Comments on: MIND MELD: How to Write Science Fiction on a Post-Colonial World?

By: Ruby

Ruby — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:32:11 +0000

“Westerners tend to treat Asian countries (be it adopted or host) as “exotic” or the “other” – the people living in these countries are also exoticized.”

Isn’t that a stereotype of a “Westerner”?

By: tam

tam — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 14:47:30 +0000

Woah, Hategirl is posting on Sfsignal.

By: Joyce Chng

Joyce Chng — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:07:37 +0000

The same goes for “exotic”. Stereotypes are offensive and should be stopped. Asian women are “exotic”. Asian countries are “exotic”. We are not a travelogue. Westerners tend to treat Asian countries (be it adopted or host) as “exotic” or the “other” – the people living in these countries are also exoticized.

By: Aliette de Bodard

Aliette de Bodard — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:30:45 +0000

It’s definitely a question of shared touchstones between the writer and their audience: I use “touchstone” in a sense of narrative conventions, stereotypes, and values.
That said–I don’t think having an explanation makes it excusable to commit raw Orientalism or any bad form of cultural depiction…

By: Paul (@princejvstin)

Paul (@princejvstin) — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 10:34:33 +0000

Thanks, Fabio.

I knew you could do a better job than me in curating and bringing forth this important topic.

By: X2Eliah

X2Eliah — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 08:07:48 +0000

The issue here might well be that the offensive books (allegedly – being from a western culture I’d rather not judge what’s offensive or not) are selling precisely because they pander to stereotypes that are too deep/basic to be instantly noticeable – after all, if the authors are of X culture and have Z stereotypes, and if the by far largest audience is also of X culture with mostly Z stereotypes, then surely that novel will fit them well and sell well enough – possibly better than something by non-X-er with notions actively opposing Z.

By: requireshate

requireshate — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 05:53:15 +0000

Jaymee Goh: Bad stories that rely on racist stereotypes to carry them through and insult the people of that culture, they, too can win awards! Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi, Night Shade Press, I’m still looking at you. Why would a Westerner, with so much historically-granted permission and leeway, ask such a question? Why does no one ask, what kind of obstacles do writers from postcolonial groups face?

Thank you, Jaymee. <3

Jeff VanderMeer: And, yes, from the viewpoint of a level playing field, do we need one more US writer writing about, say, Thailand? Probably not. (The glut of stereotypical and increasingly rote Thai murder mysteries by non-Thais is a good example.)

This is it, exactly. I’ve yet to see any of these books by non-Thai writers which are anything but offensive on every level imaginable, and yet they’re the ones with the commercial success–the ones that shape the view of what my country and culture are like. Despicable.