This past weekend I spent at a writers symposium called, “Life, the Universe, and Everything.” (Or LTUE for short.) It is a wonderful program with many of the large names in Fantasy and Science Fiction who attend. And each year that I attend I get so much out of it. I learned about all sorts of subjects from “Plots, Subplots, and Foreshadowing,” to “Writing Humor.” And I felt blessed for the opportunity to be there. Only as I looked around I noticed something was missing. I saw Tracy Hickman, L. E. Modesitt, Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dave Farland, and various other standards in the industry. I met them and enjoyed their company and for some reason I felt like I didn’t belong.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say I shouldn’t be writing, but I felt the same way I do when I go to church. Like a speck of pepper in a sea of cream. All of the big name authors there were white. Most all of the folks I saw come to the symposium were white. No hispanics, no asians, and no blacks were in attendance from what I saw. Recognizing such a poor mixture of diversity in the group of people I aspire to join made me realize something. This is part of the reason we see such a lack of diversity in the science fiction and fantasy markets. It isn’t because the people are racist, or they are focused only on the tropes of elves, dwarves, and orcs, but because there isn’t enough diversity in the community.
Between this and a conversation with a man I met at the convention by the name of David Powers King (read his blog, its pretty solid), I realized that I need to start blogging not only how I feel about various things going on in our culture, but about diversity in the various cultures that we have in our world. Talking about Gay Marriage, Being Black Enough, and what Freedom is are important aspects of the culture we live in and themes to approach in literature, but it isn’t enough. I want to write about how the Native Americans known as the Inuit live from the perspective of one of their own, or about hispanic culture from those trying to get a college education who are living in it, and introduce people to the rich heritage of black spirituality. We have so many opportunities to recognize the diversity around us, not only in terms of race, but sexuality, gender, morality, and religion. And I want to be a voice for helping writers to begin to recognize that.
I heard back in high school that drama was the mirror of man. Well writing fiction is a form of drama, and I want to see the diversity of the world that I live in reflected better. Now I’ve been trying to build an audience of late, and I realize that my journey here to develop better fantasy and science fiction will not happen without a community effort of some sort. I can write about these things all I want, but without you sharing your thoughts and feelings with me, this won’t ever really get started. And offering you my opinion probably isn’t enough. So I’ve started an excellent book called the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin. She is a black fantasy author who plays against the traditional methods by telling the story in first person and having a black female protagonist. At the end of this month I plan on putting each person who comments on my blog into a hat and sending three of them a copy of this book. Think of it as my way of saying thank you for having a conversation with me.So my question to you is? What do you want to hear about? I have plans of talking about the hypocrisy in religion, sharing my own conversion story to becoming LDS, and about what it really is like to be an eskimo. But I know there are a lot of other ideas out there for cultural diversity and thematic writing and rather than search all of them out by myself, I want to hear from you. Lets become a team and discover the miracle of the diversity of the world we live in together.
I really applaud your blog, good sir.
ReplyDeleteAnd now, for a giant rambling comment:
I was going to ask if you have seen Atanarjuat (Fast Runner), as it's an Inuit-made film adaption of an Inuit legend. Then I remembered that it depicts ancient Inuit life, and not the lives of modern Inuits. And then I realized that the movie is rated R for nudity (nonsexual and sexual) and violence, and I do know of your conscious choice to avoid R-rated movies. I remembered that the Inuit in the film don't kiss one another, because it just wasn't part of their culture. This got me wondering about how accurately we can perceive other cultures. And then it hit me. But, first, I must explain that I have been permanently and deeply influenced by Edward Said's Orientalism and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's "Can the Subaltern Speak?" While these works are not without critical academic rebuttals from those who disagree, they are still recognized as monumental scholarly works. Please forgive me if you've read the works, but I chose to be safe and to poorly summarize some of their core concepts. Both focus on issues cultural and intercultural communication and transmission of knowledge, etc. Said addressed the western view of the east, and by extension most contextual perception vs. reality in situations of "knowing" or "understanding." Spivak challenged knowledge of the lowest and least valued members of cultures. In agreement with them, I don't think we can ever truly and objectively put ourselves in the shoes of others. And the barriers to doing so increase with differences in experiences, education, culture, language, cosmology, etc. I think this is where writers fall into "writing what they know" or unwittingly using tropes when they try to include diversity. This is not to say that we shouldn't try to approach an understanding of others and their lives, but maybe writers should try to first understand our own solipsistic limitations. This is a giant awakening for me! I'd previously only applied the wealth of historiography and philosophy, that I'd learned while completing my degree, to approach non-fiction. I'd never really though that the extent to which our own context limits us could reach into our works of non-realistic fantasy. Perhaps, to even approach capturing a realistic and fair diversity, even in fiction, we have to first examine our own contextual limitations and assumptions; and openly face the scary and immense internal void which is everything that we don't know, and even what we can't know, about the world?
