The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf |
| Posted: 13 Nov 2011 12:06 AM PST YOU guys know about vampires? You know, vampires have no reflections in a mirror? There's this idea that monsters don't have reflections in a mirror. And what I've always thought isn't that monsters don't have reflections in a mirror; it's that if you want to make a human being into a monster, deny them, at the cultural level, any reflection of themselves. "And growing up, I felt like a monster in some ways. I didn't see myself reflected at all. I was like, 'Yo, is something wrong with me? That the whole society seems to think that people like me don't exist?' And part of what inspired me, was this deep desire that before I died, I would make a couple of mirrors. That I would make some mirrors so that kids like me might see themselves reflected back and might not feel so monstrous for it." These words were spoken by award-winning author Junot Diaz at the Bergen Community College in New Jersey, America. Diaz moved to the United States from the Dominican Republic when he was a child and, on this day, his audience at the college included kids whose parents were immigrants, too. Despite efforts to promote (the writing and reading of) literature that features Americans of colour, including literary awards specifically for black and Hispanic literature, American literature is still a largely white affair. In Malaysia, because the books we read are usually American or British, we, too, are denied reflections of ourselves in literature. We take what we can get, and the Asian literature that makes its way to Malaysia via the international market tends to be of a certain type. Americans and Europeans seem to prefer their (literary) Asians oppressed or struggling. The oppression and struggle could be socio-political or personal, or, better still, both. Any mention of infanticide, arranged marriages and foot binding would be a big plus. Asian characters and settings must be milked for cultural colour. If the settings are contemporary and you can't rely on trishaws or samurais for exotic detail, your characters should at least be carrying a whole lot of Asian baggage and be prevailed upon to visit the odd (pardon the pun) temple and/or slurp a few bowls of herbal soup. It seems that if you're Asian, the sort of mirrors you tend to be shown are those that reflect a "you" that doesn't really exist any more, or at best, reflect a "you" that the gatekeepers (literary agents and publishers) like to think exists. If you're Asian, your story must be issue-laden, culturally-weighty. It's just not possible that you might have non-race problems – death, divorce and taxes? Boys, acne and PE? I know the way a character deals with life is often informed by their race and culture, but there are other influences to consider as well. And sometimes, especially with young readers, just being able to see a superficial reflection of oneself is enough. Sometimes, just a description, an illustration or a picture is all that you need to make the connection. Unfortunately, even getting an image across isn't easy. It's believed that a book featuring non-Caucasians on the cover is bad for business and a few American publishers have been criticised for "white-washing" the covers of books (using white models even though the characters are persons of colour). Last week, I came across a book (Possess by Gretchen McNeil) that sidesteps this problem quite neatly, quite (I feel) deviously. The lead character, called Bridget Liu, is half-Chinese, but favours her Irish mother: She has freckles, brown hair, and blue eyes – how convenient! I've not read the book, but one online review says Bridget's ethnicity has nothing to do with the plot. Well, while I'm all for characters just happening to be Asian, black, Hispanic, etc, the Irish colouring seems to me like a cop-out. On the Diversity in Young Adult Fiction blog (tinyurl.com/3gjsnu8), McNeil says she wanted to reflect a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic community (the book is set in San Francisco). At the same time, she didn't want to address culture and ethnicity – she gives a few reasons, all of them, in my opinion, rather lame. McNeil didn't want Bridget's race to be an issue and she felt that by ignoring this aspect of her (and giving Bridget blue eyes?) she was being truly colour blind. While I agree that there's no need to do a song and dance about Bridget's ethnicity, I find it odd that an author would choose to portray a multicultural society by creating a character whose surname is the only thing that indicates that she's not white. But back to Diaz's speech about being invisible. Yes, Malaysian kids are most certainly denied reflections of themselves. Do they feel like monsters? I don't think they do. I believe most Malaysian kids don't notice let alone care that there is no fiction in which they appear. I believe most Malaysian kids (the urban, middle-class ones who read Harry Potter and Twilight, anyway) don't identify as Malaysian. They think of themselves as American. They want to be Justin Bieber and Miranda Cosgrove. My six-year-old daughter told me today that she wants to go to an American school because "they have lockers". Bizarre but true. What's the alternative? Sadly, I think it's Upin & Ipin. The animated telly series is probably the most popular local children's programme ever and there is a monthly magazine containing Upin & Ipin stories in comic-strip form. The series and the comics feature a range of characters that reflect Malaysia's multi-ethnic population – but are absolutely chock-full of cringe-making racial stereotypes. Why are we okay with the series creators' bigoted depictions of race? Is it because it mirrors the way we really view one another? No reflection may makes us feel like monsters, but such biased portrayals only serve to make beasts of the people around us. I hope I'm not the only one who prefers empty mirrors to those that reflect a distorted view of reality. > Daphne Lee reads to wonder and wander, be amazed and amused, horrified and heartened and inspired and comforted. She wishes more people will try it, too. Send e-mails to the above address and check out her blog at daphne.blogs.com/books. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 13 Nov 2011 12:06 AM PST A teen with a super sniffing ability — would that be useful against zombies? You'd be surprised. Ashes ALEX Adair is 17, and dying from brain cancer. Tired of experimental treatments that aren't working, she decides to go hiking in one of Michigan's wilderness areas. A few days into the hike, she runs into an old man and his eight-year-old granddaughter, Ellie. And soon after, something monumentally weird and world-changing happens: what seems to be a very large electromagnetic pulse strikes, killing the old man and, for a brief moment, driving all the birds and animals crazy. But that is just the beginning. Alex, who had lost her sense of smell due to the tumour, not only miraculously regains it, but also somehow seems to have developed a whole new supersense with it. She can now "smell" the emotions of other people thanks to The Zap, as she calls the pulse. Other people, though, are affected in bad ways, like turning into cannibals, for instance, as Alex and the little girl discover when they come across a campsite at which two teens are chomping down on a dead woman. Managing to escape the cannibals, Alex and Ellie meet up with a young soldier, Tom Eden, who happened to be home on leave and camping in the area when The Zap happened. The three of them team up and try to survive in the newly changed world. Author Ilsa J. Bick plays on the currently very popular post-apocalyptic cannibal zombie theme, with a side of mysterious cult-like community in the second half of the book. The story follows Alex as she learns to cope with her new situation and new relationships with the other characters, especially Ellie and Tom. A word of warning here, Ellie can be quite hard to swallow, especially in the beginning, as she acts super-bratty. It's hard to take even though she has reasons to act out that way. Overall, the writing is fast-paced, and quite absorbing. However, I did find Bick's attempts to end her mostly short chapters in cliffhangers quite irritating after a while. And to give fair warning to readers, the book itself ends in quite a surprising cliffhanger, with two sequels, Shadows and Monsters, already planned to come out next year and in 2013 respectively. The story's settings delineate the book quite clearly into two halves. The first half takes place mainly in the wilderness and focuses on Alex, Tom and Ellie, while the second half takes place in the town of Rule, with Alex as the main focus. Interwoven into the later part is also the question of safety versus doing what's right, which Alex struggles with. For those with weak stomachs and vivid imaginations, here's another warning: Bick's descriptions of cannibalism can be quite graphic. Not surprisingly, there's also a love triangle that Alex gets caught up in, which I found entirely too predictable and quite clichéd. As for The Zap itself, while there is much speculation about why and how it occurred and how its effects work, it all remains guesswork by the characters. Well, there are two more parts coming as I mentioned, so I do hope Bick will expand upon it later. All in all, a pretty good young adult post-apocalyptic book. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Posted: 13 Nov 2011 12:04 AM PST
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