(no subject)
Jul. 31st, 2009 11:12 pmI did an IBARW post about te reo Māori yesterday on LJ and forgot to crosspost it, so if you missed it, you can see it here.
Here are some links I've enjoyed this IBARW:
this and this by![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
syncope @ LJ, on Native American invisibility and appropriation in the USA.
Children/YA books with POC MCs and/or authors, plus links on the topic by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sparkymonster which obviously as a children's lit major, is really interesting to me. I also found this one really good, but I'm wary of linking to it because it's a post about POCs having conversations with POCs, and as a Pākehā/white woman I fear that I may be guilty of cultural appropriation or exotification. So I'm putting that out there, and while I'm at it I will mention that I think sparkymonster is a fantastic writer - she's one of those LJ people who I stalk for good writing on a range of topics without having friended (I have a thing about friending people who don't know me which results in me being a CREEPY STALKER - I am sure any number of people with LJtoys have been weirded out by me reading their journals on a semi-daily basis.) Anyway, her posts on the broad topics of race & fandom are always eloquent.
Describing COCS Without Using The Big Words in fantasy - uses examples from Harry Potter specifically (and positively.) Interesting for me - the writer talks about how in the UK editions of HP there are a wide range of subtle clues that Dean is black (dreadlocks (but I thought that was Lee Jordan!), supporting a particular football team) in the same way that there are subtle clues that the Weasleys are white (redheads, freckles) and the Patils are of SEAsian extraction (specific surname, sari-like ballgowns IIRC). Meanwhile in the US editions of the earlier novels he is specifically labelled black. The poster reasonably takes issue with this as implying that the default for characters is white, and it's only when a character is non-white that their race needs to be specified. I agree with that - but I'm pretty sure that I did not realise that Dean was black until I saw some of the earlier movies. I'm not sure what conclusions I should draw from that because it implies to me that the US editor was correct that foreign readers were unlikely to pick up on more subtle racial clues, and isn't it better to have a diverse cast than to allow readers to whitewash it? So, I don't know. However, good post.
That's it because I've been madly busy with school lately. D: Today my 7 seasons of Buffy arrived in the post (collector's editions! for $130 plus postage! As-new condition!) so my productivity's been down the drain a little bit. I also saw the ballet (La Sylphide, plus dances from Napoli) which I very much enjoyed - classical ballet (all-original choreography from the 1800s) but extremely accessible stuff for people who don't know ballet, IMO. Oh, and I wrote an essay in about an hour (but it was only 1500 words.)
Here are some links I've enjoyed this IBARW:
this and this by
syncope @ LJ, on Native American invisibility and appropriation in the USA.Children/YA books with POC MCs and/or authors, plus links on the topic by
sparkymonster which obviously as a children's lit major, is really interesting to me. I also found this one really good, but I'm wary of linking to it because it's a post about POCs having conversations with POCs, and as a Pākehā/white woman I fear that I may be guilty of cultural appropriation or exotification. So I'm putting that out there, and while I'm at it I will mention that I think sparkymonster is a fantastic writer - she's one of those LJ people who I stalk for good writing on a range of topics without having friended (I have a thing about friending people who don't know me which results in me being a CREEPY STALKER - I am sure any number of people with LJtoys have been weirded out by me reading their journals on a semi-daily basis.) Anyway, her posts on the broad topics of race & fandom are always eloquent. Describing COCS Without Using The Big Words in fantasy - uses examples from Harry Potter specifically (and positively.) Interesting for me - the writer talks about how in the UK editions of HP there are a wide range of subtle clues that Dean is black (dreadlocks (but I thought that was Lee Jordan!), supporting a particular football team) in the same way that there are subtle clues that the Weasleys are white (redheads, freckles) and the Patils are of SEAsian extraction (specific surname, sari-like ballgowns IIRC). Meanwhile in the US editions of the earlier novels he is specifically labelled black. The poster reasonably takes issue with this as implying that the default for characters is white, and it's only when a character is non-white that their race needs to be specified. I agree with that - but I'm pretty sure that I did not realise that Dean was black until I saw some of the earlier movies. I'm not sure what conclusions I should draw from that because it implies to me that the US editor was correct that foreign readers were unlikely to pick up on more subtle racial clues, and isn't it better to have a diverse cast than to allow readers to whitewash it? So, I don't know. However, good post.
That's it because I've been madly busy with school lately. D: Today my 7 seasons of Buffy arrived in the post (collector's editions! for $130 plus postage! As-new condition!) so my productivity's been down the drain a little bit. I also saw the ballet (La Sylphide, plus dances from Napoli) which I very much enjoyed - classical ballet (all-original choreography from the 1800s) but extremely accessible stuff for people who don't know ballet, IMO. Oh, and I wrote an essay in about an hour (but it was only 1500 words.)
