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[CCBC-Net] Homeless Bird
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From: park/dobbin <dobbin>
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 09:50:50 -0500
Uma Krishnaswami's comments on Homeless Bird bring up so many important points I hardly know where to begin.
I have always defended the writer's right to create art from the imagination as well as from experience and will continue to do so. Anyone who writes historical fiction (as I do) would be hypocritical not to take this position. From this perspective, it should not cause outrage that the author of HB has never been to India--no author of historical fiction can travel back to the past either. (And what choice does she have but to be honest about this in interviews?)
However, it seems that there are cases when curiosity, diligent research and enthusiasm *are no substitute for experience.* There is an odd kind of respect for a culture that grows out of taking certain aspects of it for granted. (I may not be saying this very well. What I mean is, if you find something about another culture "amazing" or "wonderful" or distasteful or repugnant, that very reaction means it is 'foreign' to you. If you live in another place long enough, you will find yourself taking some of these things for granted.) That respect is crucial to writing from the perspective of a person from within that culture, imho, and I'm not sure if it can be gained without living it. For writing historical fiction, I found it necessary to identify aspects of traditional (Korean) culture that are still alive today and realize how much I took them for granted in my own upbringing.
On another point, the reactions of readers from within the culture can be instructive in more ways than one. Here too, my own experience has taught me caution. I have just completed the manuscript for a novel about Korea during World War II. The protagonist's family is active in the underground resistance movement and for my research I was able to locate several autobiographies by people involved in that movement. When my family and friends who had lived through this era read the manuscript, most of them protested. "We never knew anyone like that." "No Korean would have done that." I was starting to become concerned about the accuracy of my research when at last one elderly gentleman silenced the critics. "You were kids then. You didn't know anything. I know about all this stuff." Another example: I have written a short story about a Korean man who demonstrates a shocking lack of respect for his family. Many Korean readers find this man to have a "Western" mentality, and protest his depiction. But isn't the unusual, the deviant, the rebel, often what draws writers and readers to a story or character? In this case, I am absolutely certain of the character's actions because I based him on my own father. It has been my experience that barring factual errors, the range of reactions from those within the depicted culture can be as wide-ranging as that of a general readership.
Once again, I defend a writer's right to depict any time and place s/he chooses. But when that story is on its way to becoming a book for young people, it seems to me that the most vital component is an editor sensitive to these issues. Without such an editor, an offensive and/or deeply inaccurate book can make it to the shelves on the strength of its writing alone. (Please note--I am not saying this about HB, see below.)
I realize I have committed a cardinal sin here, which is to join in on a discussion of a book, I have not yet read. But I felt so strongly about the importance of Uma's thoughts that I couldn't keep myself from posting.
Sue
~~~ Linda Sue Park
~~~
Received on Sat 06 Jan 2001 08:50:50 AM CST
Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2001 09:50:50 -0500
Uma Krishnaswami's comments on Homeless Bird bring up so many important points I hardly know where to begin.
I have always defended the writer's right to create art from the imagination as well as from experience and will continue to do so. Anyone who writes historical fiction (as I do) would be hypocritical not to take this position. From this perspective, it should not cause outrage that the author of HB has never been to India--no author of historical fiction can travel back to the past either. (And what choice does she have but to be honest about this in interviews?)
However, it seems that there are cases when curiosity, diligent research and enthusiasm *are no substitute for experience.* There is an odd kind of respect for a culture that grows out of taking certain aspects of it for granted. (I may not be saying this very well. What I mean is, if you find something about another culture "amazing" or "wonderful" or distasteful or repugnant, that very reaction means it is 'foreign' to you. If you live in another place long enough, you will find yourself taking some of these things for granted.) That respect is crucial to writing from the perspective of a person from within that culture, imho, and I'm not sure if it can be gained without living it. For writing historical fiction, I found it necessary to identify aspects of traditional (Korean) culture that are still alive today and realize how much I took them for granted in my own upbringing.
On another point, the reactions of readers from within the culture can be instructive in more ways than one. Here too, my own experience has taught me caution. I have just completed the manuscript for a novel about Korea during World War II. The protagonist's family is active in the underground resistance movement and for my research I was able to locate several autobiographies by people involved in that movement. When my family and friends who had lived through this era read the manuscript, most of them protested. "We never knew anyone like that." "No Korean would have done that." I was starting to become concerned about the accuracy of my research when at last one elderly gentleman silenced the critics. "You were kids then. You didn't know anything. I know about all this stuff." Another example: I have written a short story about a Korean man who demonstrates a shocking lack of respect for his family. Many Korean readers find this man to have a "Western" mentality, and protest his depiction. But isn't the unusual, the deviant, the rebel, often what draws writers and readers to a story or character? In this case, I am absolutely certain of the character's actions because I based him on my own father. It has been my experience that barring factual errors, the range of reactions from those within the depicted culture can be as wide-ranging as that of a general readership.
Once again, I defend a writer's right to depict any time and place s/he chooses. But when that story is on its way to becoming a book for young people, it seems to me that the most vital component is an editor sensitive to these issues. Without such an editor, an offensive and/or deeply inaccurate book can make it to the shelves on the strength of its writing alone. (Please note--I am not saying this about HB, see below.)
I realize I have committed a cardinal sin here, which is to join in on a discussion of a book, I have not yet read. But I felt so strongly about the importance of Uma's thoughts that I couldn't keep myself from posting.
Sue
~~~ Linda Sue Park
~~~
Received on Sat 06 Jan 2001 08:50:50 AM CST
