카렌 타이 야마시타의 『열대 오렌지』 —초국가성과 이주민의 주체형성

Abstract

Karen Tei Yamashita shows the comprehensive transnational imagination in her works. Her focus is not to search for Japanese American or Asian American identity. The most visible analysis concept for exploring Tropic of Orange's transnationality is migration and electronic mass media. It's background is LA and Mexico and it draws global economic structure which describes the illicit traffic of cocaine and human body organs and constant illegal entry across the US-Mexico border. Global geographical demarcation as well as nation's border have been transformed by the fantasy structure in which the tropic of cancer enters into the orange which the Mexico migrants bring in during the long upward move. LA Freeway riot which was invoked by the economic social transmutation across the border brings on a critical tempest on the lives of 7 ethnic main characters, while all the process and crisis is broadcasted live throughout the world. To deal with transnationality and migrants' subject formation, this article analyzes 'free trade' and the invoking relation of migration. What America wants to get from the NAFTA is the consistent supply of cheaper labor and Mexico's natural resources. Yamashita shows that the free trade agreement of advocating progress and civilization has degraded Mexico into a cheap labor supplier and natural resources supplier, exposed defenselessly for exploitation through the view of Mexico's people. Yamashita shows the main protagonists' ways of subjects' formation through the person's ways of use and involvement in electronic media. This is a much appropriate method since it is the transnational age's media for representation and diffusion and the person's attitude on media which reflects one's view of life and society. Electronic media has not only negative aspect of capitalism consumption and ideological diffusion as can be seen in how it acts on/affects Emi, but also has a progressive spreading effect as Buzzworm uses it for social activism. Yamashita's message throughout the Tropic of Orange is that migrants are active social subjects with their own peculiarity and to exert the force of social subject, migrants must construct solidarity based on the commonality they share.