For some readers, the attractions of a new culture or setting can be huge. We all know our own culture down to the level of our subconscious and consider it “normal,” possibly even boring. I admit I enjoy seeing and reading about other cultures and peoples. Black Panther’s land of Wakanda and it’s tribal structure and traditions were as important to me as the actual characters on the screen.
Culture has been called ‘the way of life for an entire society,’ and includes codes of manners, dress, language, religion, rituals, and systems of belief as well as the art. It refers to the shared values, beliefs and norms of a specific group of people and is passed down from generation to generation. Culture even affects where people decide to live (or are forced to live), what employment they take, accent, style of dress, what is done for entertainment, and the choice of friends. Different cultures have different concepts of things like personal space, manners, time and place. These are all things writers need to invent when crafting alien worlds or fantasy realms.
If you are a science fiction of fantasy writer planning to craft a brand new world and culture, you face the daunting task of creating a fully fleshed out culture. Readers looking for something “different,” and writers who attempt to supply that difference, often patch together pieces of existing mythologies, religions, and philosophies and artifacts outside the dominant Western paradigm.
That doesn’t give them a “brand new” world, and instead leads to cultural appropriation.
No, no, it’s appreciation, writers who take from marginalized cultures explain. Imitation is a form of flattery, right? But those who truly appreciate a culture take the time to become acquainted with its people and to learn the meaning behind symbols and actions. Instead of adopting the “I can use anything of yours I want and you aren’t big enough to stop me” attitude, they listen to members of the culture. The rest seem to expect the groups to be so grateful to a writer for choosing to put them in a story that they don’t mind having their beliefs misrepresented. Marginalized people complain, but their pain is ignored as invalid.
Anyone gets angry when they see their religion, culture or background trampled. If aren’t old enough to personally remember the controversy over the cross floating in urine, check out a 2014 Huffington Post story (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/13/piss-christ-sale_n_5317545.html) or ask your angriest and oldest neighbor. And if you are not Christian I am sure here you can think of other examples where you felt something important to you, whether it be a flag or another religious symbol, was being mocked in the name of art or freedom of speech or a desire for “personal expression”.
Remember that feeling. It’s the one you don’t want any of your readers to experience when they open your book.
This is not about being politically incorrect. It’s about writers realizing that there is a real line between appreciation and appropriation. If the goal in crafting a culture is to attract readers, then working on the wrong side of that line can be costly. Remember, one person’s terra incognita is another person’s home.