The Artist Unleashed
  • Blog
  • Write For Us
  • Contact
  • Advertising
  • Donate
Get our posts delivered directly to your inbox!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


Picture

About the Host

Jessica Bell is an award-winning author, writing and publishing coach, and graphic designer. In addition to having published a memoir, four novels, three poetry collections, and her bestselling Writing in a Nutshell series, she has been featured in a variety of publications and ABC Radio National shows such as Writer's Digest, Publisher's Weekly, Mamam!a, Life Matters, and Poetica.
 
She is also the Publisher of Vine Leaves Press, CEO of Independent Publishing Assistance, a voice-over actor, and the coordinator of the Writing Day Workshops.
 
In October 2016, she became the new lead singer of the well-known dream-pop group, Keep Shelly In Athens, and records and performs as a solo artist under the name BRUNO.


Tweets by @MsBessieBell

Picture
This website is a Vine Leaves Press project.

Is Transcending Cultural Differences the Only Way to go Mainstream? by Laxmi Hariharan

3/9/2015

Comments

 
The Artist Unleashed Logo
A few months ago I read An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir. Not only was it well written but what struck home was that here was a woman of South Asian origin (like me) writing a YA fantasy without specifically referring to any Asian/ ethnic heritage or set in any specific culture or country. Only her name, which feels Asian, is a giveaway. And that she uses the concept of ‘Izzat’ an Urdu word which denotes ‘honour’, and something more than that. (For those in the know you would like think about how in most Bollywood movies a woman who has been raped is set to have lost her ‘izzat’. But Sabaa uses it cleverly in the context of her story. The book did well, good buzz with the bloggers and the publisher has commissioned a sequel. 

It made me wonder if this was not the way to go. To rise above any ethnicity, or culture and set my next story in a space which could be anywhere, but not specifically rooted in a known culture Indian, Asian or otherwise. In a way I had hoped to do that with my last series set in Bombay.

Bombay to me is a concept. Traffic ridden, dusty, sweltering, pounded by the monsoon rains. For me it’s dystopia today. It fascinates me. This effect of what happens when you pack in nineteen million people into the main metropolitan area of this city. That’s about 300,000 people per square kilometre, no kidding. Well it does something to daily living dynamics. Specifically then, which part of Bombay you grow up in (the better of South Bombay, or in one of the middle class far-flung suburbs where daily commuting times are in excess of two hours a day) changes the kind of coming-of-age years you have. Do you spend most of it in transit, packed into trains and buses? Or do you amble to college and back. Know what I mean?

So for me Bombay is the best dystopian setting I could imagine for my young hero. 

So, when I took it out to readers and reviewers, I found I was promptly labelled as writing multicultural fiction. Because, I had set my story in a city that is still seen as exotic by most of the western world. And yet, if I had stripped the word Bombay out of the novel and replaced it with ‘Lowlands’ or ‘Seven Islands’ or ‘Heat-trapped-marshes’ or ‘Marshlands’ or just called it ‘City Z’ would I have perhaps moved beyond the ‘multicultural’ label, to being in the YA genre?

Perhaps.

In Moira Young’s Dustlands series, the characters speak in a specific style.  In my book the teens speak a mix of American slang mixed with British words, and use expressions specific to the city. If I had not called it Bombay, would it have been easier for readers to simply accept their style of speaking as a fait accompli. And not necessarily found the need to classify it as American, Indian or British?

Over and over, I am told I don’t write in the classical, Indian literary style. No, I don’t because I am writing a YA action thriller. And my young hero swears. And she is a young girl, who wears jeans, sneakers and cuts herself too, due to her traumatised childhood. And that comes as a shock for those going in expecting what? Arranged marriages? Poetic descriptions of jars of spices? Saffron and sandalwood?  I am not sure.  

Perhaps if I had simply not called this city Bombay nor given my characters Indian names… well then could I have risen beyond cultural stereotypes, and seen as being mainstream? And here it is, wait for it -- if I had changed my name to a very run of the mill Jane Smith, would I have then moved beyond expectations of the kind of prose I am supposed to write?

These are just my thoughts. After the fact.

Either way, it feels where I am headed is towards my next series being not identifiable with any culture or country. And my characters will perhaps be of indeterminate skin tone and background. At least, none easily identifiable with a specific earthly existing race or religion or language. I think. If it prevents my writing being pigeon holed and helps build a bridge with my readers then why not?

