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Junkyard Yamashita
Junkyard Yamashita
Title:
The Junkyard in the Jungle: Transnational, Transnatural Nature in Karen Tei Yamashitas Through
the Arc of the Rain Forest
Journal Issue:
Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1)
Author:
Simal, Begoa, University of Corunna
Publication Date:
2010
Permalink:
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/4567j2n1
Acknowledgements:
The completion of this article was made possible by the Xunta de Galicia, specifically in the
generous funding of our research group, CLEU, by the Consellera de Educacin e Ordenacin
Universitaria, and of our research project Ecoloxa humana (Consellera de Innovacin e
Industria, PGIDIT07 PXIB104255PR). I would also like to thank Professor Jos Liste Noya and the
anonymous JTAS reviewers, whose suggestions proved especially helpful when revising certain
sections of the article. My final thanks to Cristina Gmez and Vernica F. Peebles for spotting the
inevitable typos and mistakes.
Keywords:
ecocriticism, transnational, transnatural, Karen Tei Yamashita, Leo Marx
Abstract:
In this new millennium the relatively young field of ecocriticism has had to face important
transdisciplinary, transnational, and transnatural challenges. This article attempts to demonstrate
how two of the major changes that environmental criticism is currently undergoing, the
transnational turn and the transnatural challenge, have both been encoded in Through the Arc
of the Rain Forest (1990), the first novel published by Karen Tei Yamashita. I particularly focus
on a significant episode in Through the Arc of the Rain Forest, when a peculiar anthropogenic
ecosystem is discovered, and interpret it according to Leo Marxs classic paradigm of the
machine in the garden. I intend to prove that Yamashitas novel not only revisits the old master
theory but also revamps it by destabilizing the classic human-nature divide inherent in first-
wave ecocriticism and by adding the transnational ingredient. Thus, the machine-in-the-garden
paradigm is updated in order to incorporate the broadening of current environmental criticism, both
literally (globalization) and conceptually (transnatural nature). While at times Marxs paradigm may
metamorphose in intriguing ways, the old trope also corroborates its continuing validity. Though
TheJunkyardintheJungle:
Transnational,TransnaturalNaturein
KarenTeiYamashitas
ThroughtheArcoftheRainForest
BEGOASIMAL
Maybethetransiswhatmywritingis.
KarenTeiYamashita,interviewedbyTeHsingShan
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
renderedclassicecocriticalwork,suchasMarxs,notsomuchobsoleteasinneedof
reassessment.
EcocriticismintheNewMillennium:
Transdisciplinary,Transnational,andTransnaturalChallenges
Ecocriticism has been variously described, from Glotfeltys simple but influential
definition of the field as the study of the relationship between literature and the
physical environment4or Buells equally seminal description of ecocricitism as the
explorationoftherelationshipbetweenliteratureandtheenvironmentconducted
in a spirit of commitment to environmentalist praxis, 5 to more elaborate
explanations that describe it as a branch of green studies that considers the
relationshipbetweenhumanandnonhumanlifeasrepresentedinliterarytextsand
which theorizes about the place of literature in the struggle against environmental
destruction.6What all of these definitions have in common is the fact that they
incorporateanexplicitethicalandpoliticalagendaintotheirdescriptionsofthefield:
the ultimate goal of ecocriticism would be that of preventing environmental
deteriorationthroughatheoreticallyinformedanalysisofliteratureandculture.
Although the green wave of environmentalism did not acquire social
visibility and prominence until the institution of Earth Day in 1970, it can be argued
thatenvironmentalconcernsgraduallybecamepartofthesocialandpoliticalagenda
inthe1960s,atthesametimeasothercounterculturalmovements.InGiveEartha
Chance,AdamRomearguesthattheemergenceofenvironmentalismowesmuch
to the interaction of three factors taking place in the sixties: the revitalization of
liberalism, the growing discontent of middleclass women, and the explosion of
student radicalism and countercultural protest.7In 1962, an ecobook, Rachel
CarsonsSilentSpring,becameabestsellerandinfluencedawholegeneration.8Also
in the 1960s and in the early 1970s, we have examples of what can be considered
protoecocriticism or ecocriticism avantlalettre: Leo Marxs The Machine in the
Garden (1964), Raymond Williamss The Country and the City (1973), and Joseph
Meekers The Comedy of Survival (1974).9And yet it was not until the 1990s that
ecocriticism became a distinct field within literary theory and criticism, with the
creation of academic associations such as the ASLE (Association for the Study of
Literature and the Environment) in 1992, and its associated journal, ISLE
(InterdisciplinaryStudiesinLiteratureandtheEnvironment),whichwasfirstlaunched
in 1993.10Two seminal books of ecocriticism would also appear in the mid1990s:
Lawrence Buells The Environmental Imagination (1995) and Cheryll Glotfelty and
Harold Fromms anthology, The Ecocriticism Reader (1996).11Although, still in 1999,
several critics continued to refer to ecocriticism as a newlyemerging field,12with
the turn of the century and of the millennium, ecocritical theory and practice have
gained both respect and visibility. 13 At the same time, it has had to face new
challenges,amongthemtheverynatureofecocriticism.
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
beyondthestudyofnaturewriting,ecocriticshavetoprovethatsuchanapproach
is more than relevant to critics working in other literary and theoretical fields and
explore texts other than nature writing,23or, using Timothy Mortons words, the
timeshouldcomewhenweaskofanytext,aswehavedoneintherealmofgender,
what that particular literary text says about the environment, instead of hav[ing]
alreadydecidedwhichtextswewillbeasking.24Intheaforementionedanthology,
ArmbrusterandWallacenotonlyarguefortheneedtogobeyondnaturewriting,
but also maintain that such expansion is already, albeit timidly, taking place, as the
essaysintheircollectiondemonstratebyengaginganenlargedenvironmentthat
comprises cultivated and built landscapes, the natural elements and aspects of
those landscapes, and cultural interactions with those natural elements, and by
applyingecocriticaltheoriesandmethodstotextsthatmightseemunlikelysubjects
becausetheydonotforegroundthenaturalworldorwilderness.25
However, Armbruster and Wallaces chosen scope was rather exceptional at
the time, for attention to texts other than nature writing has been rare in
ecocriticism until fairly recently. In The Future of Environmental Criticism, Buell
reviewsthedevelopmentoftheecocriticalschoolfromitsinceptionandpositstwo
main stages in environmental criticism: a first wave that exhibited a restricted
understandingofenvironmentandasecondwave,moresociallyoriented,which
includesschoolssuchasecofeminismandsocialecocriticism.Firstwavepractitioners
of ecocriticism, consciously or not, regarded nature and humankind as rather
separate realms and chose to focus on ecocentric values.26In contrast, second
wave critics have started to question organicist models of conceiving both
environment and environmentalism, by pointing out how the categories of the
natural and the manmade are irretrievably mixed and imbricated with each
other,andbyarguingforarevisedenvironmentalethicsthatincludesthevexedissue
of environmental justice (22), also known as ecojustice.27Both firstwave and
secondwave ecocritics, Buell adds, have equally endeavored to make visible
neglected (sub)genres like nature writing or toxification narratives, as well as
proffering the muchneeded interpretation of environmental subtexts through
historicalandcriticalanalysesthatemployreadytohandanalyticaltoolsofthetrade
together with less familiar ones.28Last but not least, ecocritics have rescued from
oblivion and/or reinterpreted subgenres and themes such as the pastoral, eco
apocalypticism,andenvironmentalracism(130).
