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I have an ARC of Roanhorse's RACE TO THE SUN.
I was wrong to recommend her TRAIL OF LIGHTNING. Details: Concerns about Roanhorse's TRAIL OF LIGHTNING.
I was wrong to recommend her TRAIL OF LIGHTNING. Details: Concerns about Roanhorse's TRAIL OF LIGHTNING.
RACE TO THE SUN is in Rick Riordan's "Rick Riordan Presents" series. His use of his fame to launch writers of color is terrific. I haven't read the other book in Riordan's series.
His intro for RACE TO THE SUN is titled "The Original American Gods." That's a problem, for sure. His problematic intro looks like this:
His intro for RACE TO THE SUN is titled "The Original American Gods." That's a problem, for sure. His problematic intro looks like this:
THE ORIGINAL AMERICAN GODSDo you see why that's not ok? "Original American" erases the fact that the Diné people pre-date America.
Changing Woman. Rock Crystal Boy. The Glittering World. The Hero Twins.
Indigenous peoples weren't "Original Americans."
They weren't "First Americans" either.
They were people of their own unique nations, all of which pre-date the United States.
Moving from Riordan's intro to the book itself, I am pretty sure the Diné Writers Collective would say no to it, immediately. In their Open Letter, they state that Roanhorse appropriated Diné culture when she wrote TRAIL OF LIGHTNING. But they are also concerned with the content. They write that
Roanhorse often mischaracterizes and misrepresents Diné spiritual beliefs.and,
Roanhorse turns deities into caricatures.
They reference others who have appropriated and misrepresented Diné beliefs, including Tony Hillerman, Oliver LaFarge, and Scott O'Dell.
And they write that
We are concerned that this book attempts to convert our true ancestral teachings into myth and legend.
Upthread, I linked to the Diné Writers Collective letter. I hope you go read the entire letter.
It is signed by Esther Belin, Sherwin Bitsui, Chee Brossy, Dr. Jennifer Denetdale, Tina Deschenie, Jacqueline Keeler, Dr. Lloyd Lee, Manny Loley, Jaclyn Roessel, Roanna Shebala, Jake Skeets, Dr. Laura Tohe, Luci Tapahonso, and Orlando White.
It is signed by Esther Belin, Sherwin Bitsui, Chee Brossy, Dr. Jennifer Denetdale, Tina Deschenie, Jacqueline Keeler, Dr. Lloyd Lee, Manny Loley, Jaclyn Roessel, Roanna Shebala, Jake Skeets, Dr. Laura Tohe, Luci Tapahonso, and Orlando White.
In her Author's Note for RACE TO THE SUN, Roanhorse writes
I am just a writer of fantasy, not a culture keeper or scholar. This book should not be taken for a cultural text.
That is an icky, not-my-fault disclaimer because it echoes what Whiteness says (by "Whiteness" I mean white writers who argue that what they do in fiction doesn't have to be accurate because everybody knows that fiction isn't real. That is a disingenuous defense, no matter who says it.)
In that note, she also thanks Riordan for allowing her to:
...share some of what I know of the beauty of the Navajo culture with Navajo readers and the rest of the world.That kind of clashes with what she said, earlier (about the book not being a cultural text). First she says not to read the book as a cultural text, but then she says she's glad to share what she knows about Navajo culture.
How are readers going to know which parts are fantasy and which are not?
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But, a small stuffed horned toad on her shelf speaks to her, telling her she has to slay that monster. To do that she has to go to the Glittering World where she will meet the Sun, who is also known as The Merciless One, and who will give her the tools she needs to kill that monster.
Clearly, Roanhorse is using Navajo stories to create the characters in Race to the Sun. As such, people in the Diné Writers Collective will see this as appropriation. Would the Diné Writers view these characters as caricatures?
When I finish reading and thinking about the book, I will be back with a link to the review.
Something that we all have to learn in the framework of intersectionality is that just because one faces oppression among one axis, that doesn't mean one can't also oppress others on that same axis, or on a different axis.
ReplyDeleteThis is very easy to forget, and something I've learned that it's best to be conscious of as much as possible---especially when creating (writing, visual art, programming, architecture, etc).
