Writing Across Cultures: Right or Wrong?
Earlier this month I was chided on Twitter for saying this:
I’m 70% through A Bollywood Bride by @Sonali_Dev. I now feel bereft that I’ve never been to an Indian wedding. Or worn a sari.
The chider is a woman and author whose opinion I respect. She asked me why I would ever have had an occasion to wear a sari. This then generated a lengthy and interesting Twitter conversation about cultural appropriation. I’ve thought about the points she raised as well as those raised by those in my Twitter stream who felt strongly that anyone who wants to wear a sari or a kimono or lederhosen should do so if she wants to.
Earlier this week, the Washington Post published an article entitled “To the new culture cops, everything is appropriation.” In it, the author Cathy Young asserts that those who criticize artists and writers who draw on cultures other than their own–whatever that means–are ignoring history, chilling artistic expression and hurting diversity. She writes,
These protests have an obvious potential to chill creativity and artistic expression. But they are equally bad for diversity, raising the troubling specter of cultural cleansing. When we attack people for stepping outside their own cultural experiences, we hinder our ability to develop empathy and cross-cultural understanding.
I posted a link to the article on my Facebook page and asked how others saw this issue. The answers were varied. Here is a sample.
Sometimes I go to concerts and other events that are primarily for the Indian community. I am always careful about what I wear. Once, I was sitting next to a lovely lady in a sari who asked me why I was not wearing Indian clothes, and I told her I loved them, but didn’t think it was appropriate. She looked at me sharply and said,” I wear American clothes.” And I said, “You’re right.” She was clearly giving me permission to wear Indian clothes if I chose.
As a writer, this is concerning. I have written a book about a major event in Russian history, right now its tabled because of changes I want to make, but I had planned on querying down the road. Now I have to worry about cultural appropriation because, though my grandmother is from Russia, I was born and raised in the US.
If you want to be separate stay separate, do not share and do not teach about your culture. Do not be surprised if someone wants to emulate you. Remember, mimicry is the highest form of flattery.
Without cultural appropriation by others there would be no art.
What?!?! Appropriation is the first step to acceptance and assimilation which seem like the perfect antidote to racism and segregation.
I can see both sides of this debate. Cultural theft, a hallmark of Western imperialism, is morally suspect. Stealing the work of others is wrong. As Ms. Young points out in her article,
The concept of cultural appropriation emerged in academia in the late 1970s and 1980s as part of the scholarly critique of colonialism. By the mid-1990s, it had gained a solid place in academic discourse, particularly in the field of sociology.
Some of this critique was rightly directed at literal cultural theft — the pilfering of art and artifacts by colonial powers — or glaring injustices, such as white entertainers in the pre-civil rights years profiting off black musical styles while black performers’ careers were hobbled by racism. Critics such as Edward Said offered valuable insight into Orientalism, the West’s tendency to fetishize Asians as exotic stereotypes.
But to me, there’s a significant difference between passing the work of others off as your own and imagining worlds other than the one you were born to.
In romance, we are comfortable–or at least less uncomfortable–when historical romance authors write about worlds and cultures other than their own. Many, however, see contemporary romance through a different lens. Those who write the experiences and/or voices of others–especially marginalized others–can expect their work to be scrutinized.
I’m inclined to be more forgiving.
Men have written first person narratives with female protagonists–I can recommend Brett Lott’s Jewel and Reynolds Price’s Kate Vaiden. Women have written men. Many of best-selling writers of children’s and young adult literature are themselves childless. I, like you, could come up with endless examples where writers have conjured realms beyond their ken. In general, I think this is a good thing.
What do you think? I’d like to know. I’m still trying to understand this issue.
Thanks!
When different cultural food traditions are mixed, it’s known as fusion cuisine and there are chefs (Bobby Flay) who are celebrated for it. I think there are a lot of people who have too thin a skin right now and need to get over themselves. I know a woman of Jewish background who wears shalwar kameez quite often because she likes them and they are flattering. Should I get upset to see someone from India or Nigeria wear blue jeans? Of course not.
As Sgt Hulka said in the movie Stripes “”Lighten up Francis””
Thanks! I’m only 54 so there’s still time for me!
Dabney, what a thought provoking post :-)
I’m off Indian descent, and live in the UK.
I cannot believe that you got that sort of response to your tweet.
I believe Your comment is (a) a reflection of the Fantastic journey that the book took you on. Sonali clearly enthused you to the point where you wanted to attend an Indian wedding and wear a Sari. And (b) an inquisitiness and curiosity on your part to experience the cultural aspects that Sonali described.
