We continue to receive asks/submissions that ask the same basic question: Can I have/create a pan-Asian country in my work? (We get this question at least two times a week, no joke!)
And the answer is: Our recommendation is that you donāt create pan-Asian anything in your works. So, no. Donāt. Please donāt. Just donāt.
But since we keep getting questions about it, we thought weād specifically address why pan-Asian themes/cultures/countries are problematic.
GENERIC ASIAN CULTURE DOESNāT EXIST Thereās an assumption that there is a generic āAsian cultureā that exists. It doesnāt. It goes along with this racist idea that Asians look the same. White supremacy often takes the tack of looking at Asians as robots, and you see see this mentality continually espoused in articles about the education systems in East Asia, or the factories in China and India, or the idea that Asians ānaturallyā gravitate towards mathematics and engineering. These are lies. The emasculation of the Asian man and the hypersexualization of the Asian woman also treats us all like robots or dolls instead of human beings.
The continent of Asia is gigantic. It boasts the greatest population in the world. Itās huge and itās extremely diverse. Its diaspora is also extremely diverse.
Indiaās population alone is over 1 billion. There are at least 17 languages spoken there and over 900 dialects. Itās the birthplace of four major world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. India has more than 2000 ethnic groups and EVERY major world religion is represented there. Itās one of the most diverse countries in the world.
Even trying to define a generic āIndianā culture (both in India and among its diaspora) is very difficult to do! So it simply isnāt possible to have a generic āAsian cultureā when itās nigh impossible to do that for ONE country in Asia. India is not a monolith. Indian diaspora is not a monolith. Asia is also not a monolith. āAsian cultureā doesnāt exist. When people write pan-Asian themes/countries/cultures into their works, theyāre propagating this myth.
HISTORY AND CONTEXT MATTER This doesnāt mean there isnāt a lot of cultural similarity between certain regions in Asia or that thereās never any cultural sharing or melding. If two countries are located close to each other geographically, thereās a good chance that some ideas and traditions have made their way across both countries. This is the same all over the world.
But sometimes, this sharing of culture is not mutual. Asia is no stranger to forced assimilation, colonization, imperialism, genocide, war, and the oppression of native and indigenous peoples.
Pan-Asian works ignore this historical context. They give no regard to the atrocities that have taken place and often align themselves with imperialism. In fact, pan-Asianism (that is, the unification of Asia) was often used in Japanese imperialist propaganda, which sought to unite Asia under Japanese supremacy.*
Also, many traditions, religions and cultural practices have origins in the geography, climate, and ecosystems surrounding the people groups in question. By using only some aspects and not others, you run the risk of eliminating the very reasons why certain cultural traditions might have come to be.
BUT WHAT ABOUT SFF OR ALTERNATE HISTORY? Again, even if your novel involves distant planets āinspiredā by currently existing countries or an alternate history, we strongly advise against pan-Asian countries or cultures. If it isnāt possible for many currently existing countries in Asia to have a single homogenous culture, then how is it realistic for the countries in your work to have pan-Asian cultures or themes?
People are often proud of their cultural traditions and history, including things like traditional dress, architecture, religions, and customs. If you are not Asian, then it isnāt your place to separate people groups from their countries and cultural traditions for your artistic work. Asia is not your playground.Ā
*Please do not ever use Japanese imperialism as an excuse for why white supremacy āisnāt so badā or āWhite supremacists arenāt the only racist ones!ā Yes, there have been multiple people groups in history, on every continent, that have done atrocious things. None of it justifies or excuses current white supremacy. Thatās false equivalence, and we do not play that game here at WWC.Ā
Hereās a post I wrote (from ThisIsNotJapan) about this very issue.
gabrielarava said to fixyourwritinghabits: Hi! Iām in the process of outlining a young adult novel and am very adamant about avoiding cliches in the genre, especially romantic ones. What are some of the most common cliches in YA romances?
Truthfully, Iām a real sucker for a good romance my in YA novels. Iām also quite picky about what I read and ship. I feel like somewhere along the line, this answer turned into āall-the-things-I-hate-about-YA-romance,ā but here we go!