Cynthia, I love the fact that you are outrightly better read that I think I will ever be. However I'll try to respond to the ideas you address in your post. I haven't seen Atanaruat, although I can't say that I wouldn't like to. It is very difficult to share ideas that cross cultures, however I recognize there being some way of doing it because of Dan Wells, "I am not a Serial Killer" series. The books are about a teenage sociopath who is dealing trying to actually be a good person while not having the ability to empathize or connect with other people. They take a spin towards fantasy, but they are ultimately enjoyable reads. But what is remarkable is the fact that Mr. Wells has gotten mail from sociopaths who praise him for understanding and describing accurately what they experience in life. So I find myself believing that we very well can understand each other through writing, however it requires us to be willing to allow ourselves to be more open to possibilities.
DeleteI personally write fantasy and science fiction for the very opportunity to capture realistic and fair diversity. I know of no other genre that requires of its audience to be more open minded or more intelligent. We have contextual limits that is certain, but often times it is safer for us to study them in a world far away, that we might learn how to deal with them in our everyday lives. Science nor God has ever given us all the answers and I believe that as we write fiction we are given the opportunity to find some new ones for ourselves. Vicarious learning is the best means I've ever known to learn the majority of life lessons and I would hope that my fiction, and fiction of the peers I hope to have one day portrays that.
The brown flamingo has swagger!
ReplyDeleteDamn straight! Someone gots to keep it real here. ;D
DeleteI was also at LTUE, and I remember a comment that was semi-related to this topic. At the "What Would I Do Differently" panel, one of the authors confessed that she changed the race of one of her characters because her editor said "black women on the cover don't sell." It was one of her biggest regrets. And it says a lot about either a) editors and publishers in spec fiction, or b) the spec fiction readership.
ReplyDeleteYou'd think that genres so focused on exploring imagination and Otherness would have a little more diversity.
One other thing to remember is that the conference was probably mostly white because it was in Utah. That doesn't change everything, of course.
Carl, I was at the same panel and had the exact same thought. Also, I could swear that one of the panelists said that she was an editor for a small publisher that focused on diversity in publishing. (I took that to mean the characters, not necessarily only the authors)
DeleteJayrod, I didn't have the chance to meet you at LTUE, but I share your enthusiasm for what was shared there. This was my first time, but hopefully it won't be my last. +1 new follower here. :)
@Carl: Wow, that is one of the saddest things I think I've heard. To think that an editor would be so narrow-minded to restrict a character choice based on sales. It shows us that there is an audience of people out there who don't have role models in fiction because the industry has chosen to ignore them.
DeleteOh you are totally right about the conference being mostly white being because it was in Utah. But I live in Ogden and I see blacks, asians, and hispanics on a regular basis here. To think that none of them have dreams of writing makes me sad.
@Kevin: The editor you are thinking of is Stacy Whitman. She recently helped publish a book called Tankborn, by Karen Sandler. It looks like a fantastic read. I would actually look to publish with them one day, but they are focused MG/YA readers. I'm writing specifically for an adult audience.