That is not offensive.
If and when I have my “”big fat Indian wedding”” you’ll be getting an invite – and you can borrow a Sari!!
P.s. I don’t quite know how to put one on (embarrassing……)
I’m a little dumbfounded by the response to your comment. Anytime I read a book or see a film about Indian culture I usually feel the same…..I love Indian fashion and prints, especially paisley!
My mother has pretty much dressed like Judy’s character in Exotic Marigold Hotel since the seventies……she’s a French/Scot and found while traveling a style that works for her. She would LHAO if someone suggested that it was inappropriate for her to dress that way.
Years ago I was guest at a wedding in Tunisia. I was a stranger to the bride, but my hostess is a good friend of the family, so I was included in all the pre bridal festivities…….bathhouse scrub, henna tattoos, fancy hairdo and an amazing dress lent by the bride’s grandmother. It was fantastic….one of those memorable occasions I will never forget. Had I worn my “”American”” attire I would have stuck out like a sore thumb. And I don’t think my experience would have been as glorious!
Do I have to stop wearing my clogs?
I work in a place with 70 employees (we’re in the USA). Two are from India. Both, knowing my interest in Indian history, have offered to show me how to wrap and wear a sari. And when the temperature is over 90, several of us wear shalvar-kameez, because they’re designed for the heat! The two women from India have steered us to some really good websites for buying Indian clothing.
I don’t have an answer to right or wrong. I’m personally not offended at all when I see non-Asians wearing ao dai or hanfu. They’re beautiful. Why shouldn’t any woman want to wear them?
I sometimes feel like I’m appropriating Chinese culture, believe it or not. My family is not root Chinese. We have Chinese ancestry, but we’re from Vietnam. In Vietnamese culture, we are not considered at all Chinese. I am perhaps as Chinese as Lisa See? When I took the name “”Lin””, spelled in its Chinese form, I actually went through some angst personally. I mean, I know in American culture, we celebrate the ethnic mix in our ancestry. Other authors couldn’t understand why this was such an issue for me — especially when I was part Chinese in blood.
On top of that, in a culture where family names are so important. The number of times I’ve had people with “”Lin”” surnames come up to me at signings and invoke solidarity — in jest or in seriousness — I feel guilt. (I’m sorry Lisa!) Or when Marjorie Liu’s dad read my chop and said, this does not say Lin.
So all this to say that culture is complex. The answers to it should be complicated–a conversation. An ongoing conversation. The problem with labeling things as “”wrong””, as “”don’t do this””, as “”this is a fail””, is that this attitude tends to stop the conversation.
I’m happy to see many of the examples above were openings to further conversation. This is why I don’t feel anger at, for instance, Serenity and Firefly appropriating Asian culture without casting Asian actors. It is disheartening, but it started a conversation and perhaps led in some direct way to the casting and storylines in Agents of Shield. Or the issues with Miss Saigon — even though it was such a narrow view of Vietnamese culture, a lot of people weren’t thinking and talking of Vietnamese people beyond knowing there was a war there before that show. Just to name some very specific media examples.
I appreciate your reply.
This is a gray area and as such it defies “”right”” or “”wrong.”” Many of my friends who are musicians are appalled at the idea that composers couldn’t appropriate music from other cultures while many writer friends have a more nuanced view.
I wonder, when we say appropriation is wrong, what we hope to accomplish. My sense is that there’s a reason we are all still saying you don’t know someone until you walk a mile in his or her shoes.
I’ve loved reading all these responses. This is clearly something many are giving thought to and it’s interesting to see all the perspectives.
Thanks for sharing.
I not only wore a kimono but went full geisha (well, technically, full maiko) while living as a non-Japanese in Japan. Every other person at the dress-up photo studio was Japanese. If anybody was offended, I’m sorry, but it was a wonderful experience that brought me closer to the physical lives of these women, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.
The Romans appropriated the Greek Gods and made them their own. Christians appropriated Pagan holidays and turned them into Christian holidays. This is not something new. Culture is a living thing and changes over time, with aspects of other cultures being adapted and merged to form new cultural expressions. Writers, whether of fiction or non-fiction, do have a responsibility to research and respect other cultures in their work. But I don’t believe you have to “”belong”” to the other culture to write a story with cross cultural characters. Like I said, research and respect.
