CCBC-Net Archives

Re: Muslims and Muslim Cultures-accuracy - Charles' comments

From: Rukhsana Khan <rukhsana_at_rukhsanakhan.com>
Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 13:17:52 -0400
Hi Barbara, 

I agree. 

And in fact I'd say that even when you come from a culture you still need to get your facts straight.

I always get someone more knowledgeable to vet my work just in case I make some mistakes.

As a Muslim it really worries me when Muslim authors present misinformation about Islam. 

There's enough misinformation and stereotypes out there without Muslims themselves adding to it! The way I figure that book might be the only book about Islam or Muslims that a person might read and they'd go away with false notions. 

So while Muslim characters might be inconsistent with their Islamic principles, I  really prefer it if it's made clear in some way, hopefully not in a didactic way, that their behavior isn't being condoned by the religion itself.

There's already enough confusion between the tenets of Islam as a doctrine and the behavior if Muslims!

I was recently asked to review a book about a Muslim girl and the author had included a blatant error! It was a good book, well developed characters but with that error I couldn't add it to my Muslim Booklist. It was such a shame because there really aren't that many engaging books about Muslims.

All the best, 

Rukhsana

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the TELUS network.
From: Barbara Binns
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 1:02 PM
To: ccbc-net_at_lists.wisc.edu
Reply To: Barbara Binns
Subject: RE:[ccbc-net] Muslims and Muslim Cultures-accuracy - Charles' comments


>>>Clearly, it is oxymoronic on the face of it to fact-check fiction.

I have to totally disagree with this one.  Art is considered "the lie that tells the truth a reason, and fiction is an art form.  Most readers expect some fact-checking even in their fiction.  In adult circles authors historical authors have commented on being reamed  for making a factual mistake, something as simple as a wrong date draws out readers' wrath. Even science fiction and fantasy authors try to stick as much to the way the real world works as possible, reducing the number of leaps of faith a reader's mind has to take to accept their worlds.  In "realistic" fiction people want the fact to be real and will adversely remember authors who give them something else. Many authors mitigate the issue by noting in a forward that they have played fast and loose with some issues for arts sake. And I admit I give them a pass when they do that.

The problem is younger readers don't have the background to know when they are being misled or fed a caricature or false image.  To me as a writer that means I have to check my facts twice as hard, because some young reader will absorb my information and their brains may accept it as fact if not gospel. I'm teaching a group of writers right now and telling them they don't get a pass because of the word Fiction.  Readers critique their fiction books on the facts as well as how they are presented on the page.
 
B A Binns - 2010 National Readers Choice Award Winner
Minority of One from AllTheColorsOfLove press
2012 YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
2012-13 Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award Nominee
Stories of Real Boys Growing Into Real Men
website - http://www.babinns.com
 
 

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Received on Thu 21 Aug 2014 12:18:20 PM CDT