Inordertoexplainthedifferenttrendscoexistinginecocriticismtoday,or,as
he puts it, with the aim of plotting internal disparities (98), Buell describes a
continuumalongtwoaxes,averticalandahorizontalone,whichcanbegraphically
translated as follows (including, in blue italics, how certain associations and
movementswouldbeplacedinthismap,accordingtoBuell):
4
Simal: The Junkyard in the Jungle: Transnational, Transnatural Nature in Karen Tei Yamashi...
TheshiftBuellperceivesinrecentenvironmentalcriticismwouldtravelfrom
northtosouth.ToBuellsinitialschemaIwouldliketoaddathirddimensioninorder
toincorporatethetransferoffocusfromlocaltoglobalconcerns,theglobalshift
or transnational turn.29In the cube below, the depth line (in purple) signifies the
metaphoricalnorthsouthaxisabove(fromthenorthernpoleofthephysicalnatural
environmenttothesouthernpoleofthesocialenvironment);thelinegoingfromleft
toright(ingreen)referstothewesteastaxis(withtheweststandingfortheradical
ecocentrism of deep ecologists, and the east representing the traditional
anthropocentricview);finally,thenewaxisIpropose,movingfromthefronttothe
backwallofthecube(inblue),signifiestheshiftfromthelocal(front)concernsto
the global (back) concerns. In the northsouth and frontback axes, an arrow, not
just a line, has been drawn to emphasize the two main shifts described above, the
geographicandconceptualbroadeningofenvironmentalcriticism.
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
Whilethegraphicmodelsaboveattempttocapturethepresentsituationof
environmentalcriticism,30theyalsopointtothechallengesofecocriticisminthenear
future. There is some consensus among literary critics and theorists today that the
ecocritical turn is here to stay. However, there is also the shared belief that, even
though much has been attained in the last decade or so as regards both the
popularization and the academic prestige of environmental criticism, the ecocritical
movementisboundtofaceseveralimportantobstaclesinthecomingyears.There
are several challenges waiting around the corner, so to speak. In Ecocriticism, Greg
Garrardsummarizesthemainproblemsforthefutureofenvironmentalcriticismas
follows:first,thedifficultyofdevelopingconstructiverelationsbetweenthegreen
humanitiesandtheenvironmentalsciences,andsecond,therelationshipbetween
globalization and ecocriticism, which, according to Garrard, had hardly been
addressed by ecocritics before the turn of the century.31Therefore, at least two
majorchallengesaccostecocriticism:thetransdisciplinaryandthetransnationalones,
towhichIwouldaddthetransnaturalchallenge.
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(1)THETRANSDISCIPLINARYCHALLENGE
(2)THETRANSNATIONALCHALLENGE
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
Buellexpressesconvictionthatthisglobalshifthasalreadyoccurredandthatitwill
acquiremoreandmorevisibilityandprominenceinthecomingyears.37
(3)THETRANSNATURALCHALLENGE
Theliteralbroadeningofecocriticism,signifiedbytheglobalshiftoutlinedabove,has
likewisebeenaccompaniedbyaconceptualbroadeningandproblematizationofthe
verynotionoftheenvironment.Thatis,tothetransdisciplinaryandtransnational
challengesoutlinedbyGarrard,Iwouldaddathirdone,thetransnaturalchallenge.
Overthelastfewdecades,environmentalcriticism,whilenotabandoningthestudy
of traditional texts like nature writing (e.g., accounts of the wilderness and
unspoilednature), has turned its attentionto urban settings, sometimes plying a
comparative lens so as to analyze rural and wild natural environments together
with less pristine ones. Even the nature of nature has been thoroughly
reexaminedandquestioned,mostnotablytheslipperyboundariesbetweenwhatis
deemednaturalandwhatisconsideredhumanmade.
In talking about the transnatural shift, however, I am not arguing for a
postnaturalerathatbothcriticsandscientistshaveannouncedindifferentways.38
Rather than envisioning a postnatural scenario, I favor instead understanding our
worldastransnatural.WhatIwanttomeanwiththistermisnotsomuchlivingina
planetwherenaturenolongerexistsIdonotwanttoimplyeithertranscendingor
goingbeyondnature;whatthetermtransnaturalforegroundsisthehardfactthat
natural elements are continually interbreeding with categories other than
natural.Insuchacontext,thechoiceoftransnaturalkeepsremindingusofthe
veryfluidandconstructednatureofthenaturalartificialdivide.Afterall,asGarrard
insightfully notes, environmental criticism is essentially about the demarcation
betweennatureandculture,itsconstructionandreconstruction.39
And yet a caveat should be added here. Ecocritics have surely been
encouraged to go against the grain of dominant, normative ideas about nature,
but under no circumstances must we forget that we have to engage in such an
interrogating process precisely in the name of sentient beings suffering under
catastrophic environmental conditions.40In other words, despite the necessary
emphasisontheconstructednessofthecategoryofthenatural,suchrealization
doesnotexemptusfromtheneedforbetterscientificunderstandingofourplace
withinthebiosphere,41and,Iwouldadd,itdoesnotexemptusfromtheexigency
forsocialandpoliticalactiontosaveourusedplanetandtosaveourselves.
