(Pasted from Aruna's post #16) "The question is whether you can write convincingly enough to convince and please natives of that culture, and whether they are right to doubt you."
The bolding is what I'm looking at here. To be honest, I'd say most writers would be able to craft a decent story about a culture that is not their own provided they did the necessary research beforehand. Whether it would convince and please natives of said culture is another matter. I've lived in Japan half my life, speak the language well enough, write it well enough--although my kanji knowledge still sucks--and I still don't know all the intricacies of the language or culture. Even the 'gaijin tarento' who live here, who are fluent, who've been here longer and/or have done more research, don't know everything. So if I were to write a novel about an aspect of Japanese culture, even if I've done mountains of research with experts in the field I was writing about, I would expect to be called on it by Japanese literary/cultural experts.
For the writer who wrote about China, I haven't read her novel so I cannot comment. I don't know if it's good or bad. However, I would never tell her not to write about it. At the same time, though, I cannot say anything if a native Chinese questions her about it. It is their country, after all, and they would (or should) know more about the culture having been brought up in its intricacies from birth. I would be a bit miffed if I wrote a novel, did all the research, and had it dismissed by a native without him/her having read it, but I suppose that comes with the territory.
Just my thoughts. The idea of appropriation is something I'll have a think on and get back to later when my brain is functioning a bit better.
The bolding is what I'm looking at here. To be honest, I'd say most writers would be able to craft a decent story about a culture that is not their own provided they did the necessary research beforehand. Whether it would convince and please natives of said culture is another matter. I've lived in Japan half my life, speak the language well enough, write it well enough--although my kanji knowledge still sucks--and I still don't know all the intricacies of the language or culture. Even the 'gaijin tarento' who live here, who are fluent, who've been here longer and/or have done more research, don't know everything. So if I were to write a novel about an aspect of Japanese culture, even if I've done mountains of research with experts in the field I was writing about, I would expect to be called on it by Japanese literary/cultural experts.
For the writer who wrote about China, I haven't read her novel so I cannot comment. I don't know if it's good or bad. However, I would never tell her not to write about it. At the same time, though, I cannot say anything if a native Chinese questions her about it. It is their country, after all, and they would (or should) know more about the culture having been brought up in its intricacies from birth. I would be a bit miffed if I wrote a novel, did all the research, and had it dismissed by a native without him/her having read it, but I suppose that comes with the territory.
Just my thoughts. The idea of appropriation is something I'll have a think on and get back to later when my brain is functioning a bit better.