But, you know ultimately what will still tie all my books together?

Me. 

And the fact that my characters, by being just who they are, will continue to shatter stereotypes. 

And that coming-of-age will always be a traumatic phase, no matter which culture or country or non-human species you belong to. Certain themes and values just transcend all differences and that is what I want to tap into.

As for changing my name?  No I think not.

And you?  I’d love to hear about your experiences and if you think rising above cultural differences is the only way to go mainstream. 


Picture
A near life experience told Laxmi Hariharan to write. She never stopped. Laxmi is the creator of The Ruby Iyer Series (The Many Lives of Ruby Iyer - FINALIST Indie Excellence Awards, #1 Hot New Release Amazon Asian Lit & The Ruby Iyer Diaries.) Laxmi writes while listening to electronica and downing innumerable cups of extra sweet ginger-chai. London is where she creates. Bombay is what fires her imagination.

Receive a free copy of THE RUBY IYER DIARIES when you sign up to her newsletter HERE. 

Connect with Laxmi:
Instagram | FB |  Blog | Twitter 


Sign up to Jessica Bell's newsletter and receive Book #1 of the Writing in a Nutshell Series, Show & Tell in a Nutshell, or Muted: A Short Story in Verse, for FREE.

Comments
    THIS BLOG IS CURRENTLY ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

    Subscribe in a reader

    Vine Leaves Press Advert
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Acting Vs. Writing
    Advertising
    Apps For Writers
    Art
    Author Collectives
    Banning Books
    Blogging
    Blog Tours
    Book Cover Design
    Book Marketing
    Booksellers
    Branding
    Character Development
    Character-Driven Fiction
    Christian Erotica
    Clichés In Writing
    Co-Authoring
    Construction
    Coping With Anxiety
    Coping With Rejection Letters
    Copyright
    Copyright Infringement
    Copywriting
    Creating A Business Plan
    Dealing With Fear
    Defining Success
    Depression
    Developing Setting
    Drug &/or Alcohol Abuse
    Editing Vs. Writing
    Editors
    Education
    Entrepreneurial Skills
    Ethical Issues In Fiction
    Evoking Emotion
    Expat Writers
    Fame
    Fantasy
    Finding Inspiration
    Finding Your Voice
    Follow Your Dreams
    For Aspiring Writers
    For Indie Authors
    Gender Issues
    Genre
    Getting Published
    Ghostwriting
    Grief
    Handling Critique
    Historical Fiction
    Horror Stories In Publishing
    Interdisciplinary Art
    Karma Lit
    Killing Off Characters
    Learning From Mistakes
    LGBT
    LGBT Literature
    Literary Adaptations
    Literary Journals
    Lyrics
    Mailing Lists
    Marketing
    Memoir
    Metaphysical Lit
    Multicultural Fiction
    Music
    Music Vs. Writing
    Nonfiction
    Nonfiction To Fiction
    Nurturing Creativity
    Packaging Advice
    Perfectionism
    Photography
    Playwriting
    Plotting
    Poetry
    Political Art
    Pornography
    Protagonist Development
    Public Speaking
    Publishing
    Religion
    Research
    Romance Novels
    Self-doubt
    Selfpublishing
    Setting Goals
    Social Effects Of Fiction
    Social Media
    Social Networking
    Spiritual Lit
    Staying Motivated
    Stereotypes
    Success
    Taking Care Of Yourself
    Taking Risks
    Target Audience
    Thrillers
    Time Management
    Time Travel
    Traditional Publishing
    Trilogy
    Trust Your Instincts
    Truth In Fiction
    Twitter For Writers
    Typesetting
    Websites
    Work/Life Balance
    Writer Quirks
    Writer's Block
    Writers' Conference
    Writer's Life
    Writing Advice
    Writing A Series
    Writing As Therapy
    Writing Book Reviews
    Writing Craft
    Writing Dialects
    Writing Erotica
    Writing For A Living
    Writing For Children
    Writing (General)
    Writing Groups
    Writing In A Foreign Language
    Writing Playlists
    Writing Sequels
    Writing Vs. Medicine
    Writing Workshops
    Writing Yourself Into Your Characters
    Youth Arts
    Youth Education

Drag & drop footer content here
The Artist Unleashed is a project of Vine Leaves Press & hosted by Jessica Bell.
All rights reserved 
© 2012 - 2017.
The Artist Unleashed © 2012 ˗ 2015 | Contact

✕