PlasticFlesh
Yamashitas Through the Arc of the Rain Forest not only illustrates the
interpenetrationofthelocalandtheglobal,thetransnationalchallengethatIhave
previously outlined, but it also broaches the transnatural challenge, with abundant
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
any,oftheexaminerscouldtellthedifferencebetweentherealandthefake.Only
towardtheendoftheconvention,whenthenaturaltigerlilybegantowiltwithage,
bruisedfrommishandling,werepeopleabletodiscernrealityfromfabrication.The
plasticlilyremainedtheveryperfectionofnatureitself.Matacoplasticmanagedto
recreatethenaturalglow,moisture,freshnesstheverysensationoflife(142).The
flaw of the argument, of course, lies in the fact that nature is not necessarily
perfect,inthesensethatitinvolvesphysicaldeterioration,violence,death.Indeed
the very perfection of nature is not natural. It is, as all social and linguistic
constructions,humanmade.
Together with the mystifications accruing to the perfection of nature and
the temporary confusion of real/plastic life, the very origin of the Mataco
contributestoerodingnotonlytheboundariesbetweenthenaturalandtheartificial,
butalsothosebetweenthelocalandtheglobal,asseveralcriticshavepointedout.
InherinsightfulABizarreEcology:TheNatureofDenaturedNature(2000),Molly
WallacecritiquesFredricJamesonsandBrunoLatourstheoriesandarguesinstead
foranunderstandingofpostmodernecologythatdoesawaywiththedualisticvision
ofanatureculturedichotomy.ForWallace,Yamashitasnovelbuildsbridgesacross
traditionaldivides,byprofferinganecosystemicvisionofnatureandculturewhich
providesamodelforandacritiqueofhybridity.48InLocalRockandGlobalPlastic,
Ursula Heise addresses the manner in which the phenomena of disembedding
(Giddens) and deterritorialization (Tomlinson) figure in Through the Arc of the Rain
Forest, as well as the links between ecological and cultural globalism that the
author forges in her novel. 49 As Heise convincingly claims, while Yamashita
successfullyaddressestheambiguitiesofanecologicallybasedsenseofplaceinthe
ageofglobalization(132),sheeventuallycircumventstheneedtoprovideadequate
answersto theecologicalproblemsraisedinthebookbyprofferingasociocultural
solution instead: Ecological deterritorialization is contained by cultural
reterritorialization(139).
Nature and human actions, global and local threads crisscross and get
entangledintheMataco.WellintothenovelwelearnthattheMatacoexpanse,as
mentioned earlier, is the result of huge landfills of nonbiodegradable material
buriedundervirtuallyeverypopulatedpartoftheEarth,whichundertremendous
pressure had pushed ever farther into the lower layers of the Earths mantle,
fromwheretheseliquiddepositsofthemoltenmasshadbeensqueezedthrough
underground veins to virgin areas of the Earth.50In the very formation of the
Matacoplateau,therefore,bothhumanactivitiesmostlytheexcesstheygenerate
in the form of nonbiodegradable wasteand natural forcesin this case the
pressures and movements that take place under the external layer of the planet
combine to create a material that, although anthropogenic, cannot be totally
disengagedfromnature.
At this stage, then, we cannot but wonder whether the traditional natural
artificialdichotomystillremainsinplaceinourpostmodern,transnaturalworld.With
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theadventofpoststructuralism,ithasbecomehardlypossibleforanycriticalschool
to embrace the essentialist navet that is so noticeable in early ecocriticism. As
Jameson puts it, the issue of how antifoundationalism can thus coexist with the
passionateecologicalrevivalofasenseofNatureistheessentialmysteryattheheart
ofwhatItaketobeafundamentalantinomyofthepostmodern.51Canweactually
locatesomeelementorthingthathasnotbeentamperedwithordirectlyproduced
byhumanbeings?LeoMarxindirectlypointsatthisdilemmainhisrhetoricalquestion
about the apparent paradox and clash between the machine and the garden: If
technology is the creation of man, who is a product of nature, then how can the
machine in the landscape be thought to represent an unresolvable conflict? 52
Armbruster and Wallace urge ecocritics to continue to engage in a revision of the
natureculture divide by approaching both poles of the dichotomy as interwoven
rather than as separate sides of a dualistic construct. 53 In Ideas of Nature,
Williamsexplicitlyarguesagainsttryingtosevernaturefromhumanaction,since,
then, it even ceases to be nature.54Contrary to what we would expect, the
separationbetweenmanandnature,claimsWilliams,isnotsimplytheproductof
modernindustryorurbanism,butcanbefoundinmanyearlierkindsoforganized
labour, including rural labour (295).55In a similarly paradoxical phrasing, Williams
explainshowthemorehumannatureinteractionsincrease,themorenecessarythe
separation between both entities becomes (29596). In the end, it does not make
much sense to insist on the dichotomies people vs. nature or natural vs.
artificial:humanbeingshavemixedourlabourwiththeearth,ourforceswithits
forcestoodeeplytobeabletodrawbackandseparateeitherout(296).56Itis by
carefullylookingintothespecificmaterialpracticesthatcomplicatetheinteractions
betweenhumansandnaturethatwemayarriveatsomehonestreassessmentof
thesituation.57
The very question of what is natural and what is artificial, as raised by the
Matacoplastic,isprefiguredinanapparentlyinsignificantepisodeatthebeginning
ofthenovel:theoriginofsandbottling.Thenarratortellsushowthefirstinnocent
gesture of filling a bottle with multicolored sands as a nostalgic memento of ones
birthplaceissooncooptedandmarketedasatouristsouvenir:
Ayoungtalentedboyhadthengottentheideaofpouringthe
coloredsandinbottlesinsuchawayastocreatepictures....
