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[CCBC-Net] To write cross-cultural or not to write cross-cultural, that is the question...
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From: RUKHSANA KHAN <irrualli>
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 10:11:46 -0800
Dear Ms. Wilson and Ms. Whitesel and whoever else might be interested,
I hope I didn't give the wrong impression.
I never meant to criticize Ms. Whitesel for not living in Tibet before she wrote about Tibetan culture. That was not my intention at all.
I was just trying to point out that there is no substitute for it.
Living in a place before writing about it, is ideal and desirable, but in no way is it always possible.
I'd also like to take the opportunity to clarify another point I made earlier. I am not against anyone writing about any other culture, including white writers writing about indigenous cultures.
I only ask that writers be fair to the cultures they are writing about.
It is my experience that such fairness happens very rarely. In fact regarding Muslim culture I know of only one book, written by a white author, who captures the sensibilities and represents Muslim culture fairly. That book is called The Bedouin's Gazelle, by Frances Temple.
All the other books written by white authors, that I've read, have failed miserably in being fair to Muslim culture. (I speak of Muslim culture because that's what I know best.) In fact the vast majority have transposed western values on indigenous characters.
We are lucky to be living at a time when there is nothing stopping us
(indigenous cultures) from writing our own stories, except perhaps inertia. And that's what I was trying to encourage. Because only by writing our own stories can we correct some of the misrepresentations that exist about our respective cultures.
Rukhsana Khan
Received on Wed 31 Jan 2001 12:11:46 PM CST
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 10:11:46 -0800
Dear Ms. Wilson and Ms. Whitesel and whoever else might be interested,
I hope I didn't give the wrong impression.
I never meant to criticize Ms. Whitesel for not living in Tibet before she wrote about Tibetan culture. That was not my intention at all.
I was just trying to point out that there is no substitute for it.
Living in a place before writing about it, is ideal and desirable, but in no way is it always possible.
I'd also like to take the opportunity to clarify another point I made earlier. I am not against anyone writing about any other culture, including white writers writing about indigenous cultures.
I only ask that writers be fair to the cultures they are writing about.
It is my experience that such fairness happens very rarely. In fact regarding Muslim culture I know of only one book, written by a white author, who captures the sensibilities and represents Muslim culture fairly. That book is called The Bedouin's Gazelle, by Frances Temple.
All the other books written by white authors, that I've read, have failed miserably in being fair to Muslim culture. (I speak of Muslim culture because that's what I know best.) In fact the vast majority have transposed western values on indigenous characters.
We are lucky to be living at a time when there is nothing stopping us
(indigenous cultures) from writing our own stories, except perhaps inertia. And that's what I was trying to encourage. Because only by writing our own stories can we correct some of the misrepresentations that exist about our respective cultures.
Rukhsana Khan
Received on Wed 31 Jan 2001 12:11:46 PM CST
