Cancel Culture and Moral Policing in the Digital Age: A Critical Study of R.F. Kuang's Yellowface

Abstract

Digital media has transformed how moral judgements, public accountability and social discipline are realized in modern society. This research paper critically analyzes the depiction of cancel culture and moral policing in R.F. Kuang's 2023 novel Yellowface, using theories from the work of Michel Foucault's surveillance studies and latter digital media research. This study uses a qualitative textual analysis of the novel to examine the conflicts between accountability and spectacle, justice and public shaming in digital ecosystems, as revealed by Kuang's storytelling. The analysis demonstrates that Yellowface is a metafictional critique of the way that online platforms are morphing complex ethical questions into moral dichotomic binaries, emphasising viral outrage over substantive discussion. The novel also illustrates the psychological anxiety and self-disciplinary behavior that can occur in people who are the target of public scrutiny through digital surveillance. This paper examines Kuang's novel in relation to the contextual and broader narratives of cancel culture, identity politics, and digital ethics, which suggest the need for more restorative and structurally oriented accountability. The results add to the ongoing academic debate between the disciplines of literature, digital culture and moral philosophy and provide valuable information on the ways in which contemporary fiction works in relation to the moral dilemmas of the digital age.

Keywords: Cancel Culture, Moral Policing, Digital Surveillance, R.F. Kuang, Yellowface, Social Media, Identity Politics, Public Shaming

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21177068