One day, a tourist brought a picture of the Mona Lisa and
askedtheboytoduplicateitinasandbottle,andhedid.After
that, the boy left the town and went away to be famous,
sandbottling every sort of picture from the President of the
Republic to the great Pel. Someone said he no longer used
real sand but some synthetic stuff dyed in every color you
could imagine. Someone said he was even making sand
pictures in bottles of fine crystal and mixing the sand with
goldandsilverdust.58
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
Thedriftfromthesimpletotheelaborate,fromthenaturaltotheartificial,is
heredescribedastheshiftfromtherealtothesynthetic,obliquelypresentedas
nonreal, that is, ambiguously construed as either (postmodern) virtual or
(premodern) magical.59Likewise, the central naturalartificial trope, the Mataco, is
bothadoredassomeancientsubstratumeruptingfromthedepthsoftheearthand
praised as the ultimate modern scientific discovery. In fact, as mentioned earlier,
Mataco plastic becomes the postmodern material par excellence, a superbly
malleable simulacrum, a virginal product that the transnational corporation GGG
soon eyes with equal amounts of perplexity and greed, until it literally becomes
plasticmoney60:
The wonderful thing about the Mataco plastic was its
capabilitytoassumeawiderangeofforms....Everyindustry
from construction to fashion would jump into Mataco
plastics. At a plastics convention, all sorts of marvels were
displayedcars made completely out of Mataco plastic,
from the motor to the plush velveteen fabrics of the seats;
imitationfursandleathersmadeintocoatsanddresspumps;
Danish furniture made of Mataco teak; and all sorts of
plants, from potted petunias to palm trees. The remarkable
thing about Mataco plastic was its incredible ability to
imitateanything.(142)61
In spite of such malleability, this apparently nonbiodegradable plastic that
excelsatimitation,likethejunkyardinthejungle,asweshallshortlysee,iseventually
swallowed by and integrated into nature, enacting the symbolicthough not
uncomplicatedreturn that the title of the final section hints at. The Mataco
plastic, which seemed to be immune to all life forms, eventually falls prey to some
mysteriousbacteria,whichliterallygnawitaway.Thewholerangeofproductsmade
ofMatacoplastic,fromclothestofood,soonstartdeterioratingandfinallycrumble
down,andwiththemtheplasticempireitself.Thefirstsignofsuchdestructioncan
beseeninthenarratingballanditsplasticflesh.OnedayLourdesandKazumasa
notice that the swirling ball looks more lopsided and less spherical than usual;
indeed,theballclaims,
I seemed fraught with tiny holes. . . . Something was eating
me, carving out delicate pinhole passages, which wound
intricately throughout my sphere. . . . Every day, Kazumasa
watched more and more of me disappear, my spin grow
slowerandmoreerratic....Oneday,hetouchedmetenderly
and was shocked to find his finger pierce the now very thin
veneerofmysurface.Within,Ihadbeencompletelyhollowed
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TheJunkyardintheJungle
Just as the sandbottle episode prefigured the oxymoronic plastic flesh, the huge
dump that the Mataco turns out to be finds a smaller replica in the natural
artificial ecosystem born around a metal cemetery where abandoned planes and
cars coexist with sentient beings. Yamashitas ecological experiment has been
interpretedasanaptcommentaryonthenatureculturedivide,thusreinforcingthe
issues previously raised by the Mataco. 62 Heise cogently explains how, in the
description of this peculiar ecosystem, Yamashita has exaggerated what are, in
principle,basicallyplausibleprocessesofadaptation,andshehasdonesoinorder
toemphasizeboththetransformabilityofbiologicalspeciesandtheirpartlynatural,
partlytechnologicalenvironments(145).ForJinqiLing,themetalcemeteryepisode
mostprominentlyfunctionsasapainfulreminderofsystematicimperialistviolence
onthepartoftheUnitedStates,sincetheabandonedwaraircraftandothervehicles,
all USmade, bring echoes of the postWWII U.S. hegemonic control over Latin
America. 63 Complementing these various interpretations, I will argue that the
particular bionetwork created around the metal cemetery can be read as the
junkyardinthejungleinthelightofLeoMarxsTheMachineintheGarden.
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
Marxs seminal book mulls over the multiple ways in which American
literature records the irruption of technology in what had long been regarded as a
natural,evenvirginal,landscape.Theauthorfirstexploresthetropesofthegarden
and the machine in a separate fashion before putting them side by side as two
kingdoms of force (echoing The Education of Henry Adams). Marx claims that the
pastoral tradition, with its emphasis on escape from urban life and retreat into
nature, acquires a special import in American literature, as America has
traditionallybeenviewedasanEdenicnewland,theBraveNewWorldindeed.Marx
particularly focuses on what he terms the Sleepy Hollow moment, where the
intrusion of a machine (or its surrogate) interrupts (and effectively disrupts) a
pastoral moment.64In order to render this literary topos less nationally specific and
more transnational, I have rechristened Marxs interrupted idyll with a name
derivingfromanotherfamousLatinliterarytopos:locusamoenustruncatus.Inorder
to substantiate his theory, Leo Marx includes analyses of canonical American texts
fromtheperspectiveofthisinterruptedidyllandtheclashoftropesthatitentails.
MarxsthesisisbothcapturedandturnedonitsendinYamashitasperceptive
descriptionofthejunkyardinthejungle.Halfwaythroughthenovel,welearnfrom
the narrator how a huge parking lot is discovered in the middle of the Amazonian
rainforest,aspacefullofabandonedplanesandcars,wrappedupincrisscrossing
lianas[that]completelyengulfedeverything.65Onepartofthispeculiarparkinglot
nowcontainsalargepitofgrey,stickygoop,composedprimarilyofnapalm(99).
Incredible though it may seem, this idiosyncratic anthrome, the anthropogenic
ecosystem of the jungle junkyard, has actually produced new species of fauna and
flora, among them mice that burrowed in the exhaust pipes, wrapped up in
splotchy greenandbrown hair (mimetically camouflaging themselves in old
military vehicles) or else in shiny coats of chartreuse, silver and taxi yellow
(imitating the colors of other cars and planes); a rare butterfly whose exquisite
reddishcoloringisgivenbyasteadydietofhydratedferricoxide,orrustywater;
the new air plant with carnivorous flowers that attached itself to the decaying
vehicles;orthetribeofmonkeysthathadestablishedterritoryinthecarcassesof
thebomberplanesandhadshotanothertribetoextinction(1001).66
Should we apply Marxs grid to this significant locus amoenus truncatus, we
wouldrecordnotonlytheobvioussimilaritiesbutalsothewaysinwhichthisepisode
departsfromthemastertheory.Trueenough,theabandonedparkinglotisfound
byteamsofentomologistswho,likethetouristsbeforethem,inaneopastoralmove,
try to escape from their urban environments in search of genuine nature, in this
case, more specifically, in search of a rare butterfly. The physical intrusion or
emergenceofajunkyardfullofoldvehiclesinthemiddleoftheapparentlypristine,
virgin rainforest not only interferes with their pleasure but totally disrupts the
pastoralmoment:anobviouscaseoflocusamoenustruncatus.Despitetheostensible
similarities,onecannotignorethedifferencesbetweenMarxsinterruptedidyllsor
lociamoenitruncati,andYamashitaspeculiarbrandofthemachineinthegarden.
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
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Conclusion:TowardsaTransnational,TransnaturalPastoral
Notes
ThecompletionofthisarticlewasmadepossiblebytheXuntadeGalicia,specifically
inthegenerousfundingofourresearchgroup,CLEU,bytheConselleradeEducacin
e Ordenacin Universitaria, and of our research project Ecoloxa humana
(ConselleradeInnovacineIndustria,PGIDIT07PXIB104255PR).Iwouldalsoliketo
thank Professor Jos Liste Noya and the anonymous JTAS reviewers, whose
suggestions proved especially helpful when revising certain sections of the article.
