On the Asian Monolith

If I have to choose between listening and talking, I often choose to listen because I realize that I still have a lot to learn and there are many in the community who are older, wiser, and more articulate than I.

But on this topic, I do have thoughts that I wish to share. I realize that sometimes the dialogue gets heated. People get hurt on both sides, for whatever the issue. And in the heat of it, it's sometimes hard to understand what each person is trying to say. Here, I wish to use my voice primarily to share what I know, in hopes that if you are reading this as a Non-Asian who wishes to learn, you'll be able to get a very broad sense of why Asians reject the idea of the Asian Monolith and why the mere rejection of such can cause tensions between Asian storytellers.

Things to consider:

1. "Asian" is a silencing term.

I don't know about other Asians, but I don't go around introducing myself as "Asian-American," because honestly, that term is so broad that it's the equivalent of going around and introducing myself as "European-American."

For the purposes of this post, I'm going reference the East Asian countries of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and some of the South Asian countries such as Vietnam and Singapore. This is not all of Asia. Asia is much bigger than this, to the point that I can't speak on everyone because I simply am not educated enough. 

2. Historically, we have been divided at times.

If I said that all Europeans can tell all narratives that occurred in European history, would everyone approve of that?

If a person of German descent decided to write a fictional novel set during the WWII from the point of view a Holocaust victim, this author would likely come under heavy scrutiny. In fact, many would argue that such a story should always be written by an #ownvoices author.

"Asians" are not some special exception. We haven't always be united in every point in history--which ethnicity has? We too have narratives that are still fraught with tensions and sensitivities, even in the post-memories of later generations. The difference is that many of our narratives are glossed over in history classes. There are points in "Asian" history that to this day remain very contested. To just list a few: China and Japan (e.g. Nanjing Massacre/Incident--however it is thought of); Japan and Korea (e.g comfort women); China and Taiwan (military threats and sovereignty); China and North Korea and South Korea (I can't even speak on this).

So let's ask the question again, the same one that we did before, but now "Asian-fied": If you were a person of Japanese descent writing from the point of view of a Chinese character during the Manchurian occupation of WWII, or some equivalent event in a made up world with cultural appropriation, is that okay?

Can you write it? Of course. You can write whatever you want. But should you? That is something to ask yourself as a writer, and to be aware of as a reader.

This is not to say that we are always divided. Rather, it is to say that there are specific narratives in specific points of time that should remain told by a particular group of "Asians."

This once again shows the damaging limitations of the term "Asian" when that's the only way you can think of the various countries. It bears repeating that we are all very different. We have different languages. We have different customs. Even for the societies that ostensibly seem to condone the fundamental Confucian values of the patriarchy, filial piety, the importance of roles, etc. no two are exactly the same. 

3. Immigration among Asian countries makes for distinctions within distinctions.

As a Chinese-American, do I feel comfortable writing a Singaporean or Vietnamese narrative? No, I do not. But what about the other way around? In many countries such as Vietnam and Taiwan, there are significant populations that are considered "native" and significant populations that are considered "Chinese immigrants." The latter term is quite elusive, as it doesn't specify when the immigration occurred (sometimes it was during the Qing dynasty. Sometimes it was during the wars, or the rise of the Communist Party). After many generations, it is sometimes up to the family to decide how they wish to identify. Between the natives and non-natives, there are sometimes tensions, especially when a contested issue (such as the China and Taiwan sovereignty debate) flares up, bringing issues of heritage back into the gray. Meanwhile, I know people who are Vietnamese-American who are just as "Chinese" as my parents, and others who are not. To sum, there are large populations of Chinese in many "Asian" countries, but less so the other way around. In whom the storytelling authority resides is consequently blurred. 

4. Multiple those distinctions within distinctions with immigration to the US.

To complicate things further, many Asians you encounter are probably Asian American. Within Asian Americans, there are distinctions of first, second, third etc. generations. Do I, as a second generation Asian American, have the authority to tell the narratives of my first generation parents? This will vary on a case by case, family by family basis. Are my parents more "Asian" than I am? Yes, probably. But what does that mean?

So far, I've mostly aimed to provoke you into thinking and considering questions that many Asians battle with all the time.

So you've shown me is that there are differences upon differences upon differences in a group that many people think of as a monolith, you might say. But do you have a final point?

If there must be a point, then let it be this: distinctions are so fine and so complex that at the end of the day, it's up to  the marginalized Asian writers to decide the stories they want to tell. The biggest issue right now is that this complexity is currently lost on much of the western world because we are missing stories. I'm not just talking about historical fiction here. I'm talking about ways of thinking, of seeing the world. There is no single brand of "Asian", but the lack of voices overall seems to perpetuate that misconception.

