tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post2082243140565682321..comments2024-03-14T13:06:38.883+00:00Comments on cultural snow: Nothing lost in translationTim Fhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-67703693513582588932008-08-13T12:50:00.000+01:002008-08-13T12:50:00.000+01:00Christopher: As you say, Swift, Tolkien et al inve...Christopher: As you say, Swift, Tolkien et al invented their milieux from scratch; Campbell (no relation, I trust) has chosen to set hers in reality, and has to be judged according to how 'real' she makes it. The funny thing is, she claims to be a big fan of Murakami who a) is quite willing to depart from realism when it suits him and b) feels no need to pepper his stories with Japanese signifiers. His characters eat spaghetti and listen to American jazz; it's only the names that remind us they're not from Milan or Milwaukee.<BR/><BR/>Amy: I see your point - but you and I aren't Tokyo salarymen either, so how can we judge? I don't want to give the impression that it's a bad book. It's not, it's OK, and she's good at balancing believable characters with enjoyable stereotypes. I just don't see the point of the setting.Tim Fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14681067872556519250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-19144628197290795122008-08-13T00:00:00.000+01:002008-08-13T00:00:00.000+01:00okay, so I've been to Tokyo AND I've read Haruki M...okay, so I've been to Tokyo AND I've read Haruki Murakami. So I guess I could write a novel from the perspective of a salaryman. No?<BR/><BR/>No. The underlying culture and the way it insinuates itself into a person's psyche . . . how do you understand that if you are an outsider?<BR/><BR/>I have no idea if her book is good or bad, but i can't imagine reading it and thinking that i have an understanding of a real Japanese salaryman.<BR/><BR/>i worry with books like this - there is clearly a market for foreign or ethnic fiction. what do you do if you are a white woman (or man)? you can't compete with all those Indian writers getting all the attention! so i guess you pretend to be "different" and then you get published. <BR/><BR/>wow, that's snide.amyonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04336092306270018567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18775356.post-69598938344056726692008-08-12T17:39:00.000+01:002008-08-12T17:39:00.000+01:00Could part of the answer to your final question be...Could part of the answer to your final question be that inexperienced writers sometimes feel more comfortable developing a thesis, particularly one that attempts to deal in universals (the 'everyman' you mention), in a foreign or historical or future environment? It's a sort of displacement: you can assign ideas and actions more easily (and of course irresponsibly) if your character puppet-strings aren't tweaked according to domestic social and behavioural codes and conventions. <BR/><BR/>Classic 'displacers' like Dean Swift, Voltaire, Carroll, Tolkien, etc. invented their milieux, so nobody could challenge them. Much safer.<BR/><BR/>But I haven't read the book so this may be very unfair.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14227767014123557100noreply@blogger.com