MyfinalthankstoCristinaGmezandVernicaF.Peeblesforspottingtheinevitable
typosandmistakes.
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Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
1
ThisphenomenonisknownastheriseofthemythoftheEcologicalIndian.SeeShepard
KrechIII,TheEcologicalIndian:MythandHistory(NewYork:W.W.Norton,1999).
2
Therewereafewsignificantarticlesthatfocusedonmultiethnicliteratureattheturnofthe
centurysee,forexample,PatrickD.Murphy,EnvironmentalEthics,EnvironmentalJustice,
andMulticulturalAmericanLiterature,FictionandDrama10(1998):4153;andMichael
Bennett,AntiPastoralism,FrederickDouglass,andtheNatureofSlavery,inBeyondNature
Writing:ExpandingtheBoundariesofEcocriticism,ed.KarlaArmbrusterandKathleenR.
Wallace(Charlottesville:UniversityPressofVirginia,2001),195209.However,in2002,
JonathanLevinstilldenouncedtherelativedearthofattentiontoethnicAmericanwriting
amongecocritics,andKarlaArmbrusterandKathleenR.Wallacespecificallywonderedwhy
sofewAfricanAmericanvoicesarerecognizedaspartofnaturewritingandecocriticism.
JonathanLevin,BeyondNature?RecentWorkinEcocriticism,ContemporaryLiterature43,
no.1(2002):181;andArmbrusterandWallace,BeyondNatureWriting,2.SeealsoTerrell
Dixons,ElizabethDodds,PatrickD.Murphys,andAndreaParrascontributionstoJean
Arnoldetal.,ForumonLiteraturesoftheEnvironment,PMLA114,no.5(1999):10891104.
Inthelastfewyears,suchdearthisslowlybuteffectivelycomingtoanend,withthe
appearanceofmoreandmorearticlesonthesubject,andevenspecializedvolumesonthe
conjunctionofecocriticismandethnicliterature,suchasJoniAdamsonandScottSlovic,eds.,
EthnicityandEcocriticism,specialissue,MELUS34,no.2(2009).SeealsoJessBenito,Ana
Manzanas,andBegoaSimal,OfaMagicalNature:TheEnvironmentalUnconscious,in
UncertainMirrors:MagicalRealismsinUSEthnicLiteratures(Amsterdam:Rodopi,2009),193
237.
3
LeoMarx,TheMachineintheGarden:TechnologyandthePastoralIdealinAmerica(London:
OxfordUniversityPress,1964);andKarenTeiYamashita,ThroughtheArcoftheRainForest
(Minneapolis:CoffeeHousePress,1990).
4
CheryllGlotfelty,Introduction:LiteraryStudiesinanAgeofEnvironmentalCrisis,inThe
EcocriticismReader:LandmarksinLiteraryEcology,ed.CheryllGlotfeltyandHaroldFromm
(Athens:UniversityofGeorgiaPress,1996),xix.
5
LawrenceBuell,TheFutureofEnvironmentalCriticism:EnvironmentalCrisisandLiterary
Imagination(Oxford:Blackwell,2005),430.
6
LaurenceCoupe,ed.,TheGreenStudiesReader:FromRomanticismtoEcocriticism(London:
Routledge,2000),302.
7
AdamRome,GiveEarthaChance:TheEnvironmentalMovementandtheSixties,Journal
ofAmericanHistory90,no.2(2003):527.
8
RachelCarson,SilentSpring(1962;repr.,NewYork:Mariner,2002).
9
Marx,MachineintheGarden;RaymondWilliams,TheCountryandtheCity(Oxford:Oxford
UniversityPress,1975);andJosephW.Meeker,TheComedyofSurvival:LiteraryEcologyanda
PlayEthic,3rded.(1974;repr.,Tucson:UniversityofArizonaPress,1997).
18
Simal: The Junkyard in the Jungle: Transnational, Transnatural Nature in Karen Tei Yamashi...
10
ThelastdecadehaswitnessedtheproliferationofASLEtypeorganizationsaroundthe
world,suchastheEuropeanAssociationfortheStudyofLiterature,Cultureandthe
Environment(EASLCE,2007),theAssociationforLiterature,Environment,andCulturein
Canada(ALECC,2007),etc.,whilebranchesofASLEhaveappearedincountriessuchasJapan
(1994),theUK(1999),Korea(2001),AustraliaandNewZealand(2005),India(ASLEIndia,
renamedOSLEin2006),andTaiwan(2008).
11
LawrenceBuell,TheEnvironmentalImagination:Thoreau,NatureWriting,andtheFormation
ofAmericanCulture(Cambridge,MA:BelknapPressofHarvardUniversityPress,1995);and
GlotfeltyandFromm,EcocriticismReader.
12
SeeGlenA.Love,EcocriticismandScience:TowardConsilience?NewLiteraryHistory30,
no.3(1999):56176;DanaPhillips,Ecocriticism,LiteraryTheory,andtheTruthofEcology,
NewLiteraryHistory30,no.3(1999):577602;andT.V.Reed,TowardanEnvironmental
JusticeEcocriticism,inTheEnvironmentalJusticeReader:Politics,Poetics,andPedagogy,ed.
JoniAdamson,MeiMeiEvans,andRachelStein(Tucson:UniversityofArizonaPress,2002),
14562.
13
ComparethesomewhatbleakpanoramadrawnbyCheryllGlotfeltyatthebeginningofher
introductiontoTheEcocriticismReader,especiallythedisparitysheobservedbetweenthe
mediaattentiontotheenvironmentalcrisisandthetotalneglectonthepartofliterarycritics
(Glotfelty,Introduction,xvi),withthemoreoptimistic,thoughstillnottriumphant,viewof
ecofeminismofferedbyGretaGaardandPatrickD.Murphytwoyearslater,inEcofeminist
LiteraryCriticism:Inthe1990secofeminismisfinallymakingitselffeltinliterarystudies.
GretaGaardandPatrickD.Murphy,introductiontoEcofeministLiteraryCriticism:Theory,
Interpretation,Pedagogy,ed.GaardandMurphy(Urbana:UniversityofIllinoisPress,1998),5.
Speakingfromamidposition,LawrenceBuellcontendsthat,althoughthedebatearound
environmentalissues,mostpoignantlyour(humans)relationshiptoNature,isasoldasthe
BookofGenesis,ecocriticismisstillstrugglingforvisibilityandrecognitioninacademiccircles
(Buell,FutureofEnvironmentalCriticism,12).