The Love Not-Triangle. I donāt mind love triangles, as long as they actually are triangles, not something that looks vaguely like this from the start:
AĀ ālove triangleā that adds no suspense because we know by the end of chapter one that A is going to eventually end up with B, and B and C have no relationship other than their competition for Aās affections. It doesnāt matter how great C is, or how badly B treats A, A will end up with B.Ā
Write a love triangle that actually has the reader guessing who your protagonist will end up with. Write a love triangle with fleshed out characters that includes other complicated non-romantic relationships interfering. Write a love triangle that is memorable.Ā
Not-Plain Heroine. A heroine that is plain only to her eyes. Often with brown hair. Extremely pretty when she dresses up. Love Interest finds her beautiful all the time.Ā
The Eternally Smiling White Knight in Shining Armour and the Brooding Baddest BaddassĀ also known as your typical male love interests. Please, give the White Knight some flaws and the Brooding Baddass some reasons for being brooding. Less cardboard cutouts, more rounded characters.Ā
Tragic Backstory.Ā Everyone needs a backstory, but sometimes it goes too far. Sometimes, backgrounds with abuse and other very serious things are taken lightly and used for the sake of a flashy tragic backstory, to make aĀ ābrokenā character that can be simply āfixedā by love.Ā
āIām dangerous/Iām not good for you/Stay away from me.ā Please no. If they really have that level of self awareness, and really are as good as the book later makes them out to be, then they should have made the effort to stay away. If someone said that to me, Iād give the creep a look and walk away.Ā
Unnecessary and easily solved conflict. If the problem can be solved through an easily do-able 2 minute conversation or a text, then it does not need to be dragged out into 5 chapters of angst.Ā
Romantic Stalking. I donāt know why this is a thing. Stalking is never romantic, itās a creepy invasion of privacy. Overly āprotectiveā and possessive guys are not romantic, theyāre abusive.Ā
First Love at First Sight/Insta-Love. Well, weāve all seen this one. People get crushes, people fall in lust, but two people do not fall in a deep, maddening, meaningful and heathy love within five minutes of meeting.Ā
The Jealous Third PartyĀ who exists for no reason other than to tear the main couple apart. Usually horrible, vapid and shallow. No character development other than to hate the protagonist more and more.Ā
Straight, cis and white. Not exactly a cliche, but you get the idea. You see a lot of YA out there with straight, cis and white people falling in love, and Iām getting a little tired of it. Of course, writing about other genders/sexualities/cultures takes a lot of work and research, but I highly encourage you to do so!Ā
The Magical Healing C***. Sex heals wounds. Falling in love cures you of depression. Your relationship means an end to any mental illness youāve been struggling with. Please, stop right there. Just no. Stop. Donāt do it.Ā
Is it alright if I contribute some?
Relationship Tunnel Vision. The plot forgets about or purposely pushes away relationships with the protagonists family and friends so that the only shoulder they have to lean on is the love interestās. Doubly creepy if the love interest has a hand in these relationships diminishing.
The Lady and the Knight. Itās not a bad cliche at all, I just think itās kinda predictable. Itās the one where romance blooms between a noble lady and her knight or other sort of bodyguard. Taking it more vaguely, it can also be any situations where a male love interest is in charge of the female protagās safety. Consider ways to make it a little less formulaic.
My Destined Love. I see it a lot in fantasy romances where a fantastic race (Itās very common with werewolves actually) has this thing where they magically know their mate the moment they meet (Sorta love at first sight, enforced by plot magic). Itās an excuse to skip directly to the part where they have chemistry instead of building their relationship properly.Ā
Masculine Guy Feminine Guy. With regards to LGBT romances, you often see one of them get characterized with masculine traits and the other with feminine traits. Mixing up traits that are usually gendered unnecessarily is great, just be careful you arenāt subconsciously applying heteronormative traits to LGBT relationships.Ā
Anti-Empowerment Romance. If you have a female character who is ultra capable and powerful, donāt you dare diminish that so she can be a damsel for her love interest. Her love interestās abilities should compliment hers, not just do what she does but better. Let her keep her agency even if the love interest needs to step in to help. Ā
AngelMihe 