I may be only speak for myself, but I will say this: as a second generation Chinese American, I did feel marginalized. Maybe not so much as a first-generation, immigrant Chinese, as I didn't experience a language barrier, but I felt it all the same. This marginalization compounded with the constant tussle between preserving my Chinese values and assimilating Western ones has led me to consider my identity quite thoroughly. If I were to put an #ownvoices label on something, I have given it quite a bit of thought. If I decide not to put an #ownvoices label on something, I have also given it a lot of thought. And others likely have too.

Because here's the paradox: Asians are not a monolith, but Asian Americans have all experienced marginalization. We all have wondered just what it means to be us in a world that seems determined to slap one label onto all our different voices.

So please, be kind. Be respectful. And above all, listen with an open heart and an open mind. Because am I "Asian" enough? Yes, some would say. Heck no, my relatives would say (I'm at a middle school literacy rate). Even the issue of whether mainland Chinese "Asian" enough is now debated. Honestly, no one is ever XXX enough when it comes to something as rich and enduring as heritage. The learning never stops, but the learning can never begin if we silence one another.

Diversity in YA: Culture is More Than Character

This has been a post I've been wanting to write for a while now but have refrained from doing so because I'm not always the best at articulating my thoughts, and I have a lot of thoughts on this.

But with #DVpit and the push for diverse voices in YA literature (and all kinds of literature, though I can only really speak for YA because that's what I write and read), I realized I should attempt this post.

So bear with me here. I'll try not to ramble.

Culture is more than character. By this I mean that in order to write a culture effectively, it's not only necessary to make sure you get the character right (character = looks, values, mannerisms, etc., basically anything embodied in the individual) but that you also consider the way you are telling the story.

Because culture manifests on a far bigger scale than the individual.

Each culture has its unique forms of story-telling. Look at all the various types of story-telling that exist in some of the East Asian countries alone. Light novels, anime, and manga make up huge sectors of the entertainment market in Japan. The popularity of Korean dramas crosses continental divides. Web-novels have become increasingly prominent in China--some, such as the acclaimed Lang Ya Bang, have been adapted into big-budget dramas (and viewership of this drama is equal to that of Game of Thrones.)

Here's the thing: I can't just pick up any YA novel, animate it/turn it into a graphic novel, and call it an anime/a manga. Simple elements that we often know to be universal to storytelling--inciting incident, turning-points, plot arcs--are not actually as universal as they seem. Yes, almost every story has these elements. But how they are handled and presented, how they are written, are often times dependent on culture. Smaller things such as tropes and cliches are not universal, either. What is cliche in one culture's story-telling medium is not necessarily cliche in another's. Tropes (and subversions of tropes) are tied to culture. You cannot separate the manner in which a story is presented from the culture.

I write this because when I write my culture, I don't stop at the character level. The way I plot and the way I construct elements of a culturally influenced story is, well, culturally influenced. And sometimes, this means that the resulting story breaks some conventions of the YA market. But I write this way because it's the only way I can convey my culture on all the levels it deserves.

I admire all different kinds of YA novels. But I also admire other kinds of story-telling. Now, maybe you believe that books should only be comped to books. But people in the book world and industry understand movie comps. (e.g. Six of Crows being comped to Ocean's Eleven). I really hope one day, as this world becomes more an more multicultural and accepting of all different kinds of voices, that people will also come to understand comps of different story-telling mediums and of different cultures.

And mostly, I hope that as the need for culturally diverse works spreads, I'll read not just about culturally influenced characters who live in the culture of YA storytelling, but culturally influenced characters who live in culturally influenced worlds and plots.

I'd love to hear from you guys. Let me know if you have any thoughts on this, or share your experience writing something culturally influenced!

Diversity in YA and my reservations

Can we just admire this artwork for a moment...check out the artist HERE.

By now, most writers and readers are aware of the #WeNeedDiverseBooks movement. Others have already tossed their two cents into the pot, so I though I'd add mine.

DISCLAIMER: In general, I love the idea of the movement. My parents are Chinese and I grew up in a Chinese household, and I resorted to Asian dramas for my dose of Asian characters and leads. As a kid, I never really gave the lack of Asian characters in MG/YA books much thought. But as an older writer and reader of the YA genre, I do notice it. With the pretty healthy state that the YA market is currently in, I agree that it is time to see if we can introduce some variation into the already great stuff that is out there.

But (and from the title of this post, you probably already guessed that there would be a "but") I also have some reservations over the WNDB movement.