14
TimothyMorton,EcologyWithoutNature:RethinkingEnvironmentalAesthetics(Cambridge,
MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007),1.
15
LawrenceBuell,GreenDisputes:Nature,Culture,American(ist)Theory,inNatures
NationRevisited:AmericanConceptsofNaturefromWondertoEcologicalCrisis,ed.HansBak
andWalterHlbling(Amsterdam:VUUniversityPress,2003),43;andDavidMazel,American
LiteraryEnvironmentalism(Athens:UniversityofGeorgiaPress,2000),187.
16
LeoMarx,ThePanderingLandscape:OnAmericanNatureasIllusion,inBakandHlbling,
NaturesNationRevisited,30.
17
RaymondWilliams,IdeasofNature,inTheCulturalStudiesReader,3rded.,ed.Simon
During(London:Routledge,2007),28486.Notonlythenatureofnaturebutalsoits
apparentuniquenesshavebeenproblematizedinrecentcriticism.InthepolemicalWarof
theWorlds,BrunoLatourmaintainsthattheemergenceofapostmodernmultinaturalism
(ViveirosdeCastro)hasalreadyreplacedthemononaturalismthathadprovidedthe
19
Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
bedrockformodernistconfidence.SeeBrunoLatour,WaroftheWorlds:WhataboutPeace?
(Chicago:UniversityofChicagoPress,2002).
18
ForecocriticssuchasGlotfelty,thetermenvironmenthaspejorative,anthropocentric
anddualisticconnotations,whereastheprefixecosuggestspositiveimagesof
interdependentcommunities,integratedsystems(Glotfelty,Introduction,xx).However,
IdoagreewithBuellsreasonsforfavoringthetermenvironmentalcriticism,evenif
ecocriticismcontinuestobethemostwidespreadlabel.
19
Buell,FutureofEnvironmentalCriticism,12,21,82,9092.Myunderstandingoftheterm
globalcoincideswithRobertP.MarzecsdefinitioninAnEcologicalandPostcolonialStudy
ofLiterature:thecomplexofcontemporarytransnationalforcesofcapitalandculture
governedbyanendeavortohomogenizeandreducedifferenceanddistance,anevolving
networkfirstlaiddownintheeighteenth,nineteenthcenturieswiththedevelopmentofthe
Dutch,French,andspecificallyBritishEmpires.RobertP.Marzec,AnEcologicaland
PostcolonialStudyofLiterature:FromDanielDefoetoSalmanRushdie(NewYork:Palgrave
Macmillan,2007),25.Foraninterestingexplorationofthecontrastbetweenarestrictive,
biasedglobalistweandamoreinspiringbrandofromanticuniversalism,asappliedto
YamashitasTropicofOrange,seeSueImLee,WeAreNottheWorld:GlobalVillage,
Universalism,andKarenTeiYamashitasTropicofOrange,MFS:ModernFictionStudies53,no.
3(2007):50127.
20
SvenBirkerts,OnlyGodCanMakeaTree:TheJoysandSorrowsofEcocriticism,Boston
BookReview3.1(1996):6,quotedinArmbrusterandWallace,BeyondNatureWriting,3.
21
Phillips,Ecocriticism,586.
22
StevenRosendale,Introduction:ExtendingEcocriticism,inTheGreeningofLiterary
Scholarship:Literature,Theory,andtheEnvironment,ed.StevenRosendale(IowaCity:
UniversityofIowaPress,2002),xxvii.
23
ArmbrusterandWallace,BeyondNatureWriting,34.
24
Morton,EcologyWithoutNature,5.
25
ArmbrusterandWallace,BeyondNatureWriting,45.
26
Buell,FutureofEnvironmentalCriticism,2122.Ecocentrismupholdsthebeliefthatour
planetisaninterconnectedcommunitywithnoboundariesbetweensentientand
nonsentientbeings,humansandnonhumans,sincewealldependononeanother.Buell
definesecocentrismasthebeliefthattheinterestoftheecospheremustoverridethatof
theinterestofindividualspecies,incontradistinctionwithanthropocentrism(137).
27
In2002,abookdefinitivelylaunchedthequestionofecojustice:TheEnvironmentalJustice
Reader:Politics,Poetics,andPedagogy,editedbyJoniAdamson,MeiMeiEvans,andRachel
Stein.Intheirgroundbreakingintroduction,theeditorsdefinedenvironmentaljusticeasthe
rightofallpeopletoshareequallyinthebenefitsbestowedbyahealthyenvironment,while
20
Simal: The Junkyard in the Jungle: Transnational, Transnatural Nature in Karen Tei Yamashi...
theenvironmentwouldencompassallthoseplacesinwhichwelive,work,play,and
worship(Adamson,Evans,andStein,EnvironmentalJusticeReader,1).
28
Buell,FutureofEnvironmentalCriticism,130.
29
SeeUrsulaK.Heise,EcocriticismandtheTransnationalTurninAmericanStudies,
AmericanLiteraryHistory20,no.12(2008):381404.
30
Admittedly,thesegraphicmodelsdosoinasomewhatsimplifiedmannerthatrisksbeing
misunderstoodforarenewedtypeofbinarythinking.Itcannotbesufficientlyemphasized
that,despitetheprecisecontoursofthecubemetaphor,herewearenotengaginginclear
cutdichotomies,butinlinessignifyingacontinuum,linescreatingamesh,afluid
crisscrossingspace,wherethedifferentpositionsinterpenetrateeachother,asbefitsthe
ecocritical,relationalapproachofthisarticle.
31
GregGarrard,Ecocriticism(NewYork:Routledge,2004),178.
32
JosephW.Meeker,FieldsofDangerandtheWildernessofWisdom,NorthAmerican
Review263,no.1(1978):71,quotedinLove,EcocriticismandScience,561.
33
BasarabNicolescu,TransdisciplinarityasMethodologicalFrameworkforGoingBeyond
theScienceReligionDebate,GlobalSpiral,May24,2007,
http://www.metanexus.net/magazine/tabid/68/id/10013/Default.aspx.
34
SeeHeise,EcocriticismandtheTransnationalTurn,38387;andUrsulaK.Heise,Senseof
PlaceandSenseofPlanet:TheEnvironmentalImaginationoftheGlobal(NewYork:Oxford
UniversityPress,2008),2849.
35
Heise,EcocriticismandtheTransnationalTurn,386.
36
Rosendale,Introduction,xvi.
