Reading the Picture Bride Tradition in Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic
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Tarih
2023
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info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Özet
The history of migration is as old as the history of humanity. Throughout the centuries, peoples of the world have settled in new places, either voluntarily or by force, abandoning their homelands due to political, religious, environmental, economic, or cultural reasons. Both the desire to escape from the unpleasant living conditions in the environment they live in and better living conditions in the regions-to-be migrated have a role in their act. In literary works, as one of the building blocks of culture, the immigrant experience is also frequently handled. In the same vein, The Buddha in the Attic, written by Japanese American writer Julie Otsuka in 2011, deals with the theme of migration within the framework of the picture bride phenomenon. The novel reflects the experiences of picture brides who arrived in San Francisco from Japan in the hope of having better living conditions in the USA at the turn of the 20th century. However, the adventure of Japanese women to realize the American Dream by getting married turns into a disappointment as soon as they step into the mainland, and each of them faces harsh economic, social, and cultural conditions throughout their lives within the scope of the roles assigned them. The attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 eventually means the complete collapse of the American Dream for all Japanese immigrants. In this context, this study seeks to examine the picture bride phenomenon based on historical data and its reflections in the novel in order to shed light on the female immigrant experience. It concludes that despite the presence of attractive elements in the new land, the immigrant experience in Otsuka’s text results in frustration for Japanese women and that the relationship between immigrants and the native population is rather fragile.
Açıklama
Anahtar Kelimeler
Kaynak
Turkish Studies - Language and Literature
WoS Q Değeri
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Cilt
18
Sayı
1
