Making the world small…
[In memory of Anthony Bourdain.]
Anthony Bourdain showed us the world of food. What’s more important, though, is that he showed us places and people there who ate that food. One can make the argument that anything we can do to help people learn that we’re all on spaceship Earth together, and, in spite of our differences, we’re all human beings with similar yet simple goals in life—a good job, good health, and a loving family—that’s a good thing. Bourdain could do that; so can authors when they write their stories.
In our stories, we can do what Bourdain did: visit other countries and their citizens, and portray the variety of our own country’s people and places. By learning about them, the world becomes smaller. We can do this with our research; we can do it through travel and observing what’s going on around us. There is one danger, though: we shouldn’t use stereotypes or write down our own prejudices. This is difficult to avoid in mysteries and thrillers. For example, a cartel leader can be bad because of the effect his upbringing or personal circumstances had on him, not because he’s Mexican.
This takes us into the controversial discussion about “cultural appropriation.” There are some people who say that an author can’t create a Latino character unless the author’s Latino. Worse, that the author can’t create a female character if he’s male (or vice versa, although the reverse isn’t criticized that much). There are many ways to refute this myopic stupidity, but here’s a new one: believing these claims doesn’t allow us to travel the world in our books. How can an author write a book set in country X without characters from country X in the book? Think about it: it’s absurd.
I hate to mention the word, but good books fight tribalism; they help us recognize that bigotry, hatred, and hostility toward others deny our common humanity. There is no genetic support for the concept of race. Supporting the strident calls against cultural appropriation does just the opposite; that supports tribalism.
On the other hand, can cultural differences be mentioned? Sure. We can even celebrate them, as Bourdain did. Although it sounds like a contradiction, by celebrating our small differences, we can see our common humanity clearer. Ignorance about others breeds intolerance.
Authors should accept the challenge of creating characters and putting themselves in their point-of-view. That makes our stories more interesting and universal and allows our readers to travel around the world and beyond. Indeed, sci-fi stories often contain ETs. Can I not write about ETs? My novella “Flight from Mother World,” found in Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape, contains NO humans. I must put myself into the POV of the characters nonetheless, and the main character is a female ET! In my new novel The Last Humans (scheduled to be published in 2019 by Black Opal Books), my main character is Penny Castro—she’s Hispanic and female, and I write in the first person! That’s not the first time I’ve done so. Mary Jo Melendez is Hispanic and female and speaks to readers in the first person (the third book in the “Mary Jo Melendez Mysteries,” Goin’ the Extra Mile, will soon be published). Don’t listen to the raucous noise against cultural appropriation.
Most authors don’t worry about any of this. They just tell their wonderful stories. I don’t think readers pay much attention to cultural appropriation either. Authors can take their readers on wonderful adventures abroad and into the far reaches of the galaxy and forget about this nonsense. Those who don’t like it shouldn’t be reading fiction…or watch those amazing Anthony Bourdain reruns!
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The Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection. This trilogy is my version of Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Unlike the inimitable Isaac’s, my universe is replete with ETs. Starting with dystopia on Earth and in our solar system, the reader heads off to the stars to encounter ET cultures and some strange collective intelligences. Humans have their problems, and not just with ETs. Dystopian, militaristic, and paranormal sci-fi awaits you. (The trilogy’s first book in its second edition is included here; it might remind you of where humanity might be heading right now, which is why it’s dystopian, of course.) This bundle is on sale now at Smashwords—you’ll pay only $2.99 versus the $5.99 retail price during the month of August—just use the coupon code on checkout. (Of course, even $5.99 isn’t a bad price for three full novels of sci-fi adventures.) Great for summer reading!
In libris libertas!
