Cultural appropriation... I'm sure we're all using the same definition? Just to confirm though: I see cultural appropriation as cultural theft. One (who is from a dominant culture) takes what one wants from another culture (often a minority culture as compared to the dominant one), and uses that element out of context and in a way in which it was never intended or is never ever used within its native culture. However, because one took it and is from a dominant culture, one declares that it's okay to use it one's way, therefore, everyone else (including the minority culture's natives) must accept it.
Case in point: the latest Bruce Lee film took Bruce Lee and turned him into an arrogant minor character in a film
about Bruce Lee (the protagonist was a white guy who got the Chinese girl). Anyone who's studied Lee and his philosophy (as well as martial arts) knows that arrogance was never part of Lee's make-up. And the director
brushed off all criticisms / call-outs of these facts. That is cultural appropriation, aka, cultural theft. And it's harmful and damaging in so many ways! Such appropriation seeks to destroy a culture's credibility and suppress or subjugate that culture. The rant I could off on here...
Moving on.
I feel like appropriation is more of an issue when people stereotype other cultures or experiences or take what they want from them without doing justice to the people. There's a world of difference between being sincerely influenced or writing diverse characters and, for example, using aspects of indigenous or non-Western cultures to add something "exotic" to your story.
I've never felt uncomfortable writing characters who come from different backgrounds than me. But I'm interested in being respectful and treating them like realistic people, not stereotypes.
Yes, I agree: all of this. And the key to doing justice to the culture one borrows elements from is detailed research of that culture. Yes, it takes time, yes it can be boring and challenging, and yes, one will not get all the details right. However! When such research is done, the respect one gains for that culture
comes through in the writing. And if one does get elements wrong and is willing to listen and correct when natives point out these things, one becomes more respected in that culture and in general.
I disagree with people who think that avoiding cultural appropriation means never writing about characters who are outside your radius of experience/identity. That can be an oversimplification that doesn't really address the root problems.
I concur. Would I prefer non-natives
not write about my culture? Of course! But, on the other hand, how am I going to stop them? I don't like it, but I have better things to do with my time (i.e., write my own stories) than police how others write.
As I said previously: a complicated topic, though fascinating.
Amusing.
My point stands, though. I wonder if the cultural ennui that compels some white authors to want to "Get outside your own head. Relentlessly explore the lives of people who aren’t like you, who you didn’t grow up with, who don’t share your background, bank balance and expectations" might be better served by, I dunno, just writing about elves, or something.
I'm taking this as sarcasm or tongue-in-cheek, but thanks for dismissing very valid concerns and dismissing what I face on a daily basis with my writing. Again: detailed research and the willingness to learn and correct are key to writing about a culture not one's own.
I understand where cultural appropriation comes from, and its a pretty good reason for me to stay away from diversity. I have gay characters and people of colour, but these can only ever be incidental details revealed only by their name, or the name of their partner, but that's as far as I dare go now, and my work is all the poorer for it, but I don't like criticism or confrontation.
My own culture is rather marginalised now. Coal mines, brass bands and working men's clubs are all but gone, Englishness is nationalism now, apparently, and that's as bad as racism, m'kay. White might well be a position of privilege, but it's not a culture.
Yeah, its much easier to write about elves and trolls.
Yeeeeeaaaah.... no. Just no. A dominant culture decrying "marginalisation" of itself? A place of arrogant privilege! This is
not funny or amusing, or anything else. So, same as previously: Thanks for the dismissal. I'm leaving this text alone, now.
What else am I supposed to do? Never write about characters who are straight, white males? Do they have to be middle aged, balding, and severely overweight? (Although down nearly 100lbs.) Must they be KISS fans too?
No. No one said this. But again, this is an attitude coming from a place of privilege. And it's supposed to... what? I don't know what the intention was, but it seems to me that the question is trying to make light of issues that I face with my writing, with being who I am. Leaving this text alone, too.
Oh, for crying out loud. I want to read a great story. Write what you want and call it good.
Oh, Hell, no; this is
not an attitude that is conducive to understanding an resolving such a complex issue as this one!