37
Anexampleoftheincreasingpresenceofthetransnationalapproachcanbefoundin
PatrickD.Murphy,EcocriticalExplorationsinLiteraryandCulturalStudies:Fences,Boundaries,
andFields(Lanham,MD:LexingtonBooks,2009),whicharguesinfavorofatransnational
ecocriticaltheorythatshouldtransect,thatis,cutacrossthelimitationsofnational
perspectivesandboundaries(63;see6376).
38
SeeBillMcKibben,TheEndofNature(NewYork:RandomHouse,1989);ortheshorter
piecebyecologistErleEllis,OpEd:StopTryingtoSavethePlanet,WiredMagazine,May6,
2009,http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/05/ftfellis1/.SeealsoCynthiaDeitering,
ThePostnaturalNovel:ToxicConsciousnessinFictionofthe1980s,inGlotfeltyandFromm,
EcocriticismReader,196203;andMazel,AmericanLiteraryEnvironmentalism,34,15760.
39
Garrard,Ecocriticism,179.
40
Morton,EcologyWithoutNature,12.
41
Love,EcocriticismandScience,569.
21
Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
42
Thenovelalsohasabundantexamplesoftheruralurbandivide.Theblendingofnatural
andurbanrealms,forinstance,canbeillustratedthroughtheflourishingpigeonbusiness
thatpunctuatesthenovel.Thepigeonprovidesagoodillustrationoftheintersectionofthe
naturalandtheurban,sinceitistheepitomeoftheurbanbird.
43
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,99.
44
Althoughitcanhardlybeconsiderednaturewritinginthetraditionalsense,Throughthe
ArcoftheRainForesthasalsobeenreadassuch,specificallyasanallegoryofthenatural
cycleoftherainforest.SeeToshiIshihara,KarenTeiYamashitasThroughtheArcoftheRain
Forest:NaturesTextasPilgrimage,StudiesinAmericanLiterature,TheAmericanLiterature
SocietyofJapan31(1997):5977.
45
ThenarratingballcanbeliterallyandfigurativelylinkedtotheMataco,butitcanalsobe
construedasareplicaofthelargerballthatisourplanet.Foraninsightfulanalysisoftheball
asnarratorandofYamashitasnarrativestrategies,seeCarolineRody,ImpossibleVoices:
EthnicPostmodernNarrationinToniMorrisonsJazzandKarenTeiYamashitasThroughthe
ArcoftheRainForest,ContemporaryLiterature41,no.4(2000):61841.InLocalRockand
GlobalPlastic,Heisealsoaddressestheconsequencesofthechoiceofanonhumannarrator.
SeeUrsulaK.Heise,LocalRockandGlobalPlastic:WorldEcologyandtheExperienceof
Place,ComparativeLiteratureStudies41,no.1(2004):14749.Forareadingoftheballs
ambiguousimport,seeBenito,Manzanas,andSimal,OfaMagicalNature,21517.Finally,
foraninterpretationoftheballasthememoryofmodernityandbeyond,seeRobertWess,
TerministicScreensandEcologicalFoundations:ABurkeanPerspectiveonYamashitas
ThroughtheArcoftheRainForest,InterdisciplinaryLiteraryStudies7,no.1(2005):11213.
46
AccordingtotheecologicaltheoryputforwardbyEllisandRamankutty,weshouldfavor
thetermanthropogenicbiomesoranthromes,insteadofjustbiomes,inorderto
describetheterrestrialbiosphereinitscontemporary,humanalteredform,usingglobal
ecosystemunitsdefinedbyglobalpatternsofsustaineddirecthumaninteractionwith
ecosystems,offeringanewwayforwardforecologicalresearchandeducation.ErleC.Ellis
andNavinRamankutty,PuttingPeopleintheMap:AnthropogenicBiomesoftheWorld,
FrontiersinEcologyandtheEnvironment6,no.8(2008):43947.
47
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,143.
48
MollyWallace,ABizarreEcology:TheNatureofDenaturedNature,ISLE7,no.2(2000):
149.Fortheauthor,YamashitasnovelmanagestosynthesizethekindofMarxistcritiqueof
postmodernismofferedbyJamesonwiththekindofinterrogationofthenature/culture
binaryofferedbyLatour(146).
49
Heise,LocalRockandGlobalPlastic,127.
50
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,202.
51
FredricJameson,TheSeedsofTime(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1994),46,
quotedinWallace,ABizarreEcology,138.Forastudyofthewayssuchanantinomyis
22
Simal: The Junkyard in the Jungle: Transnational, Transnatural Nature in Karen Tei Yamashi...
overcome,seeWallace,ABizarreEcology;foraBurkeaninflectiontoWallacesdiscussion,
seeWess,TerministicScreens.
52
Marx,MachineintheGarden,242.
53
ArmbrusterandWallace,BeyondNatureWriting,4.
54
Williams,IdeasofNature,294.
55
Thechangingnatureofthetermsisfullydocumented.Williamscommentsonhowwhat
wasnaturalcouldbereadinratherdisparateways:inapositiveway,asablessedstateof
innocence,orinanegativeone,asthemerebeastthatwoulddragusintosin(290).
However,thefallacyofnatureaspure,pristine,separatefrommen(293),canbetraced
totheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies,whennaturecametomeanallthatwasnot
touchedbyman,spoiltbyman:natureasthelonelyplaces,thewilderness(291).
56
InThroughtheArcoftheRainForest,forinstance,thereisanexplicitreferencetothe
sweatofhumanlabormixingwiththeforest(Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,145).
57
Williams,IdeasofNature,29697.
58
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,2425.
59
Forananalysisoftheconjunctionofmagic(al)realismandecocriticism,seeBenito,
Manzanas,andSimal,OfaMagicalNature.
60
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,141.
61
Here,ThroughtheArcoftheRainForestclearlyechoesThomasPynchonsGravitysRainbow,
whichalsofeaturesanincrediblymalleableplasticcalledImipolexG,ahomagethatboththe
titleofYamashitasnovelandthenameofthetransnationalcorporationchosen(GGG)
seemtoconfirm.IamhighlyindebtedtoProfessorJosListeNoyaforthisinsight.
62
Heise,LocalRockandGlobalPlastic,14445.
63
JinqiLing,ForgingaNorthSouthPerspective:NikkeiMigrationinKarenTeiYamashitas
Novels,AmerasiaJournal32,no.3(2006):10.SeealsoWess,TerministicScreens,110;and
AimeeBahng,ExtrapolatingTransnationalArcs,ExcavatingImperialLegacies:The
SpeculativeActsofKarenTeiYamashitasThroughtheArcoftheRainForest,MELUS33,no.