Perhaps the most different kind of awareness within intersectionality is realizing when you're oppressing someone for whom society categorizes as "just like you, enough to not matter to most of the rest of us." In this instance, mainstream society categorizes all Indigenous Nations into one bloc, incorrectly, and doesn't view members within that bloc as capable of harming one another vis a vis axes of oppression. But as demonstrated in this situation, this is an idea based on falsehoods that it's too easy to assimilate into even as a marginalized person.
It's no surprise that Roanhorse is using the language of Whiteness to defend her harmful appropriation as not harmful at all; it's a language that utterly ignores social context to propagate lies, and is of course part of the system that perpetuates the false idea I mention in the previous paragraph.
There are other examples I can think of; but I don't want to bring them up here. But suffice to say that these examples are also rather successful despite how they negatively stereotype cultures society lumps in with the author.
A personal appeal from me to creators:
Please do not appropriate from another marginalized culture even if you are yourself marginalized, it's a bad look and while it's financially successful to play into Whiteness in this way, you are legit hurting other people who are already hurt by the same society that is hurting you. That's going to haunt you eventually, and it will suck.
PLUS in the end, Whiteness has no loyalty to you, and will destroy you one day for some vice they'd eventually let slide with a White creator. A very recent and well-publicized example that you should NOT emulate: Sherman Alexie.
I've seen this kind of sad story run its course too often. I beg you to please save yourself if you're doing this because it's painful to watch this repeat over and over and over and OVER, and in the end after hurting so many others you'll end up hurting yourself.
Ava Jarvis, retired reviewer, Vietnamese person, has seen so many marginalized creators fall this way as to feel nauseated when this pops up repeatedly and wanting the cycle to JUST STOP ALREADY.
[Sorry for the duplicate comment, I had a typo in the previous comment and have corrected it below (different to difficult), many apologies]
ReplyDeleteSomething that we all have to learn in the framework of intersectionality is that just because one faces oppression among one axis, that doesn't mean one can't also oppress others on that same axis, or on a different axis.
This is very easy to forget, and something I've learned that it's best to be conscious of as much as possible---especially when creating (writing, visual art, programming, architecture, etc).
Perhaps the most difficult kind of awareness within intersectionality is realizing when you're oppressing someone for whom society categorizes as "just like you, enough to not matter to most of the rest of us." In this instance, mainstream society categorizes all Indigenous Nations into one bloc, incorrectly, and doesn't view members within that bloc as capable of harming one another vis a vis axes of oppression. But as demonstrated in this situation, this is an idea based on falsehoods that it's too easy to assimilate into even as a marginalized person.
It's no surprise that Roanhorse is using the language of Whiteness to defend her harmful appropriation as not harmful at all; it's a language that utterly ignores social context to propagate lies, and is of course part of the system that perpetuates the false idea I mention in the previous paragraph.
There are other examples I can think of; but I don't want to bring them up here. But suffice to say that these examples are also rather successful despite how they negatively stereotype cultures society lumps in with the author.
A personal appeal from me to creators:
Please do not appropriate from another marginalized culture even if you are yourself marginalized, it's a bad look and while it's financially successful to play into Whiteness in this way, you are legit hurting other people who are already hurt by the same society that is hurting you. That's going to haunt you eventually, and it will suck.
PLUS in the end, Whiteness has no loyalty to you, and will destroy you one day for some vice they'd eventually let slide with a White creator. A very recent and well-publicized example that you should NOT emulate: Sherman Alexie.
I've seen this kind of sad story run its course too often. I beg you to please save yourself if you're doing this because it's painful to watch this repeat over and over and over and OVER, and in the end after hurting so many others you'll end up hurting yourself.
Ava Jarvis, retired reviewer, Vietnamese person, has seen so many marginalized creators fall this way as to feel nauseated when this pops up repeatedly and wanting the cycle to JUST STOP ALREADY.
Thank you so much for your review of this book. It is so important to hear recommendations that are true to the context that they serve. It is very surprising to see a disclaimer from an author that what she writes is "fiction" and she therefore holds no accountability whatsoever. If what she writes touches even one young mind, hasn't she then done damage as to breed misinformation? Is she not responsible for the way in which young children see characters and apply them to the real world? I am of the belief that we have to be responsible for what we share and how we share it with our children as it can impact them and how they see things for years to come. It isn't hard or difficult to be true to the context of the stories and present them in a way that is anti-racist or in a way that erases an entire history.
ReplyDelete