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Authors who do multiculture fiction well? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) by underline960@sh.itjust.works to c/books@lemmy.ml

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The authors who manage to clear the low bar of incorporating characters/communities from diverse cultures into their fiction without cultural appropriation/stereotyping/racism... who are they and how do they do it?

I know many writers sidestep the difficulty altogether, either by creating a fictional universe with cultural proxies (fantasy stories/video games with Chinese, Japanese, and Russian analogues, I'm looking at you) or by writing in the distant future where the cultures have blended into new ones with flavors of the past (sci-fi does this a lot).

I've seen so very few authors do it well, but I do believe it's both possible and worth doing.

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[–] EmilyIsTrans@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 9 hours ago

I know this isn't an author but a publisher, so please don't crucify me, but have you checked out Tilted Axis Press? Their whole focus is on diverse translated fiction, particularly of stories or cultures that are less represented in the field. I've been a big fan of them for years.

[–] Alaknar@lemm.ee 4 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

Do you mean any example of multiculturalism done right? Or specifically in "our world" setting?

If it's the first one, then "The Wheel of Time" by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson (the latter finished the series' last couple of books after Jordan's death) and Brandon Sanderson's "Stormlight Archives".

In Jordan's books you can see a lot of "proxy cultures", but they're still fairly unique and, most importantly, done right.

Sanderson's setting is "way out there", very unique and very different (or maybe I'm an uncultured swine and someone with a better understanding of cultural diversity on Earth would disagree).

[–] underline960@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 hour ago

In our world.

I would consider Wheel of Time as an example of fantasy with reskinned real world cultures.

Andor is essentially a landlocked version of England, having a "Lion Throne" and ruled by a queen. Cairhien and Mayene bear similarities to France (Cairhien has the Sun Throne; Mayener names are reminiscent of French). Arad Doman resembles Arabic countries and Iran. (source: TV Tropes)

It's well-written, but by nature of being fantasy, it sidesteps the challenge of writing meaningful interactions between real world communities.