Totally agree with your post. Adopting each other’s clothes, food, holidays and customs is how we have integrated and grown as cultures. Research and respect are the key.
Totally agree with this as well.
I’m a white minority in a county that is mostly African American with a rapidly rising Hispanic population. Everything my children are taught in the school system is from an AA perspective with an increasing awareness of the needs of the Hispanic community that is quickly growing. Most of the academic clubs in her school are geared toward AA issues and identity. When my daughter wants to join a club about fostering leadership skills for black women do I tell she can’t join because she’s white? Of course not, and none of her friends or teachers would expect her to be left out.
Well, the problem that I see with black/white analogies is that even if one is a minority white person in a predominantly black community or school, white people still hold social, political and economic power in the U.S. as a whole. Therefore, whiteness remains the cultural norm in this country in terms of a larger power structure, and segregated communities understand that all too well.
Dabney,
To me your initial Twitter comment only goes to show how globalization works and multi-cultural communities/experiences are happening everywhere. I’m an American of Caucasian descent and I wore a lehnga to one of my closest friend’s Hindu wedding (and a pink dress to the civil ceremony as her maid of honor;)). It’s becoming more and more common (and it’s depicted quite often in depictions of the Indian diaspora in film and television and literature) that, of course, non-South Asians guests attending traditional ceremonies (weddings, Dilwali festivities) are welcome and, in fact, encouraged to wear traditional clothing. And I’m a firm believer that sharing and understanding (in a respectful and educated way) our cultural heritage is the only way to a better society. Just wish that St. Patrick’s Day didn’t seem like the only thing associated with my Irish American heritage, but that’s another story!
That being said, there needs to be an awareness of valid concerns around cultural appropriation when one begins to learn about or engage with other cultures. I’m still self-conscious when I go to see Indian films in movie theaters here in the US. I never want to seem like I’m infringing on a private, shared South Asian-American experience.
And just as a lesson in not judging others based on what they’re wearing (and specifically determining their country of origin), Kalki Koechlin is an Indian film actress of French descent who, of course, sometimes wears saris and lehngas and salwar kamez because she’s Indian! She’s great by the way. I compare her to a young Parker Posey in the types of roles she chooses, many of which are in more independent Hindi films. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalki_Koechlin)
I actually just watched The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and did have some issues (even though it’s a well-acted and visually appealing film). The whole British in India plot is loaded with colonial and post-colonial landmines. Related to the topic of clothing, Judi Dench’s character is a buyer of traditional textiles (which of course are an exported product) and she also incorporates some of those textiles in her own Western-Indian fusion clothing choices. Is it OK because she’s living in India or is there still a lingering British colonial appropriation implicit in that? I’m not quite sure. Sunaina, the young Indian woman character, wears jeans and I didn’t think that was weird. It’s all about perspective and experience, too.
Great question and I can’t wait for the next Sonali Dev book!
~Kim
I’m South Asian and I personally believe that adopting things out of different cultures is a natural extension of globalization, As long as it is done with respect to the cultures in question it is not a bad thing.
I wouldn’t dream of telling anyone not to wear a sari or shalwar kamiz anymore than I would let someone tell me it is not okay for me to wear Jeans or a Dress.
I had this discussion with my daughter last week, because she had to go to something through work and she wanted to dress appropriately but not appropriation-ly.
I can’t say we achieved any great insights – but maybe it’s good that it’s a discussion people are having more often?
(I did get to wear a sari once, when I was teaching in London. I think one of the teachers brought them in for all the staff to wear at Diwali. It was lovely, but I was useless at doing the pleating.)
I agree that having the conversations and reflecting on how those with social power use the culture and lives of those who do not is essential. Even stopping to consider use of others’ culture can help tremendously. Too often though I see a lack of reflection, lack of concern, or even arrogance and sense of entitlement in our society. The “”Black Lives Matter”” has been co-opted into the “”All Lives Matter”” mantra pretty quickly before many people did some serious critical thinking on why the BML movement emerged.
Oh, wow, I’m chatty this morning! I also don’t object to people who appropriate my country’s history, as long as they get it right. That’s respect, as well.
I should say that yes, I’ve been to a fair few “”Indian”” weddings. Sikh weddings are particularly awesome, IMO.
It could be dangerous. Nobody is “”pure.”” We’re all a mixture of something, whatever the extremists say. That’s not just ethnic, either. I’m British by birth, but I was brought up in a primarily Hindu and Muslim community. I have Romany and Irish ancestors, and others we’ve never traced. I was part of an etnic minority at my junior school. At social affairs, I’d wear what I wanted, with a little respect (it’s like not showing too much flesh in a Catholic church, I’d wear a scarf over my head in certain places). So learn what would actually offend the people you’re visiting, and do that.
