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Re: Muslim and Muslim cultures in books
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From: Uma <uma_at_gobrainstorm.net>
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 09:28:57 -0700
KT, I think it depends on how well the writer can pull all the strands of story together and how s/he privileges each one. In Alif the Unseen, Wilson’s work has a kind of insider humor to it, plus its fantasy, so I think she can afford to set it "at a crossroads between the earthly world and the Empty Quarter.” It’s a bit like Salman Rushdie’s City of Alifbay in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The place contains allusions to real places but they’re tongue in cheek and that sets the tone for the rest of the book. Similarly, when Wilson (herself a convert to Islam) mashes up the Hindu Vikram mythic character with a “mongrel” anti-hero and stories from the Koran, it’s deliberate, and that worked for me. In contrast I can think of books where it felt more contrived, such as, oh, the Batchelder honor title from some years ago, Tiger Moon, that mixed up a fractured Ramayana storyline with a potpourri of Hindu and Muslim names and attributions. Somehow that “blending” felt as if it came from an ignorance of the implications of each rather than from authorial intention. My opinion only, of course.
Uma
Uma Krishnaswami Writer, Author of Children's Books http://www.umakrishnaswami.com Faculty Chair, MFA-Writing for Children & Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts http://www.vcfa.edu/low-residency-mfa/writing-children-young-adults
On Aug 12, 2014, at 8:54 AM, K.T. Horning <horning_at_education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> Thanks, everyone, for the recommendations.
>
> The most recent message from Monica sparked a question in my mind I'd like to throw out to the group. She noted that the book was set in an "unnamed Middle Eastern country" and I am wondering how people feel about this. We sometimes see it in children's and YA books, especially books set in unnamed countries in Africa and, sometimes, Latin America. (I can't think of a book I've seen set in an unnamed European country.)
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Received on Tue 12 Aug 2014 11:29:24 AM CDT
Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 09:28:57 -0700
KT, I think it depends on how well the writer can pull all the strands of story together and how s/he privileges each one. In Alif the Unseen, Wilson’s work has a kind of insider humor to it, plus its fantasy, so I think she can afford to set it "at a crossroads between the earthly world and the Empty Quarter.” It’s a bit like Salman Rushdie’s City of Alifbay in Haroun and the Sea of Stories. The place contains allusions to real places but they’re tongue in cheek and that sets the tone for the rest of the book. Similarly, when Wilson (herself a convert to Islam) mashes up the Hindu Vikram mythic character with a “mongrel” anti-hero and stories from the Koran, it’s deliberate, and that worked for me. In contrast I can think of books where it felt more contrived, such as, oh, the Batchelder honor title from some years ago, Tiger Moon, that mixed up a fractured Ramayana storyline with a potpourri of Hindu and Muslim names and attributions. Somehow that “blending” felt as if it came from an ignorance of the implications of each rather than from authorial intention. My opinion only, of course.
Uma
Uma Krishnaswami Writer, Author of Children's Books http://www.umakrishnaswami.com Faculty Chair, MFA-Writing for Children & Young Adults, Vermont College of Fine Arts http://www.vcfa.edu/low-residency-mfa/writing-children-young-adults
On Aug 12, 2014, at 8:54 AM, K.T. Horning <horning_at_education.wisc.edu> wrote:
> Thanks, everyone, for the recommendations.
>
> The most recent message from Monica sparked a question in my mind I'd like to throw out to the group. She noted that the book was set in an "unnamed Middle Eastern country" and I am wondering how people feel about this. We sometimes see it in children's and YA books, especially books set in unnamed countries in Africa and, sometimes, Latin America. (I can't think of a book I've seen set in an unnamed European country.)
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Received on Tue 12 Aug 2014 11:29:24 AM CDT
