Asian stereotypes and racism in novels

[陳德聰]

Maybe the reason Roan can never bed "Sheeku" has something to do with her name???

When I try to imagine the author saying the name out loud, I get: 住一起苦

[imron]

Or maybe it's something to do with *his* name. After all, Roan is only one letter away from 软

[外国赤佬]

Sheeku immediately reminded me of 屎裤 (crapped pants). Eww.

[abcdefg]

#23 -- A name change does not sound likely.

My heroine’s original name was Sheeku. But, I got a lot of that doesn’t sound very Chineesy from every side. So, I went shopping for another one. Only, no matter what name I found, nothing fit this character like Sheeku did. Maybe it was me, I don’t know, but all I know, when it came down to it, I thought, I want her name to be Sheeku!

So, I had a great idea when I was going over possible Chinese names. And the one I finally settled on is: Zhu-Yi chi-Ku.

What a huge and difficult name, right? And it made perfect sense that Roan, the hero, would shorten it to Sheeku. Hahahahaha. Broke my arm patting myself on the back for that trick.

[carlo]

ちょっと待ってください。Couldn’t the heroine be from Guangdong or HK? Maybe a pretty name like 朱怡汐 (IIRC zyu1 yi4 zik6) could save the day.

[luozhen]

This is why people self-publish. It sounds like a real problem, but it's probably just a stupid editor.

[HusbandOfWuhan]

If you're writing a book, you should have power over what you write because it's imaginary not real. Even in reality, you can get all sorts of Asian people and Asian women, why do they all have to behave like either Asian or American? Why can't they just be themselves with BOTH Asian and Western characteristics?

But why does your book have to mention that she is Asian?

Do Chinese authors write books and particularly point its protagonists out to be white or Asian? No.

They just talk about the person for who they are, where they were born, where they grew up and what languages they speak and which one they speak best.

Why does there need to be a mention that her English is not fluent? Is that feature necessary to the romantic plot?

Why couldn't the Caucasian's Chinese be less than fluent as well?

You may consider these social dynamics for your novel.

[abcdefg]

But why does your book have to mention that she is Asian?

Because the name of the book is "Devil wants a China Doll."

http://azureboone.wordpress.com/2012/04/14/devil-wants-a-china-doll-meet-the-heroine/

[Guest realmayo]

Do Chinese authors write books and particularly point its protagonists out to be white or Asian?

Erm. Yes.

[msittig]

[EDIT: never mind!]

[abcdefg]

This project is much farther along than some of us may have initially realized. It's due to be finished and published next month.

Pretty sure the author wasn't really seeking advice, and was just after some free internet publicity and "buzz."

So, I’m off to begin publicizing via networking. I’ll keep things updated and hot until the book release.

[Demonic_Duck]

So... it's basically Twilight with slanty eyes? Sounds riveting.

[jbradfor]

Pretty sure the author wasn't really seeking advice, and was just after some free internet publicity and "buzz."

Could be I guess. However, it's pretty clear the author has no intention of making an "authentic" Asian character, and just has her own stereotypes based on her very limited knowledge. Doesn't exactly make me want to run out and buy the book. Then again, I'm not her target demographic either, so she won't care what I think..

[陳德聰]

So... it's basically Twilight with slanty eyes? Sounds riveting.

Hey now, that might be offensive to some of her readers.

Better call them almond-shaped eyes.

[Azure Boone]

Very sorry for how long it's taken me to get back to this. When I posted this, we were in the "middle" of edits and I do have a book 2 and 3, so, contrary to a few of the responses, this wasn't just promotional. Yes, I do promote, I have to, there's no crime in that.

All the Asian details are given that are pertinent, when the Caucasian hero describes her, it's in a scene where he's studying her. He's in love with her, so yeah, it's all positive, not negative.

This story is written in the male pov, first person, so, upon first meeting her, he internalizes a lot of questions, but never is her English addressed verbally or internally, he doesn't have a problem with it, I just show it. But it was mentioned the second it hit the page, it being a problem. But according to the plot, she shouldn't be fluent in English, and like somebody said, if it's logical, it's fine, which was my thought.

Somebody else pointed out, sorry I can't remember names, that people are either very insensitive or overly sensitive and I believe it's a matter of business this whole not offending anybody bit. But the debatable thing was "what" is considered offensive?