Thanks for the follow! Every one helps man! Send people this way with suggestions and requests for the blog. :D
This is a great topic, thanks for starting this conversation. And thanks for the book recommendation. I haven't heard of it before, and it looks really good. I think part of bringing more diversity into Scifi and fantasy is showing publishers that these books will sell.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't know what it is like to feel like "a speck of pepper in a sea of cream," I do know what is like to be the only girl in a group of men. And while I realize that these two experiences are in no way interchangable, I do think that they share some core truths that I can imagine how that might feel for you. I think there are universal human experiences that we all share, and part of the importance in telling culturally diverse stories is showing that we are all more similar than we are different.
But as a white writer (mosty fantasy), I do worry about authenticity and cultural appropriation, but I don't plan on letting that hold me back from creating diversity in my fictional worlds.
Anyway, great post. I look forward to reading more.
While parts of my experience are beyond you, where we share the same experience is that we both feel like we have been isolated and alone when surrounded by people. And that emotional experience is one that I hope to carry to my readers through the use of diversity.
DeleteHopefully the conversations that I start here will be a help to creating the authenticity and cultural appropriation you are seeking in your writing. Thanks for commenting!
The great thing about blogging is that it is your blog. Write about whatever comes to your heart. Don't even think about what people respond to, I am always surprised when people respond strongly to certian posts. Go with your gut, and soon you will find that the people who think like you will stick with you. Great post!
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I noticed the trend in what I was already doing and decided to focus it to give myself a brand. This blog like any is really telling about who I am, and is based on what I really want to talk about: Diversity. And cause I don't like having a one sided conversation I am hoping for as many comments and suggestions as I can get. Thanks for your support, Jen.
DeleteJayrod, it was great meeting you at LTUE. Those who say "black women on the cover don't sell" should check out TANKBORN. It's doing pretty darn well.
ReplyDeleteBut your points are well taken. We're so ingrained with that attitude that diversity on a book cover or as main characters don't sell that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy. If we don't risk and put those people of color on the covers, there will never be books out there for readers to choose to buy.
Thanks for being a friendly face at my first LTUE. And I still love that hat.
Karen, I haven't had a chance to pick up Tankborn yet. But I'll tell you what. I believe in what you are doing and I'll promote it on my blog next month. Hopefully it will get you a few more folks interested.
DeleteI'm invested in using the change in the publishing industry to make certain that we get more diversity and multicultural characters, places, and religions. And I think now is the time to prove to them that we do have an audience for this. If we prove there is an audience, then they can't tell us "it won't sell."
Thanks for the compliments on the hat. ;D I'm hoping to have hat pictures posted on the blog soon.
This is a great treatment of why diversity can be sparse in SF & F. I think that one probably leads to the other; since there is little diversity in SF & F, it has little attraction to audiences that aren't white. Then, since there is such an un-diverse readership, the people writing those genres tend to fall into the same groups. I think that one way that it could start to change is for white (or any other majority) authors to try writing from a different perspective, or to try and make main characters that come from different cultures and really feel like that culture. I have to respect Orson Scott Card's Ender books, because many of them have more diverse characters, some of them viewpoint characters. He portrays Middle-eastern characters in a light other than "the terrorists", and it makes it so reading his books has a little bit of a cultural element to it too. If more majority authors tried to do that, I expect we'd see a shift to more diversified SF & F.
ReplyDeleteChase, that's actually one of the reasons that I'm working on this blog. I have read fantasy since I've been a child and I know a lot of other folks of various background who read fantasy too, but because they don't have a voice as far as publishing is concerned. One of the reason I am writing my blog and starting out with such a strong agenda wanting comments and followers alike is because we as readers need to start speaking up and telling our authors that we want to see more diversity in their fiction and that it is okay for them to share more. You are right, if the majority of writers did make this shift it would help to change the market, but the readers are the ones who have to say that they want the market to change. Otherwise it will always remain as it has in the past. Whitewashed.
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