The book is about a mother and daughter who flee Acapulco in Mexico for the US to escape a drugs syndicate. Her journalist husband had been writing articles about the cartel and they took their revenge by murdering the rest of the family.
But the critics point out that she's not black, not Mexican, not a migrant, and not involved with the drug trade, so she shouldn't have written the book. She should have left it to those with direct experience of the subject matter.
What that implies though is that nobody should write about anything other than their personal experience, and anything merely imagined or fantasised is off-limits. This would obliterate whole swathes of fiction and leave us only with autobiography (even biography would be impossible, as it's not written by the person concerned).
Authors like Lionel Shriver, Zadie Smith, Kamila Shamsie and Aminatta Forna have rushed to Jeanine Cummins' defence, saying that the whole point of fiction is to imagine things you haven't personally experienced, especially things that nobody has even thought about before.
If the critics are so concerned about the authenticity of American Dirt, why don't they write their own novels on the same theme instead of trying to demolish hers?
Yes, it's obviously cultural appropriation if you're blatantly ripping off someone else's culture for your own personal gain. But if all you're doing is imagining other people's experiences, where's the harm? You may even be drawing attention to scandalous situations that need to be remedied.
The keyboard warriors should find some more deserving targets.
PS: A scheduled author tour has been cancelled due to serious concerns about the author's safety.
Pic: Jeanine Cummins
Having witnessed many such battles in India, I have come to the conclusion that such barbs are to get some cheap publicity. It inevitably boomerangs and the book sells more than it would have otherwise sold.
ReplyDeleteRamana: That's probably part of it. But also there are so many trolls out there who simply get a kick out of harassing people.
DeleteThe whole cultural appropriation phenomenon is beyond me. Should preschool teachers no longer have their classes make maracas and sing a Cinco de Mayo song? Where does it end?
ReplyDeleteBijoux: Exactly. This could be taken to ridiculous extremes. Nobody should play the piano except Italians, as the piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700.
DeleteOn reading your post, and before I will reflect on it further, "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and its author Harriet Beecher-Stowe immediately sprang to mind. She relates a powerful tale. Not that she walked in Uncle Tom's shoes.
ReplyDeleteIt's a truly interesting subject you raise here, Nick. Whether you look at the medium of book over the centuries, film over not such a long time ago, and it has been queried, to my hollow laugh, how men can "write" women. Indeed, one may argue, vice versa. Ahhh, the mystery of imagination, transcending one's self, instinct and the gift of being able to observe - the tools of the writer.
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Ursula: Indeed. What am I entitled to write about, I wonder? An elderly white man with raised blood pressure and short sight? Too bad if I wanted to write about a middle-aged man with normal blood pressure and perfect eyesight.
DeleteHave you read it Nick? What did you think of it?
ReplyDeleteXO
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www: I haven't read it, and don't intend to as apparently it's very badly written. Certainly I would prefer to read novels by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie or Valeria Luiselli (assuming they're more "authentic")
DeleteImagine how poor the art world would be if Picasso had not been inspired by other cultures?
ReplyDeleteColette: Absolutely. Artists borrow from each other all the time, and the world would be a much poorer place if they didn't.
DeleteHow ridiculous!
ReplyDeleteLiz: My thoughts exactly. What's the alternative to "cultural appropriation"? Acting as if no other cultures exist except our own?
DeleteI've also heard the argument that people shouldn't open Mexican restaurants if they're not Latinos. Ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Austin Kleon, Steal Like an Artist.
Jean: There are lots of Italian restaurants run by non-Italians. Should we close them all down?
DeleteSome people have so little to do they make trouble where none existed. As an artisan myself, I learned early on, there is nothing new under the sun. Ms. Cummins has appropriated nothing.
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Very true, there's nothing new under the sun (well, not much anyway). And all she's appropriated is a large chunk of imagination.
DeleteWho would write all the historical novels then? Ghost writers????
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Ms Scarlet: Indeed. Only Charles II could write about Charles II. That would be tricky. Clairvoyants would be needed to contact the King.
DeleteAs a voracious reader, I would be appalled if the only books available were biographies. I like biographies but my reading tastes extend way beyond them.
ReplyDeleteLinda: I'm assuming biographies wouldn't be okay because they're written by someone other than the person concerned. But the book police would be happy with autobiographies.
DeleteI'm so tired of seeing this type of thing and seeing the words, 'cultural appropriation' for so many small things. I'm tired of it especially because this wasn't the case at all.
ReplyDeleteA lot of authors are writing about something they made up in their heads unless of course they write an autobiography.
So now authors can't make things up and write about them unless they have first hand experience? Wow, I guess that will really limit the kinds of books that are available. Makes me so mad.
Mary: It makes me mad as well. I think a lot of it is just people looking for a "cause" to give them a sense of purpose in life. Do they seriously want 95 per cent of novels taken off the shelves? Because that's what would happen if publishers bowed to their censorious principles.
DeleteThat's ridiculous. So should no male author ever have a female protagonist and no female author a male? Where does it end?
ReplyDeleteTo take this to its limit no male author would ever have any female characters at all. And vice versa. How dumb.
DeleteAgent: And no white author could ever have any black characters? Isn't that racism?
DeleteLinda: And nobody would have a pet, as our personal experience doesn't include being a cat or a dog. And no farmyard animals, as we don't know what it's like to be a cow or a pig.
DeleteA friend of mine who is half Mexican, had a close relationship with her full Mexican grandmother, adopted a Mexican child, is reading the book now as a selection made by others, mostly caucasians, in her book club. She and other family did not have the experience of not being U.S. citizens but my friend has great compassion for those of all nations seeking a place to live in security in peace. Living, as we do, here In Southern California near the US,-Mexico border, we are keenly aware of these people in our community, legal and otherwise, plus those seeking refuge and sanctuary here, stories in our local news of some of their lives -- very personal. The story our President presents demonizing them by selecting an isolated example as portraying there are many like that rare type is a blatant lie, but one many in the rest of our country choose to believe. My friend's reaction to the book so far is that she feels like crying after many pages when she reads of the hardships the author has imagined some have experienced. So far, she has no problem with the book or the author. I don't intend to read the book as the story just doesn't appeal to me presently. I do find all the drama surrounding the book interesting, but I don't have a dog in this fight as the saying goes.
ReplyDeleteJoared: Interesting that your half-Mexican friend has no problems with the book or the author and is deeply affected by the hardships described. So much for the dogma about only writing from your personal experience.
DeleteThis is it, people generalise about the behaviour of refugees and migrants on the basis of a few isolated cases and demonise them all. They obviously have no conception of the misery and suffering that refugees are going through and prefer to add to their misery.
I think we have to be super careful about saying "my friend who is disenfranchied in a relevant way doesn't see a problem"
DeletePeople internalise the injustices they suffer and don't always have any expectation or even perception of how they should be treated
Kylie: You're right. Ill-treatment can be so internalised that you take it as the norm and don't expect anything different.
DeleteThis is interesting. I have a deep dislike of cultural appropriation but for something that is fiction and presented as fiction, i dont think that fits into cultural appropriation. A well researched fiction, checked by someone who understands the issues at hand can create revolution in a way that may not be possible for the original "owner" of the story
ReplyDeleteKylie: Very true that a well-researched and well-written fiction might have more impact than the same story from its "owner".
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