By Carol Bello, Features Editor
River Hill hosted a Skype conference with the author of this year’s community read, American Born Chinese. On Friday, December 12th, graphic novelist and comic enthusiast Gene Yang was traveling during the scheduled meet, but still found time to engage in a virtual conference with approximately 60 English students from Chris Kates and Jason. Bartholomew’s classes. Despite the virtual aspect, participants learned about Yang as an individual as well as specifics regarding the origins of his novels and short stories.
Yang began his presentation in an organized manner and was relevant not only to his biggest success, American Born Chinese, but also included details about the other works he has created. Nearly all of the work he has published involves comics, thus giving them the graphic novel label. His most popular published works include The Shadow Hero, Level Up, Boxers & Saints, and several of the Avatar novels.
When asked about his initial motives for producing graphic novels, Yang explained that he established these books based on childhood experiences with his parents, as they were enthusiastic story tellers. Although American Born Chinese consists of three alternating plots throughout the course of the novel, much of Gene Yang’s self lies in each story line.
Yang began by discussing the first part of the novel, The Monkey King, and how he was exposed to stories that incorporated the Monkey King in them. He explained that The Monkey King acted as a powerful symbol for many different things in different novels he experienced growing up, but his interpretation of it had a more overarching meaning.
Yang explained, “The Monkey King represents Asian-American experience. His initial insecurity about the exposure of his feet parallels with the discomfort Asian-Americans have growing up in a culture that isn’t the same as the one they experience at home.” This concept as well as many other relatable themes are presented in a way that is easy for readers to comprehend. Yang discussed the importance of these concepts and expressed how his novels “deal with adult topics in nuance ways” through the use of humor and effective illustrations.
The second story line parallels with Yang’s life as a child with two immigrant parents. Given that his parents were immigrants, he was raised in a culture that was different from the one he would later experience at school and in the real world. In this story line, Yang stressed the importance of retaining one’s true culture while simultaneously being exposed to another.
The third story line in American Born Chinese was deemed the “most controversial” according to Yang. The main premise of the story line consists of an “All-American Boy” named Danny who must live with his stereotypical Chinese cousin, despite the embarrassment and shame Danny feels about the cousin’s distinct traditional culture. Although this story line stirs more controversy than the rest of them, it is crucial for an individual’s understanding of the overarching themes Yang has created. The most prevalent being, overcoming the clash and finding a balance of American and Chinese culture during the developmental stages in one’s life.
After Yang discussed American Born Chinese, audience members interested in learning more about Yang’s life, inspirations, and writing styles, asked questions specific to other comics affiliated with Yang’s work, as well as his thoughts about his work thus far and what is yet to come.
Despite the virtual barrier, Yang’s presence served to be informative as well as entertaining for the students at River Hill, as well as educate the rest of the student body about this year’s community read, American Born Chinese.