Wed, 10th Mar 2010
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And we come to day 3 of JJ-Blogs-About-Race-And-Then-Ducks-The-Rotten-Tomatoes! To recap:
Race in Fiction Week
Before we continue, I would just like to say that I don’t want to come across as though I am against explorations of racial tension in fiction. I’m not, especially with regards to historical and even some fantasy and science fiction. In fact, my preferred mode of seeing these issues discussed is through the medium of more figurative genres. To bring up HARRY POTTER again, the pureblood vs. Muggleborn prejudice that runs through the series is a wonderful metaphor for racism and class conflict.
I will explain why: because racism, prejudice, and classist issues still exist in today’s society and most likely always will. If it’s not race, then it’s money, or it’s ability, or it’s where your native planet is located, or it’s so on and so forth. I think it’s in human nature to be drawn to those “like you” and mistrust those who are “different”. The feelings are consistent, even if the values in the equation change over time.
As I said, if we lived in a perfect utopian society where everyone was equal and the same, we’d probably have no more stories left to tell.
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Tue, 9th Mar 2010
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Welcome to day 2 of JJ Will Probably Alienate A Lot of People By Blogging About Race! In case you missed the previous posts:
Race in Fiction Week
Today I want to tackle how to describe race in fiction. There are many schools of thought about this and I don’t think my opinion is the only “right” way to go about it. But my thoughts come a personal place: as someone of a “minority” race in the US who reads a lot of books.
There are (more or less) two schools of thought with regards to describing characters of a different race. The first is DO EVERYTHING BUT MENTION THEIR RACE DIRECTLY. The second is a much more forthright approach.
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Mon, 8th Mar 2010
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Last week I swore that this week I would blog about race in fiction. I absolutely intend to adhere to my resolutions, but I will need help in the coming days. Today I am going to blog about representing race in fiction, what I’d like to see, what I think (and hope) works, etc. However, after that, I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to blog about. So please, suggest things to me! Ask questions!
Anyway, before I get into the “heavy” stuff, two things of note! The first is Psychic Roommate and I completed our first 5K race this past Sunday! She ran hers in 30 minutes flat, I clocked in at 31:05. Needless to say, we’re quite proud of ourselves.
The second is I saw Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland dressed like this:
Yes, I'm dressed as Alice. And I'm seriously considering going platinum blonde. Yes? No? Bad idea?
Of the movie? Eh. But I’ve always been a huge Alice fan and to date I’ve never come across an adaptation I’ve liked. (Excepting the Disney version, which I apparently watched so often it destroyed the VHS tape. YES, VHS. I’M THAT OLD, OH MY GOD.) As per usual with Tim Burton films, I enjoyed the visuals, Johnny Depp, and Helena Bonham Carter. As per usual (of his recent films), I wasn’t impressed with the rest. It hurts to be a fangirl, sometimes.
Anyway, back to the point: representing race in fiction. I will be upfront in saying that a lot of my impressions come from a YA-bias as that’s mostly what I read outside work, and I was in the age group to grow up with the genre.
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Thu, 4th Mar 2010
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Pretending to be Edie Sedgwick.
So I have a confession to make.
For most of my life, I refused to identify myself as Asian-American.
I know, right? In hindsight it seems silly, because, well, look at me. Or rather, look at who I wished I looked like. I’ve always wanted to be a gamine pixie sprite, with big eyes and short hair. Essentially, I wanted to be Edie Sedgwick. Or Audrey Hepburn. Or Natalie Portman. (I also wanted to be green-eyed and blonde, but that’s another story.)
I was never one to deny my ethnicity–in fact, I’m quite proud of it–but for a very long time, I struggled with how to describe myself. Because the word “Asian” comes with a lot of baggage and the term “Asian-American” even more so.
Why? Oh so many reasons. I’ve written before on the need for a cultural conscious shift because the way “people like me” (a loaded phrase in itself) are represented in fiction and media contributed a lot to my existential angst.
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Wed, 3rd Mar 2010
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Ich lerne Deustch jetzt. Warum? Because I’m a geek, that why. And if you think this is at all related to Der Glöckner von Notre Dame, then you would be absolutely correct. Also, because I want to be able to end conversations with tchüß! and auf wiedersehn! without sounding pretentious or like I’m putting on airs.
Just do it.
But my desire for polyglotism aside, an interesting topic came up in today’s editorial meeting that sort of sparked a blog post. And, knowing me, it will run on for 1000 words or more, but I think it’s pretty important: branding.
In publishing, the craft and artistry of a “novel” as a concept often overshadows the notion of a “book” as a product. We are in the business of selling books, which includes specific “brands”, i.e. the author. In particular, we were discussing a really talented author who had some decent sales but was hard to “pin down”, so to speak.
Said author wrote a few novels in one genre, then another, was published in trade paperback original, then single title hardcover, etc. Author’s previous publishing house didn’t effectively “brand” the writer and our challenge (should we take this person on) was to figure out a way to, well, “sell the brand”.
There are lot of interesting psychological studies on “branding”, but I want to discuss this tricky idea of an author brand.
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