I have a large collection of saris, lenghas and salwars and I wear them. They’re beautiful, and the people I know have no objection to my doing so. They see it less as “”appropriation”” and more as “”celebrating.””
BTW, did you know that there was a survey done by a London university that showed close on 100% of the genetic makeup of everyone they surveyed showed some African content dating back no further than 100 years?
If we all start behaving like we are one thing or another, whether it’s called appropriation or prejudice, we’re playing into the hands of the extremists. “”Oh, we’re not like them, we’re different.”” Just have some respect, and don’t do what is offensive.
I think the opinions of the prevailing cultural community are important in this discussion. My Caucasian son has been dating an Indian (Bengali) lady for the past 3 years. He is pretty well integrated into the community and they actually bought him a punjabi to wear at their cultural/religious festivals. They will probably end up getting married and have bi-racial/cultural children, so I think it is important that he absorb some of the culture his future children will be a part of.
Looking at it from a minority standpoint I think that people on both sides of the argument need to loosen up. I can remember a friend vehemently complaining about cultural approbation regarding Mexican restaurants. He was adamant that everyone at such a place should speak Spanish. I was vehemently opposed to the idea. I prefer to go to a restaurant and have everyone be able to read the menu and order easily. English in a restaurant located in America makes practical sense. Besides, I certainly don’t walk into Taco Bell expecting an authentic Mexican dining experience. I pointed out that I’ve ordered at McDonalds in Mexico and had to speak Spanish, Burger King in Puerto Rico and had to say whopper con queso to get a whopper with cheese and I’ve never used Italian at any Pizza Hut. He had to admit that he had done the same. I found his whole argument ludicrous and overly sensitive.
On the other hand, there are some things that when an author writes cross culturally she should get right. The Day of the Dead is not celebrated in all cultures so having a Puerto Rican celebrate it would be sloppy research in my book. Not all Hispanics eat the same foods and doing enough research to know what your character eats or how they would say their name is important. Historical events can be viewed differently depending on country even within the same ethnic group so thorough researching would be vital when portraying historical events from a different cultures point of view.
But I think with thorough research and some genuine sensitivity many authors can and do write cross culturally in a manner that is respectful of all.
Hey, thanks’ for your comments
This whole cultural appropriation is an issue I read about much more in America than anywhere I’ve lived, but I think this is because of the touchy issues regarding race going on in the US right now.
I’ve lived in a number of VERY different cultures, some where I stood out like a sore thumb: India and Korea, for example. However, there are plenty of European women who live in those countries and marry local men. You live in India for a few years, then you’re going to start picking up and being encouraged to use some of the local customs and to dress in a different way.
I definitely think A LOT of research needs to be done to pull cross-cultural books off without causing offence. As I said a few days ago, don’t slap a randomly “ethnic” name onto your character and then get it wrong (the number of times I’ve seen authors get the origin of the name wrong and make their “ethnic” character from the wrong country… SMH!).
A real life example that infuriates me personally, because of my ethnicity, happened this past fashion season. Valentino stole a bunch of Ukrainian and Belarusian traditional designs, used them on their clothes, and then incorrectly marketed them as Russian! Not the best thing to do considering current world events.
Yeah, sort of messed up my first paragraph above…
Appropriation to me is a genuine issue and should be taken seriously. I think anyone that wants to use another culture as the object of their analysis needs to do so with considerable respect, *especially* if the object is a group that has a history of being exploited and under-represented. I’m not at all persuaded by words like “”culture cops”” or even “”PC police,”” for that matter because the issues are deeply embedded in our world. So, for those that want to write about minority groups, I would say, do so, but do so with care and consideration of the history and implications of such an act.
This is a touchy thing personally, I get where they are coming from. There’s something at least tacky in taking an aspect of their culture that they’ve been mocked for and making it trendy. But I’ll admit I’ve always wanted to wear a sari. It looks so comfortable in the heat.
On the writing outside an authors praxis into cortes and characters he or she may not be entirely comfortable with, I typically say good for them. Authors create worlds and characters, that is what they do, so I have no problem with it. Though I hope they’ve done their research, and that they know it will be scrutinized.
Whoops, that was auto correct salad.
into stories and characters he or she may not be entirely comfortable with