Like another one suggested, just make the Chinese person a guy and that would take care of it, and I think she's right. But it's far too late for that kind of change. I appreciate all of the input, I was honestly wondering for personal reasons so that I know.

Sheeku may not be an authentic Chinese sounding name, but her real name was too long and difficult for the hero to pronounce, so he nicknames her Sheeku, thereby employing the whole justification.

And the Asian store bit, since it's told in the hero's pov, it's how he refers to it, he doesn't know the culture well enough to single out or name specifics as far as using proper terms. Nor could i have her think it since it's in first person, hero pov. But that would've been nice to have her ooh and ahh and think something like what was mentioned. Almond shaped eyes is cliche, but men are often cliche, what would a man call it? I had to be true to his voice as much as I could, cliches and all. He's not super descriptive, he's a guy. He does have his voice and it does come out in other ways, but not so much in that department. The fanciest he gets is calling purple lavender. And that's pushing it. He's just not the kind of character to mess with the frills of any one thing.

But thank you all for your responses. It's my job to continue researching and I'm learning as I go. I appreciate all the help

[Azure Boone]

To all the rude posters, you're a poor reflection of your heritage. 陳德聰

[imron]

but her real name was too long and difficult for the hero to pronounce

Yes, but as I mentioned earlier her 'real' name wasn't Chinese sounding either. Plus Chinese people don't have long names. Usually they are only 2-3 syllables long. 4 syllables or longer (like the name you mentioned on your website) is practically unheard of. I'm not going to say you'll *never* see a 4 syllable name, but definitely in the 10+ years since I started learning Chinese (including 6 years spent in China) I never met or heard of a Chinese person with a 4 syllable name (people from ethnic minorities excepted).

Having said that, I'm sure someone will chip in and say 'oh, but there's this Chinese person with a 4 syllable name', but the fact is it's so uncommon that 4 syllable names appear as distinctly non-Chinese.

[Glenn]

I thought carlo's idea -- the (fictitious?) Cantonese name 朱怡汐 (IIRC zyu1 yi4 zik6) -- was a good one, but you can't really get "Sheeku" out of that. Or maybe you could. I guess he could be not-so-aurally gifted or something, just not good at picking out unfamiliar sounds, so he ends up running the whole thing together and settling on "Sheeku".

[Azure Boone]

accidentally posted twice, computer froze so i redid the darn post.

[Azure Boone]

I really want to thank you guys for all the input. I did follow the recipes listed to create an authentic Asian heroine that matched my plot. If she wasn't fluent, there is a good reason why. Her name could have been shortened had i checked this link sooner. I JUST turned in the final line edit.

As for as the paranormal aspect. She has blue eyes and prophetic abilities. Because she predicted the death of important people when she was very young, they began to think she was possessed with the spirit of Genghis Khan and that he was stuck between both worlds and angry. In fear, they placed a seal over her soul to trap the demon so he couldn't escape into the world and go on a killing spree. Her uncle, who is wealthy and powerful exploits her gifts, planning to force her into a marriage to his son via the seal they place on her which he puts in the fine print will only work if she marries into the blood line (his son) when she turns 18. To do this, he has her father put in prison in China under bogus charges and becomes the caretaker of the wife and heroine, bringing them to America to live until it's time to fulfill the contract. But a master of Wu-Shu learns of her demise and secretly trains her in this art from when she is a child so that she can escape before she is forced into this marriage.

Which is where the hero comes in. He is truly possessed by the demon Ashmodai and ends up helping her. He usually can't be around women, but her power seems to be immune to the demon's lure. Well he falls in love with her because he can't normally be around women at all without damning them. (I'm not going to go into the detail of how that all works, too lengthy) He thinks she's this helpless little China Doll and that all the stuff about her having a demon is crap. He ends up marrying her to save her from marrying her abusive cousin only to find out that things are hardly what he thought where her power is concerned. That's about it. The two main conflict is the hero becoming a bigger threat to her than her uncle when her own power begins to glitch as she falls in love with him, thereby putting her at risk with his demon. The second conflict is her uncle taking revenge for her escape and holding her mother hostage until she complies. So, it ends in this huge underground fight with the hero and the heroine fighting to the death against others in this demon of wars the uncle arranges, winner take all demonic powers via a forbidden ritual. Sorry so long, but I wanted to give you guys the details since you were kind enough to contribute such awesome advice.

Thanks again