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Cultural appropriation / racism to use Chinatown

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JoshWGG View Drop Down
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    Posted: 31 Mar 2017 at 10:57pm
Cultural appropriation is a made up term. Especially this is true for America where we blend many cultures into our speech, music, art, food, and dress. Americans are of every culture and none so this term is quite meaningless, otherwise we might have a half Chinese half German bard being accused of it while just being themselves. Nobody owns the culture they inherited at birth. If anything, it owns them, and those of us who are awakened to this fact seek to enrich our lives with the best of every culture while disdaining the worst of even our own native cultures.

That said, research and communication with representatives of the culture in question will qualify you to write it.


Edited by JoshWGG - 31 Mar 2017 at 10:58pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fistofcurry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 5:33pm
In writing the character of a half-Chinese, half-Swedish person living in Chinatown in San Francisco, you should also consider how they see themselves and how their family feels.

When I went to India to meet my dad's family for the first time, I, along with my sister and my white fiancee, were treated as family right away. They never made me feel as if I was an outsider. Walking around and interacting with other Indians on the street, however, it was all too obvious that I was not fully Indian, and while I was never treated with prejudice it definitely changed how I interacted with people on the streets. For example, in the tourist shops near the Taj Mahal I was charged the 'American' price, not the 'Indian' price. People addressed me in English first, not Hindi. They did not serve me extremely spicy food.

On the other hand, I've heard of people with mixed white and Chinese or Japanese heritage who report that they are shunned by their family members in China or Japan for being mixed race.

There's also the question of to what degree they are steeped in Chinese culture. Does the character's Chinese parent speak Mandarin or Cantonese at home? Does their parent try hard to integrate into American culture, or do they try to preserve their Chinese culture? Does your character have mostly Chinese friends or American friends? Do they go to Mandarin or Cantonese school? Have they ever been to China?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lynne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 5:08pm
Forgot I had read this fantastic comedy this round, set in "Lung Town." I thought the language component was handled well because it turned a few stereotypes into a new form.

‘Oh, for f**k’s sake,’ Liu Hai Yan said (or, at least, the nearest Cantonese equivalent thereof). ‘Can we not do this today?’
~ from Forget It Liu, It’s Lung Town - by myth SS - first in their round - worth reading again.

I went to a family Choctaw event this weekend, and having a Swedish mother and as was pointed out to me - being married to an Anglo, made me an outsider. FistofCurry made an excellent point about ethnic identity. Who are we really and can we be fully realized without paying homage to where we come from?


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fistofcurry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 4:44pm
Originally posted by LaissezFaire LaissezFaire wrote:

Probably, one of the biggest faux pas I have seen is with writing broken English dialogue. A person can fall into the trap of making the non-English speaker sound stupid and/or uneducated.   Accents are beautiful and there are specific mistakes speakers of different languages make that can add flavor to dialogue. It can be acknowledged with a light hand and sensitivity to when it becomes a rude caricature.

Indeed. It's possible to do well, and it can be used to enhance the sense of 'otherness' your main character feels that can come from having foreign-born parents.

This too has some weird rules that will make the difference between informed portrayal and offensive caricature. My dad told me about working alongside a grad student from China who spoke decent English but could not distinguish between 'he' and 'she' when speaking English. Mandarin does not differentiate between the two, so it was confusing for this person to understand. 

Again, this is a thing that needs research.


Edited by fistofcurry - 28 Mar 2017 at 5:15pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote LaissezFaire Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 4:39pm
I agree with the above. I am an American of a mixed ethnic background - a cape verdean, but I did not grow up in that culture. I am American. For that reason, even though my characters are usually Americans of mixed race, I do not add specific cultural rituals unless I have researched and ideally asked a person in the know. If you are going deep, then talking to a person who knows is a must.

When I create a character name I search for a database for a country or cultural names with meanings described. I try to avoid equivalents of John Smith, but at the same time giving names that can be recognized without being insensitive due to stereotypes.   I often like to mash up names I heard growing up in my family and neighborhood. There are so many gorgeous names that you rarely see in stories...something as small as a good name paints a picture.

Probably, one of the biggest faux pas I have seen is with writing broken English dialogue. A person can fall into the trap of making the non-English speaker sound stupid and/or uneducated.   Accents are beautiful and there are specific mistakes speakers of different languages make that can add flavor to dialogue. It can be acknowledged with a light hand and sensitivity to when it becomes a rude caricature.

Edited by LaissezFaire - 28 Mar 2017 at 4:41pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lynne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 12:38pm
Wow - these boards are incredible. Thank you for chiming in. As I was doing in-depth research to fill out my story for the rewrite, I began to wonder but this helps a lot. Lynne
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote fistofcurry Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 12:21pm
Originally posted by slipowitz slipowitz wrote:

Also, be certain you're not using a mixed-race character as a copout so you don't have to worry about whether she's authentically Chinese or Swedish.


As someone who is half-Asian and was born and raised in America, I just want to point out that the perspective of a half Chinese, half Swedish child living in Chinatown is a perfectly valid one. The question of identity is one that frequently comes up for me, and it's one that will be vital to your character's life. I personally think of myself as American first, but most Americans see me as Indian, and most Indians see me as American. Your character probably will worry about whether he or she is authentically Chinese or Swedish or American, that's part of growing up mixed race.

As for how best to avoid cultural appropriation I say that just any subject matter is fair game for a writer, as long as it is given the appreciation and attention to detail it deserves. The best way to do that, apart from living the life of your character, is to do research. Talk to half-Chinese people. Visit Chinatown. Learn the perspective of the people you're writing about.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aerolissa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 12:07pm
Originally posted by Lynne Lynne wrote:

Wonderful. I can be reached at silent.waters1@gmail.com  @Lynnerice
I'm thinking once a week / ten days check in by email exchange of work with some sort of craft discussion component. Interested in hearing your ideas.

Yesss, yes, I love this idea! I'll be sending you an email shortly. I have a screenwriting competition over at Screencraft that I'm toying with entering, but the deadline is Friday, I'm only at 30 pages or so, and I could use as many people holding me to it as possible. @.@ This is why they call me Last Minute Lissa... or why I do. LOL


Edited by aerolissa - 28 Mar 2017 at 12:08pm
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lynne Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 12:03pm
Wonderful. I can be reached at silent.waters1@gmail.com  @Lynnerice
I'm thinking once a week / ten days check in by email exchange of work with some sort of craft discussion component. Interested in hearing your ideas.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote aerolissa Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Mar 2017 at 11:55am
Definitely a tricky subject! I think slipowitz has great advice. I am of the belief (but open to listening) that nothing should be completely off-limits in fiction because of the learning potential, opportunity for discussion, and opportunity to tell different kinds of stories/show different perspectives. However, there is definitely a fine line between representing a culture or community appropriately, and I think you're already taking a great first step by being self-aware about the fact that your writing could dance around that fine line if you're not careful.

What I really wanted to say (since I'm not very helpful/knowledgeable on the appropriation subject) is that I would be very open to joining a group that's all about what you mentioned, and/or I would be happy to help you edit your adaptation from a character or screenwriting mechanics perspective. I'm working on my second feature screenplay and would love someone to exchange feedback with! 


Edited by aerolissa - 28 Mar 2017 at 12:11pm
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