Say Something Original! Everyone is Balancing...
I feel like I just have to say something about this, because it has been driving me crazy for the past few years. I’m an avid fan of South Asian writing, both native and diasporic, but the past few years, it seems that every South Asian person in America writing a book focuses on the struggles of growing up balancing cultures. Hand me almost any book out there by a young South Asian American, and whether I have read it or not, and I can probably tell you the jist of it. Sure, there have been a few gems published that deal with this subject, most recently The Namesake. However, when I hear of story after story written by 12 year old so and so, or 19 year old so and so… they all have the same theme!
My challenge to the South Asian writers out there is this: Almost every ethnic group in America plays out that trite story of balancing their ethnic heritage with the American culture. In most major cities in the U.S., Indian-Americans are no longer the "exotic" minority that one rarely comes across. We’re common place, growing, and most importantly, accepted as a part of society… We have begun to create our own diasporic culture within the world we once claimed to be at constant odds with. Is the question still that of a balancing act? Or, rather, is the question really "Can we live with the newly shaped Indian diasporic culture in America? (A diasporic culture that we ourselves created.) Is what we ended up creating what we really wanted?"
On an MBA note, I have managed to get through the day without checking a single status page or Forum. I am really trying to stay away from those forums! They seem to unnerve me. It is 6:39pm on Friday and I'm still at work. The scary part of the whole thing is that I work IN INDUSTRY! I'm not a banker or consultant, and I certainly don’t get compensated to be here. And I wonder why I have such a hard time arranging a suitable time to meet someone for a date. It's impossible, I'm always at work!
posted by MBA Cutie @ 6:37 PM
2 Comments:
Um... 6:39pm isn't exactly late.... even if it's on a friday...
Yes there is an odd absence in the English-language literary scene in India and amongst writers of Indian origin of any biography, narrative history or indeed any serious literary non-fiction of any description. Maybe because Indian writers in English have to compromise, I feel as if they are writing primarily for a firangi audience. After all, the market in India though growing, is still tiny, most books sell a few hundred copies, thousands make you a bestseller. To make a living as an Indian writer in English they have to crack the British and American markets. I would say most south Asian writers are putting a personal spin on social issues like gender, caste and incest in India and out here in the west, and trying to make these issues accessible and attractive to a wider audience. Since most of them write outside of the subcontinent, themes of diaspora and exile are a focal point.
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