even talent become June's. Whenever there is something to gain, June does so at the expense of others, even in situations she doesn't have to. She will not, and as the story showcases, physically cannot, raise her status without benefiting from the direct suffering of others.

And she's not alone in the feasts. The publishers, editors, marketers and movie producers stand to profit from the monetization of these tragic retellings. Their actions makes the reader question the morality of writing about horrific events. Do writers even have to ask for consent from these people to share these experiences as fictional retellings? How many levels of separation would you need to not trigger the people who inspired your story, if they do read it? Do writers even owe anything, or is it simply acceptable to use real people as an asset?

These questions are why Yellowface is so much more than just "be angry at the racist white lady" book. It showcases how assumptions can railroad people into using exploitation at every level to stay on top, even at the cost of integrity and basic human empathy.

It also becomes increasingly clear throughout the story that June feeds off trauma like an addict. When she feasts on The Last Front, it sustains her for over a year. When the high starts to fade, every attempt she makes to reignite it comes from trauma. At first, she tries to get it from random historical tragedies, but they don't hit because there's no emotional connection. She becomes reclusive, anxious and temperamenta, desperate for a fix to cure her insecurity.

Her eventual novella, Mother Witch, combines Athena and June's complicated relationships with their mother. Once again, June feeds herself for another year, and had it not been for Candice, likely would have kept drawing from that same vein.

Of course, Athena herself is guilty of this. She empathizes with the trauma of others but shows no qualms using their stories as fuel for her own success, oftentimes without their consent. Writing a deeply personal SA story of her friend is the most blatantly cruel example of this, and arguably what set June down the path of mistrust and bias. Unwittingly, Athena's "bite" turned June into a trauma vampire like herself.

TL;DR: Writers are miserable little piles of secrets