"Creating" or "Copying"?

[raefinlay]

Today I received my most scathing review to-date from an OWW member. It was so scathing that I almost disregarded it, but then something caught my attention.


For this post, I borrow heavily from Spanish Colonial culture and I’m using a Spanish-based language. (This is due to an earth-origin premise and the fact that languages evolve). But this particular reviewer found such borrowing unacceptable. This is what she said:

It's all so obvious, that the fantasy names only give it a cheap sense of false exoticism. The names and words all have a latin/spanish/italian sound to them, and while keeping that consistency gives a sense of the culture and that good, it's borrowed and thinly disguised.

So, I got to thinking that she does have a point. My setting/culture is definitely NOT original. But then, who’s is? Can the medieval setting ever be original? I’ve seen a French setting (Jacqueline Carey), an Italian setting (Melanie Rawn et. al), a Japanese setting (Raymond E. Feist) and the list goes on. So my question is: What makes an author’s world unique versus what makes it a flimsy copy of an already existing setting?


In a recent Editor’s Choice review of Storm Dancer, Ch. 4 by Christine Hall (PA), Jenni Smith-Gaynor writes:

Describing different cultures is one of the challenges SFF embraces. This genre loves to dabble in the combination of places and people. Ms. Hall seems to be setting her story in a desert-culture that has a Persian flavor -- the differences in her cultures is a keystone to her novel -- and reminds me of Lois McMaster Bujold and Guy Gavriel Kay's use of fictional but recognizable cultures. Accessibility by genre fans is something a professional acquisitions editor may take into consideration, and I think Christine Hall has done a good job using the Middle Eastern influences in this chapter.




So I don’t know. I want to write a world that’s vibrant and accessible. But I don’t want it to be pat or too predictable. Just something for me to think about, I guess.

Comments

[stillsostrange.livejournal.com]

It works for other people--The Golden Key and The Lions of Al-Rassan did it really well. Some people also do it poorly, hence the plague of GEF (generic european fantasy). I personally prefer names and things that borrow for flavor and continuity than random stuff that makes no sense or gives me no sense of culture. Lemme go read your post and I'll have better thoughts.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Your critter has a squid. I'd ignore it. *g* Anything that's not Generic British Medieval Unreality is a relief to me, these days.

I mean, yeah, of course it can be done poorly. But so cn anything, and I think it's far more interesting to play with unusual cultures than (a) faux British/Celtic or (b) faux Chinese/Japanese.

Carry on.

[jmeadows.livejournal.com]

Don't put links up to the workshop because then people will be able to login as you. :)

And you know what I think of that review. So pah.

[kmkibble75.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... off the bat, I'd say take all of it with a grain of salt. While it's posisble you can create an entirely new culture in a story, I think at that point you'd almost have to start explaining evry little detail about every little building, person and facet of life -- the reader, being completely unfamiliar with the culture, wouldn't be able to assume anything. Not one thing. But if you base the culture on something earthly, then they can fill in the gaps on their own and you can focus on the story itself. I haven't gotten to your post yet, but I'll let you know what I think when I do (and I promise to be nice about it).

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

Dude!!! *g*

You are so sweet to review! Thx Amanda. Yeah, Elisa kicks ass, eats pastries, and rescues the handsome king is about the size of it. And never wears less than a size 14, thank you very much.

You da best, mon.

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

*sigh*
*grateful for the Bear*

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

...and I promise to be nice about it.

I don't hold my reviewers to the "nice" criterion. Just "helpful." *grin* But thanks, dude. You're a pal.

[everyonesakitty.livejournal.com]

hmm... *talks out of ass* I think it's really important to create a world that a reader can understand quickly and relate to. If it's completely new, you have the task of showing how *everything* works. If it borrows, you simply have the task of being consistent enough to place the reader and providing a believable reason for borrowing.

Suppose borrowing itself is not right or wrong, but rather execution either works or doesn't.

I think yours works. The language gives flavor, atmosphere and tone. It's a clever thing to use those words and I think it's a tribute to your imagination and consistency that the critter immediately figured out the languages from which you drew your inspiration.

The whole thing has an Old Mexico feel, everything from the dress to the names to the emphasis on family to the weather to the utensils, smells and colors. I say keep doing what you're doing. :)

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

*loves holly*

er...shouldn't you be writing??? :-)

[janeorben.livejournal.com]

I just went back and read that reviewer's review. I was raised Catholic, and I didn't even make the corolation. Except with the Lengua classica being Latin, and that didn't bother me even remotely. I interpreted it just as you intended - as a derivation from another language. And you know who else did that? Tolkien.

I figured out what the terno was as soon as it was used in context, and read the invention of the word as a way of describing a culture. When I read about African culture, for instance, they have all sorts of unique names for things that could be called pants, blouses, etc. The invented word shows that it is a wedding dress SPECIFIC TO that culture. Keep it.

Also something to think about: That reviewer gives you a 4 for character development because she found them to be like cookie-cutter romance novel characters. In my review of that chapter I almost criticized your characters for being too cliche, but refrained because I felt you managed to get me involved with the main character's personality and emotional state.

Picasso said it - Good artists copy. Great artists steal. That not a cynical comment. What he means by "steal" is that you make your art real.

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

Wow ... thx for your encouraging comments, Martha. Here's to creative stealing, eh? *grin*

Yep, you're right about Tolkien. Thx for reminding me. He started off as a linguist, after all!

[aaron-mag.livejournal.com]

No comment.

I've already ranted and raved about this...

[raecarson.livejournal.com]

Yeah, you said something about true creativity entailing using lasso's instead of swords. I laughed my head off. *headless*