Date of Award
12-2025
Degree Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
School
Humanities
Committee Chair
Dr. Ery Shin
Committee Chair School
Humanities
Committee Member 2
Dr. Monika Gehlawat
Committee Member 2 School
Humanities
Committee Member 3
Dr. Craig Carey
Committee Member 3 School
Humanities
Abstract
Positive and negative reviews of Esther Yi’s Y/N (2023) almost exclusively focus on the novel’s relationship with online fan culture, which, while prevalent, says little about N, its lead character and narrator. This paper therefore places N at the root of its discussion of Y/N, as it explores her agency as a dual narrator: one who narrates her day-to-day experiences alongside excerpts of her creative work, a third-person self-insert fanfiction based around K-pop superstar Moon. It specifically argues that the core of N’s conflict is not a romantic or sexual obsession with Moon, as has been claimed by previous critics, but her need to project onto him, displacing her internal monologue onto him rather than claiming direct ownership. It first examines the narrative relationship between Esther Yi, N, and Y/N as a fictocritical dynamic, where the line between fictional narrative and literary critique is blurred due to its paratextual subject. It then proposes N as a failed fictocritic: one attempting to conceptualize a “true” version of Moon, but only succeeding in revealing her own psychological hang-ups. The tension between N and her paratextual subject—Moon’s rigidly constructed, highly marketable persona—allows the novel to expand its discussion globally, thus allowing the reader to contemplate the relationship between artists and audiences in the twenty-first century, a dynamic increasingly defined by the Internet. This paper concludes by considering the implications of Y/N’s abrupt ending, one which purposefully avoids resolving N’s identity crisis in favor of retreating to an already dead fantasy.
Copyright
Mary Murphy, 2025
Recommended Citation
Murphy, Mary, "Dual Narration and Externalizing Interiority in Esther Yi's 'Y/N'" (2025). Master's Theses. 1160.
https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/1160