I know there have been some threads here addressing subject matter that agents tend to avoid, such as children getting killed. What about Islam? Is Islam a taboo subject?
Islam a taboo subject?
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I spent most of my 6 years in China talking about all the Muslim noodle shops where I did most of my eating. Islam can't be a taboo subject.
And hey hey Homer, this is my 101st post, answering your 100th. Cool.
And hey hey Homer, this is my 101st post, answering your 100th. Cool.
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I'd think that Islam BASHING would be a taboo subject--it would depend in what context you used Islam.
There's a YA novel out here called "Does My Head Look Big In This" about a girl wearing the hijab to school. So obviously no, it isn't taboo.
I don't think anything is, if it's handled well.
I don't think anything is, if it's handled well.
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I've spent most of my life thinking of Christianity as a taboo subject, but I'm older and wiser now.
I just got back from Malaysia last week, by the way. Oh no, it's Islam!
I just got back from Malaysia last week, by the way. Oh no, it's Islam!
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Wow, that's an amazing title.
(Nevermind me, I just felt I had to acknowledge such genius
).
Not writing about something just gives into the bad parts of said something and degenerates the good parts of something. Just as there are bad members of Islam, so are there good members. And on the whole, there are more good ones, then there are bad ones. It's just the bad one's get waaaay more publicity. No one wants to read about, "Friendly next door neighbor bakes friend cookies!", but lots of people enjoy reading, "Bad man blows up building!"
People are odd like that.
People are odd like that.
I don't think anything ought to be considered automatically taboo. But once Miss Snark published a list of taboo subject matter no agent will touch no matter how good the writing. It occurred to me that Cormac McCarthy violated most of them with about every one of his novels. One I remember was children getting killed or harmed.
I was just wondering if anyone has heard something similar about Islam given fatwas against cartoonists and such.
Wow, that's an amazing title.
(Nevermind me, I just felt I had to acknowledge such genius
Link here.
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In THE DEAD ZONE, Stephen King wrote in the first chapter about a guy kicking a dog to death. Man, a whole lotta people thought that should be taboo, but it damn sure let you know who the villain was, now didn't it?
(Yeah, the villain was Stephen King. No, I'm kidding!)
(Yeah, the villain was Stephen King. No, I'm kidding!)
As I understand it, there are certain sensitivities that authors should be aware of in discussing Muhammed and Allah (e.g. respect should be shown to Allah and the Prophet and there's a convention that when you name Muhammed you add the words "peace be upon him") but there's no prohibition per se in discussing the practice of Islam.
The problem is that there are always going to be fundamentalists who take offence to what is said about their faith and who will take any comment as a slight or slur, regardless of the context (and that's true of many religions, IMHO, not just Islam). However, it goes without saying that there are millions of Muslims who don't take exception to fiction discussing their religion and who weren't upset by The Satanic Verses.
Personally, I think that Islam is as much a topic that's open to be written about as anything else and provided you're not going out of your way to offend or upset anyone, I'd go for it and see what happens.
MM
The problem is that there are always going to be fundamentalists who take offence to what is said about their faith and who will take any comment as a slight or slur, regardless of the context (and that's true of many religions, IMHO, not just Islam). However, it goes without saying that there are millions of Muslims who don't take exception to fiction discussing their religion and who weren't upset by The Satanic Verses.
Personally, I think that Islam is as much a topic that's open to be written about as anything else and provided you're not going out of your way to offend or upset anyone, I'd go for it and see what happens.
MM
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I think writing about Islam is just controversial enough that publishing houses want more books that deal with Muslim characters and cultures. People want to know more about it, and there's that element of real-life suspense, i.e. "Is this book going to get the author in trouble with religious groups?" That can sell books like crazy.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist and A Thousand Splendid Suns are two of this year's biggest bestsellers. Khaled Hosseini's first book, The Kite Runner, has been selling very well since its publication in 2005.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist and A Thousand Splendid Suns are two of this year's biggest bestsellers. Khaled Hosseini's first book, The Kite Runner, has been selling very well since its publication in 2005.
I agree.
I think if an American author could pull off a book about Islam that was non-terrorist and non-9/11 related and do it well, publishing houses would be clamoring for it.
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A Kite Runner is about Afghanistan and the Islam faith is part of it. Hugely successful book. Like someone said, as long as you're not bashing Islam or glorifying fundamentalist terrorism, I think it won't be controversial.
A little off topic, but would a fantasy about an Islamic -type religion be something that agents and publishers might be leery of? I don't do any bashing but I don't do any praising, either. The main characters worship the Goddess, so no one could mistake this for anything but allegorical.
The thing is, right now (especially in the U.S) the association between Islam and terrorism is pratically hand and hand to most people and it's hard for them to be open minded when reading a book or even going to a movie relating to the subject. The 911 movies pretty muched bombed at the box office though wonderfully made, and the latest movie about Danial Pearl looks like it might be a box office bust as well though it's an exceptional flick with great acting. (though I' m not as thrilled with Jolie as some reviewers are) None the less, Islam as a religion and it's followers need, in my opinion, to be much more vocal in their opposition to the bad guys who proclaim to be guided by it's teaching for the subject to be accepted by an open minded public. No matter how up-lifting or genuine a story might be about Islam, the problem remains that in the back of everyone's mind, Okay, who are they going to kill next to get their point across. Maybe simplistic sounding but I think you understand my point..
Katherine Kurtz has vaguely-Islamic-sounding kingdoms in some of her Deryni novels. Doesn't seem to have hurt her any.
They've been vocal. But, as someone upstream commented, "Sheikh Abu Whomever quotes the Qur'an as saying to you be your way, to me be mine" doesn't make the kind of headlines that "Wild-Eyed Killer Moozlums Blow Up Senate Laundromat" does.
Our local paper-- non-syndicate-owned and pretty liberal-- prints the "they don't speak for us" articles buried on page 17A. Most don't even do that much.
I think every King book has one violent dog death per book. Just thinking off the top of my head: IT, Eyes of the Dragon, Salem's Lot...
Oh, uh and Cujo.
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