Title: The Narrative Modes in The Buddha in the Attic

Abstract: The Japanese-American writer Julie Otsuka's The Buddha in the Attic tells the story of the first generation of Japanese-American female emigrants who went to the United States as picture brides and were forced to move into detention camps during World War II. The multiple narrative modes in the novel enhance the literary artistry and add textual nuances. The novel adopts a first-person plural retrospective perspective and applies various representations of speech and thought. Through stippling in the macro-narrative structure, the objects of focus in the novel switch between various individual picture brides, representing both their private experience and collective memory and revealing the harsh living conditions of the first generation of Japanese female emigrants.

Keywords: The Buddha in the Attic, Japanese-American writer, Julie Otsuka, narrative mode, ethnic literature

Author: Li Zhang, Professor, School of International Studies, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China; Yan Zhang, School of International Studies, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, China.