What mainly got me thinking about my feelings regarding the movement is the current novel that I am querying: HESPERIA. It's set in a cross between Rome and China (because why not?), and when building the world, I drew upon a lot of my own cultural currency. Those random Asian dramas I watched? Inspiration. Food I ate everyday as a kid and thought it was the norm? Inspiration. The adages of the culture, the general teachings and values? Inspiration.

And it shows in HESPERIA. Readers have consistently praised the world-building. One of my very trusted readers went on to point out that since I do such a lovely job of introducing the Asian element to my world, why not apply the same to my characters?

To give you a sense of where this comment may have come from, I'll let you know that I don't describe what the characters look like all that much in HESPERIA. This was mainly due to theme purposes (HESPERIA was heavily inspired by TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, and so while in TKAM skin color is a pretty big defining characteristic, in HESPERIA seer and magicians vs normal humans is the big defining characteristic, and I didn't want to spend too much time describing differences in looks). It was also a result of personal style--in general I don't like describing the looks of my characters since I trust that the reader will conjure his or her own image regardless, although I can definitely see why a well-drawn out character can make that conjuring process easier.

Second, none of my character names are traditionally Asian. As in, if you took a glance at the name, you wouldn't immediately think this character is Asian. I pulled a lot of the names from my imagination. Since the setting is mainly China influenced, I used some Latin in the creation of my names and some Roman culture in creating the world's justice system.

Anyway, this astute reader of mine pointed out to me that fantasy set in other cultures is huge, and so having more Asian main characters would really help me out in the market.

So I considered amping up the Asian factor in the characters via names and appearances.

And in the end, while I could see the benefits, I decided not to.

Why? Because I realized that I hadn't just gravitated toward the names I picked because I'm inundated with white-washed media or couldn't think of anything good. The non-Asian names, rather, were a conscious choice. While my characters might "fit the bill" (I really dislike how that sounds) as coming from a diverse setting and culture, I don't want to feel pressure to squeeze them into the names they should have to be considered diverse, or the skin colors/eye colors/hair colors that they should have to be considered diverse.

For example, many of the Asians I know don't have Asian names, and many decide not to conform to certain Asian cultural constructs, but they are no less Asian than any other Asians.

My Asian characters can have blonde hair and red eyes for all I care.

And as for all the other Asian elements that I included in the novel? They were also conscious choices. My characters are Asian influenced because they struggle a lot with the whole independence vs conform to society thing (which is actually a direct throwback to Confucianism). They will always think of the ripple effects their own decisions can have on the people around. They eat lychees and water-chestnuts and congee sprinkled with scallions. White is the color for funerals. Silk is the #1 preferred fabric for anyone with some money. But as an Asian myself, I realize that even by typing this out I risk drawing lines around what constitutes as Asian and what doesn't. I risk slapping a specific label onto what is means to be diverse.

Reading offers you the chance to live a life that you might never live in the real world. It allows you to see through the other's eyes and walk in his or her shoes (cliche as it sounds, that's the ultimate goal of a realistic character). Which is why, mostly speaking, I'm so excited that the industry is recognizing the need for expanding the possible horizons readers can explore. I am excited about the diversity movement--I dare not call it a trend because that implies it will eventually die out. Something as important as this should never die out.

But honestly, I'm also very scared. Because it's so incredibly easy to try to fit diversity into a box, to slap a bunch of labels as to what exactly constitutes as diversity. This contradicts entirely what the whole diversity movement is about. But it will happen--and it has. Because while we're lauding the books that explore subjects such as sexuality and race (which we should do and continue to do), it's harder to recognize all the definitions of diversity.

We continue to marginalize the heroine who is too "passive" or too "selfish" or too, dare I say, "unlikeable".  I've read so many reviews where the majority of the review criticizes the character. But...isn't diversity also diversity in character?

For example, very few reviews would say: "I hated him because he was too disabled!"

But so many reviews say: "I hated X character because of Y personality quality she had."

But I would argue that personality is diversity. The specific decisions you gravitate towards, the way you present yourself, the things you like and dislike, are all influenced by your socio-economic background, your physical (dis)abilities, your sexual orientation, your race, your culture, your environment.

The latter list we praise as diversity. We praise it so much that they become the keystones of the diversity movement. But when we reduce diversity down to any "essential element", we risk distorting the real purpose of the mission.

*In case you were wondering, I LOVE the reader I mentioned in this post--she is so very well-read in the YA genre and awesome at giving me crit that actually makes me excited about revision :D Her comment just indirectly prompted my thinking, which resulted in this word spew (as if any of my posts weren't word spews).

What are YOUR thoughts about diversity in YA and the recent movement? I'd love to hear your thoughts--both assenting and differing opinions :)