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88027

Heterotopia and the Failure of Pluralism in the Post-Internment Era: A Foucauldian Reading of John Okada's No-No Boy

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Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

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Abstract

Based on Michel Foucault's concept of heterotopia as a theoretical framework, the present paper analyzes the dilemma of Japanese Americans as represented in No-No Boy (1957) by the Japanese American novelist John Okada (1923-1971). The paper seeks to add to the extant studies on the aftermath of the Second World War, particularly in relation to Japanese Americans and the repercussions of their internment experience. Foucault's concept of heterotopia adapts well to a reading of Okada's novel because it helps to find a link between bicultural tensions, the crisis of citizenship for Japanese Americans in the aftermath of the Second World War, and the idea of cultural pluralism as a major postmodern vision. By applying Foucault's concept of heterotopia, the paper proves that Okada's novel introduces a world in which diversity is not tolerated and minorities are considered heterotopias of deviation and crisis rather than essential constituents of a pluralist nation. The paper argues that the US created heterotopias by interning almost the entire minority of Japanese Americans and permanent Japanese residents inside concentration camps and prisons during the Second World War. Moreover, the paper demonstrates that the aftermath of the war as well as the internment experience marks the failure of cultural pluralism in America

DOI

10.21608/opde.2017.88027

Keywords

Japanese Americans, internment, cultural pluralism, heterotopia, Michel Foucault, John Okada's No-No Boy

Authors

First Name

Ashraf Taha Mohamed Kouta

Last Name

Kouta

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Volume

63

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

13180

Issue Date

2017-07-01

Receive Date

2020-05-09

Publish Date

2017-07-01

Page Start

139

Page End

160

Print ISSN

1110-2721

Online ISSN

2735-3591

Link

https://opde.journals.ekb.eg/article_88027.html

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https://opde.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=88027

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5

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,140

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

CDELT Occasional Papers in the Development of English Education

Publication Link

https://opde.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Heterotopia and the Failure of Pluralism in the Post-Internment Era: A Foucauldian Reading of John Okada's No-No Boy

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Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023