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The aggressive potential and yellow anger

Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society volume 26, pages 561–578 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

What emotion can be more powerfully used to deconstruct the racial stereotype of East Asian women than anger? Juxtaposing historical analysis and lived experiences, I cast light on the specific social condition that has been put in place for the yellow woman and its social effects on her. Working with critical theory and Winnicottian concepts, I explore the psychosocial potential of anger as productive of oppositional forces against certain racial imaginings of yellow women. I argue that aggression is not only a ‘life force’ but is also imbued with political value that may be deployed so that the yellow woman can venture a break from the grip of colonial fetishisation and reclaim her voice and sense of agency.

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Acknowledgements

A heartfelt thank you to Liz Bondi, Annie Pirrie, Candida Yates, and William Kerr for, each in their own way, supporting me through the challenging period of my life that the paper is based on. Thank you for hearing, bearing with, and sharing my anger. You show me what real white allyship can do.

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  1. University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Nini Fang

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  1. Nini Fang
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Correspondence to Nini Fang.

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Fang, N. The aggressive potential and yellow anger. Psychoanal Cult Soc 26, 561–578 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-021-00234-4

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