One does not get to write what one wants and call it good because that is the dominant culture saying "I wrote about your marginalised culture, so be grateful I'm bringing it to the world! And if you don't like it, tough!"
And this has happened:
(Source:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article...-a-fiction-writer-can-write-human-experience/)
I am British — mixed-race English and Chinese, but linguistically and culturally British.
...
I encountered questions such as, “How can you write about the Chinese when you aren’t fluent in mandarin?”
...
My own approach to writing a novel set in China was to move there, stay with local families, enroll at language school, and research by experiencing everyday life in Beijing.
...
The objective was not to construct a fictional Chinese everyman, but a main character that was original and idiosyncratic, but still convincingly from Beijing.
...
[T]he intention was to make a statement about what it is to be human, not what it is to be Chinese.
In one go, Barker claimed to want to write about a unique Beijinger then turned around and said she wanted to make a statement about being human, but not being Chinese, and the expectation is that we (the Chinese) are supposed to say, "What a great novel you have written about our culture, only to shove aside what it means to be Chinese! We are so grateful you wrote about us, that we are not at all offended by not being recognised!"
So, the novel only used China and Chinese culture because the novel wanted to be different?! And because it was so well-written and so well-received by critics and
Western readers, I should "just be grateful"? Wow....
Also: not only is Barker claiming mixed race heritage, she's also identifying as British both culturally and linguistically, isn't fluent in Chinese (Putonghua, here), and spent 6 years writing
The Incarnations (this might imply she was in China for all 6 years).
Certainly, one can do a lot of detailed research in 6 years. However, the most telling thing here is the lack of Chinese language knowledge. The Chinese language is a very integral part of Chinese culture. If one is not fluent in it (reading
and writing) and writes about the culture, one will certainly trip up. (Written Chinese actually tells you a lot about how the Chinese language and culture evolved, as well as the Chinese mindset that may not be apparent from only verbal conversation with natives and first-hand observation.)
If one is still not convinced that the above example is cultural appropriation (to whatever degree I'm not debating), then perhaps another example may illustrate the issue better.
Departing momentarily from writing, one might consider the fashion world. In it, the traditional Chinese dress was taken and shortened to the gods know what length and called "cheongsam"! Perhaps those designers would have cited "inspiration", but their take on it was to
sexualise a conservative dress with meaning and change its name.
Why is this offensive to me? See the 3 points below (they don't explain everything, but provide an idea instead):
- Colours for a traditional Chinese dress denote the wearer's status.
- Patterns on a traditional Chinese dress fabric denote the fabric's intended purpose.
- And the name for a traditional Chinese dress is not "Cheongsam"; it's "Keipo". ("Cheongsam" is the name given to the man's traditional floor-length over garment; hardly a dress.) (And both pronunciations are Cantonese, not Putonghua.)
Thank-you to arrogant, and apparently-ignorant designers for the fucking inappropriate twist and getting the name so wrong! Love the theft. Really.
Agreed.
I wonder if this will change since people can self publish? Maybe the ability to self publish will be the best thing for those who feel marginalized and want to be heard. Or maybe the publishers shy away from writers writing about minorities because of the backlash?
It's definitely a hot issue here in Canada, like all things though it will settle down.
Perhaps the self-publishing industry will allow for more marginalised voices to be heard. But I believe (traditional?) publishers shy away from writers writing about minorities because many of the writers taken on by publishers are non-natives of those cultures. Currently, publishers tend to be staffed by Whites or Western professionals. And people, as a whole, gravitate towards the familiar. Therefore, White/Western publishers are more inclined to seek stories written by White/Western writers who fall into their comfort zone, whether or not the publishers are aware of this. Hence, the lack of marginalised voices in publishing.
I've noticed one rather overwhelming trend, and I think a poster up-thread also said something similar: Those who protest the loudest and cry "marginalisation" of their dominant culture are the ones who do not deal well with criticism and with being wrong, or have no intention of learning about -- and respecting -- a culture not their own. So when called out for depicting a non-native culture incorrectly or using all the racist/damaging tropes/stereotypes, or employing non-native elements of out context, or inappropriately twisting those elements, they provide myriad excuses and continue on their way. This, IMO, is cultural appropriation, aka, cultural theft.