4(2008):12344.
64
Marx,MachineintheGarden,1116.
65
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,99.
66
TherainforestparkinglothasalsomodifiedthecustomsandattireofsomeAmazonian
Indians,whosportreflectivematerialsinthemasks,headpiecesandnecklacesthanksto
theoldmirrorsfromthecarandplanecemetery(100).
67
Althoughthegardenhasbeenreadbothaswildernessorasmiddlelandscape,thelatter
ismorecommon.ThisambiguityisquiteevidentinRobertBeverleysconceptionofthe
23
Journal of Transnational American Studies, 2(1), Article 13 (2010)
garden,asdisplayedinhisHistoryandPresentStateofVirginia(1705).AccordingtoMarx,
Beverleywaversbetweentwodifferentgardenmetaphors:awild,primitive,orpre
lapsarianEden...,andacultivatedgardenembracingvaluesnotunlikethoserepresented
bytheclassicVirgilianpasture(Marx,MachineintheGarden,87).Significantly,thegarden
imaginedasmiddlelandscapehasbeencommonlyreadasthekeytodismantlingthenature
culturedivide,sinceitmediatesbetweenthehumanandthenaturalwithoutanyclaimsfor
purity.LouisH.PalmerIII,ArticulatingtheCyborg:AnImpureModelforEnvironmental
Revolution,inRosendale,GreeningofLiteraryScholarship,168.Forcontemporarytheories
advocatingthegardensolution,seePalmer,ArticulatingtheCyborg,16869.
68
Although,ina2007interview,HeisedoubtswhetherwecanconsiderYamashitaanAsian
AmericanorevenanAmericanwriter(favoringtheLatinAmericanlabelinstead,atleast
forthisfirstnovel),YamashitaherselfhasrecentlyvoicedherpreferenceforAsianAmerican
and,morespecifically,JapaneseAmericanselfidentification:IcallmyselfaJapanese
Americanwriter.TeHsingShan,InterviewwithKarenTeiYamashita,AmerasiaJournal32,
no.3(2006):125.EvenmoretellingisRachelLeesgroundingofKazumasa,theJapanese
withtheball,intheAsianAmericanmasternarrativeoftherailroadworker,eventhoughshe
problematicallyconflatesaChineseimmigranticonwithaJapaneseimmigrant.SeeRachel
Lee,AsianAmericanCulturalProductioninAsianPacificPerspective,boundary226,no.2
(1999):24246.
69
SeeSauLingCynthiaWong,DenationalizationReconsidered:AsianAmericanCultural
CriticismataTheoreticalCrossroads,AmerasiaJournal21,no.12(1995):127.
70
Andyet,Koshyclaims,whilecapitalseemstohavenofrontiers,thusconfirmingthe
deterritorializationinherentinglobaleconomy,politicalandlegalsystems,mostnotably
humanandworkersrights,stillseemunabletotranscendtraditionalnationalboundaries.
SeeSusanKoshy,ThePostmodernSubaltern:GlobalizationTheoryandtheSubjectofEthnic,
Area,andPostcolonialStudies,inMinorTransnationalism,ed.FranoiseLionnetandShumei
Shih(Durham,NC:DukeUniversityPress,2005),10931.Inabookprimarilyconcernedwith
theimpactoftheenclosuremovementonourontologicalunderstandingofland(22),
RobertMarzecgoesfurtherinhisindictmentoftransnationalcapitalism,focusingprimarily
onhowsuchaglobalizedeconomicsystemdeterritorializesthesingularityofterritories
(Marzec,EcologicalandPostcolonialStudy,116).EchoingDeleuzeandGuattari,hecontends
thatcapitalcanbegrafteduponanyterritory,anduponanydifferencegeneratedwithina
particularterritory,thusdeterritorializ[ing]whatwasonceintrinsicorpeculiartoa
territory,placingitwithintheuniversalflowoftheglobaleconomy(23).Forstudiesof
deterritorializationinYamashitaswork,seeHeise,LocalRockandGlobalPlastic;Heise,
EcocriticismandtheTransnationalTurn;Heise,SenseofPlace;andShuchingChen,Magic
CapitalismandMelodramaticImaginationProducingLocalityandReconstructingAsian
EthnicityinKarenTeiYamashitasThroughtheArcoftheRainForest,EurAmerica34,no.4
(2004):587625.Inthispostnationalscenario,alternativenotions,suchasPatrickMurphys
allonationalformations,havebeensuggestedinordertocritiqueandtotallydispensewith
thenationstate.SeePatrickD.Murphy,GroundingAnothernessandAnswerabilitythrough
AllonationalEcoliteratureFormations,inNatureinLiteraryandCulturalStudies:Transatlantic
24
Simal: The Junkyard in the Jungle: Transnational, Transnatural Nature in Karen Tei Yamashi...
ConversationsonEcocriticism,ed.CatrinGersdorfandSylviaMayer(NewYork:Rodopi,2006):
41734.
71
Koshy,PostmodernSubaltern,111,117.
72
SeeShelleyFisherFishkin,CrossroadsofCultures:TheTransnationalTurninAmerican
StudiesPresidentialAddresstotheAmericanStudiesAssociation,November12,2004,
AmericanQuarterly57,no.1(2005):1757.Foraninterestingproposalofaphilosophyof
transnationalism,seeLauraDoyle,TowardaPhilosophyofTransnationalism,Journalof
TransnationalAmericanStudies1,no.1(2009),http://escholarship.org/uc/item/9vr1k8hk.
73
AsSueImLeenotes,Yamashitahaspaidagreatdealofattentiontothedeterritorializing
effectsofglobalizationthroughoutherliterarycareer.Inherbooksshehasexploredthe
transformationof(ethnic)identities,bycelebrat[ing]theporouscategoriesofidentities
emergingfromthephenomenaofglobalizationanddelvingintothewaysinwhichthe
unmooringofidentitiesandaffiliationstranslateintoformationsofnewmoorings(Lee,
WeAreNottheWorld,503).
74
DonnaHaraway,ACyborgManifesto,inDuring,CulturalStudiesReader,315,317.
75
Yamashita,ThroughtheArc,100.
76
Thesedeadmachinesare,atthesametime,deathmachines.Ithankthearticlereviewers
forpointingthisouttome.
77
KarenTeiYamashita,TropicofOrange(Minneapolis:CoffeeHousePress,1997).
78
Lee,WeAreNottheWorld,502.
79
MuchlikecarshouseimprovisedgardensinYamashitasTropicofOrange.
25