Between invisibility and memory:

The collective voices of Japanese immigrant women in the United States in The Buddha in the Attic

Abstract

This article analyzes the novel The Buddha in the Attic (2011), by Julie Otsuka, focusing on the representation of Japanese women who migrated to the United States in the early 20th century as picture brides. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial theoretical frameworks, the study examines how literary narrative re-inscribes subaltern voices through formal strategies such as the collective first-person plural narration and the strategic use of italics to allow the emergence of individual subjectivities. Based on theoretical contributions by Gayatri Spivak, Edward Said, Stuart Hall, Avtar Brah, Aníbal Quijano, and Ramón Grosfoguel, the article argues that Otsuka’s work challenges hegemonic regimes of visibility and representation imposed on immigrant women, exposing both structures of oppression and modes of resistance. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of including literary works that amplify subaltern voices in academic research, promoting epistemic diversity as a means to counter institutionalized racism and sexism in knowledge production.