*grump*

[annwfyn]

So, I'm slowly working through the 'Read 50 books by PoC Authors in a Year Challenge'. This means reading a lot more books. I wander into Waterstones, looking for said books. I find a lovely big bookshelf entitled 'Black authors'. I think 'this is fab', and I pick out an interesting looking novel called 'White Oleander', which I've vaguely heard of. It sounds interesting.

I come back to work, and go online to add it to my list of books I'm reading for the challenge. I pause, just before adding it, and decide to check that the writer is definitely a PoC.

She isn't.

Why that book got shelved with 'Black authors', I've no idea. I'm now feeling all stroppy and grumpy. At least the book does look interesting and wasn't one of my insane literary experiments.

Does anyone have any good recs for non-white authored books, of any genre, that they would like to pass on to me to brighten my day?

Comments

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

Jewish doesn't count, just by virtue of being Jewish, although obviously there are non-white Jews.

Randomly, academia isn't actually very diverse. There are some shocking statistics about the number of afro-caribbean students who get into Oxbridge for an undergrad degree, let alone further. This might be linked to class - normally academia is a very middle class area, for the cost alone if nothing else. And it's getting worse...

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

I'm not suggesting academia is some sort of egalitarian multi-ethnic cornucopia, but that mainstream-published (pop-)scientific academia as a category of writing is relatively more representative of ethnic minorities than other such categories. However (and there's no non-gauche way of putting this) they all "write like white people", in that they're all educated in Western academic institutions.

I've only got anecdotal evidence for this, namely looking up the authors from my own book collection and discovering how many of them are actually Israeli-born or half-Malaysian or whatever. Compare the pop-sci distribution to my embarrassing amount of category fiction, which is almost exclusively white, and it's hard to not notice the trend.

I find the exclusion of Judaism an interesting and troubling one. They're a group mostly defined by matrilineal descent, the majority of whom can trace an ancestral link to an extra-European culture within recorded history. Their persecution in Europe during the 20th Century is held up as one of the most shocking examples of racial intolerance in living memory. Anti-semitism is still a prevalent sentiment across the world, and yet they don't warrant inclusion as PoCs, because they're arbitrarily not "coloured" enough.

It's an interesting idea, based on a very noble sentiment, but it looks like it's allowing moral posturing to get in the way of what it actually wants to achieve.

Can you see what I'm probably failing to get at?

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

But Judaism is a religion, not a race. You can convert to Juadaism. I know several people who have, and I know of a number more who have.

I don't think that anti-Semitism isn't real. I think it's horrible. I think it's upsetting. I think to say 'Jews never experience prejudice or anti-Semtisim' would be wrong, stupid and blind.

I do, however, think it's slightly different to racism, and when discussing this matter in most academic circles it is accepted as being the case. There have even been essays written on it - 'how the Jews became White'. I think these essays can oversimplify matters - being Jewish isn't really the same as being a WASP - but I do think that the Jewish experience is not the same as the BME experience, at least, not in America, not in most of western Europe.

I'm also interested in your statement on how academics 'write like white people'. The most recent economic work I read was written by Dambisa Moyo, a Black African woman, who was quite explicit in her critique of most white European economists and the extent to which she perceived their background as negatively affecting the academic discourse on Africa. She wrote, very clearly, as a Black African and her theories were definitely affected by her background.

I'd also say that as someone who has written academic papers, we are all affected by our own perceptions and backgrounds. Yes, all academics will follow the Harvard Convention, and are taught to cite their sources etc, but I think you're underestimating the extent to which anyone can only write as themselves.

Randomly, why does my reading 50 books by PoC get you so fretful? Would you be equally bothered by my reading 50 books by women writers, or 50 books by Eastern European writers? Or even 50 medieval books?

I am bemused.

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

I'm not bothered by you or anyone reading any books you (or they) like. I'm bothered by the suggestion that books can become more or less worthy of being read based on where the author falls on the Dulux paint chart. I'm also tangentially bothered by the term "people of colour" because it categorises all non-white ethnic origins into one group, and then insinuates this classification is somehow helpful, meaningful or informative, when in fact it is the complete opposite of all these things.

I have other issues, but I can't quite decide whether they apply or not in this circumstance.

I do sincerely hope you get as much out of this project as you're hoping to, and apologise if I've been inappropriately discouraging.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I'm told that the reason 'people of colour' exists is because whilst all non-white people are different and have different experiences, to a certain extent they face a large number of similar struggles in terms of their relationship with a largely white establishment/power structure, and the idea is that it encourages a sense of solidarity.

I know some non-white people find this helpful and empowering. Some don't, and of course that is their right to do so.

For me, I don't think the books are 'more' or 'less' worthy depending on the authors colour. I mean, that would be silly. There are lots of wonderful books written by white authors. I've read quite a lot of them. It's just right now I'm reading books by non-white authors, because that's something not a lot of people do, and it rather reverses the normal default,

I'm halfway through the challenge, and so far I've honestly found it really rewarding - I've read books I wouldn't have thought of otherwise, I've found new writers, I've read Octavia Butler and thought 'oh my! Yes, I suppose it would be really different living life as an immortal if you happened to be a Black woman'. I've read 'Feeding the Ghosts' and found out about an incident in 18th century history that I knew nothing about before. I read Dambisa Moyo and it has really made me think about the entire system of aid.

I don't think these books are good because they are by PoC. I think these are good books which I just wouldn't have read otherwise. Maybe that would be because they were by PoC and less well known. Maybe because I'm lazy and would have been put off by a novel about the slave trade, or thought 'I've read enough books about immortals'. However, either way, I would not have read them, and I'm glad I did.

And you have not discouraged me in the slightest, so worry not ;)

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't presume to be capable of discouraging you, but I also wouldn't want to appear to try.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

You have an opinion - everyone is allowed one :)

Well, except people who think that Michael Barrymore is a sad loss to the entertainment industry. I'm not so tolerant of that.

[crocodilewings.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to get out of bad internet habits. I think when people end up having different views online, there reaches a point where they stop having one-on-one discourse and start having every related online argument they've ever had with anyone. I am chastising myself whenever this threatens to happen.