Places to Chat
When I was
Chatterbox: In This Month's Issue
When I was
When I was reading an old issue of Cricket magazine (I've gone and forgotten what issue it was, I think it was April 2021 or 2022) I read a story called What the Tornado Gave Us. I really liked it - it was about how a girl makes friends with the Mexican-American family next door, and being Mexican-American myself, I was very interested. I also thought it was really well-written, and I liked the idea of the families getting to know each other and being from different cultures. But the author had made a grave mistake. The Mexican girl that the main character befriends is called Rosica. Rosica is not a Mexican name at all (although Rosita, which is the diminutive of Rosa, is).
I also felt like the author didn't have a deep understanding of genuine Mexican culture - she got some things right, but not all. Her portrayal just felt a little too superficial. I think it's great for Cricket to include stories about other cultures, but I think it would be even better if the stories are written by people with a really, really good understanding of the cultures. And I especially think it would be really nice if the characters had names that really existed in those cultures! Anyway, I just thought I'd mention it. :)
submitted by Poinsettia, age immortal, Narnia
(February 18, 2023 - 10:02 pm)
(February 18, 2023 - 10:02 pm)
I agree! There was another story in Cricket Magazine like that as well (I don't remember which issue, but I think it was called something like "The Egg Pirates") that was written by somebody who wasn't from that culture. I understand that maybe the language diffcult for readers to pronounce, so the author had to simplify and change it, but I would prefer it f the author stayed true to the actual language. I might have also liked it better if the author had taken time to research more, since the cultural aspect was really lacking.
(February 21, 2023 - 5:38 pm)
Hmm, that's interesting. I don't know anything about Chinese culture, so it's good to have the opinion of someone who does!
(February 22, 2023 - 9:49 pm)
(February 21, 2023 - 8:40 pm)
Yeah, I do think this happens a lot: people try to write diverse stories but don't actually try to do the proper research and because they don't actually know what it's like to be what they're trying to write about, kind of fail. Thanks for sharing this, Poinsettia, because it's important to really and truly understand things, not just scratch the surface.
(February 23, 2023 - 9:37 pm)
You're welcome! :)
(February 25, 2023 - 9:23 pm)
Oh my gosh, I remember thinking that about that exact story! Not about the name necessarily (I didn't know that that wasn't an actual name) but just about the sort of iffy portrayal of Mexican Americans by a white author. I haven't actually noticed a whole lot of non-white-sounding names in Cricket overall...of course Brown people can have English names, but it seems like every author has an English-sounding name...even the ones who are retelling Japanese folklore or writing from the perspective of Latine immigrants. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
(February 24, 2023 - 1:51 am)
I don't know where that O came from xD
(February 25, 2023 - 2:06 am)
A great mystery... :)
(February 25, 2023 - 9:25 pm)
Yeah, you're right... I don't mind what culture the authors are from, but it would be interesting if there were a few stories written by people from other countries, to give a more global, varied perspective.
(February 25, 2023 - 9:24 pm)
Working on a reply with more details and tips/thoughts for writing characters from cultures you aren't, but I totally agree with what everyone's saying.
(February 24, 2023 - 9:06 am)
I had no idea! Thx for pointing that out.
(February 25, 2023 - 7:47 pm)
No problem! I'm glad I could share my perspective.
(February 25, 2023 - 9:26 pm)