by
Kathryn Page Camp
When writing a story with
characters from different cultures, how do you connect those cultures while
maintaining the separate identity of each? And is it harder when the uneducated
reader may lump the two together? For example, how do you remain sensitive to
the differences between two Asian cultures? That’s the dilemma that Chinese
American author Jamie Ford would have faced when writing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.
Jamie Ford’s novel tells
the story of two young teens living in Seattle, Washington after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor. The protagonist is a Chinese American boy who becomes friends
with a Japanese American girl. The problem that drives the story is the clash
between Henry’s friendship for Keiko and the opposition from his Chinese father,
who sees all people of Japanese ancestry as the enemy.
I enjoyed Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,
but this isn’t a book review. Instead, I mention it as a source for learning
how to connect and distinguish different cultural identities.
Cultural characteristics
can be learned as facts, but cultural identity is more elusive. Sometimes you
just have to see how someone else handled it, and Jamie Ford handled it well. If
you want to know how he did it, you’ll have to read the book for yourself.
Because some concepts
must be caught rather than taught.
__________
Kathryn Page Camp is a
licensed attorney and full-time writer. Her most recent book, Writers in Wonderland: Keeping Your Words
Legal (KP/PK Publishing 2013), is a Kirkus’
Indie Books of the Month Selection. Kathryn is also the author of In God We Trust: How the Supreme Court’s
First Amendment Decisions Affect Organized Religion (FaithWalk Publishing
2006) and numerous articles. You can learn more about Kathryn at
www.kathrynpagecamp.com.
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