How Do You Authentically Incorporate Diverse Cultures into Your Writing?
Literature Experts
How Do You Authentically Incorporate Diverse Cultures into Your Writing?
In our quest to explore the art of writing with cultural authenticity, we've gathered insights from literature experts, including Senior Editors and Staff Writers. They share their wisdom on everything from living amongst diverse cultures to honoring foodways with humility. Here are the top four methods they recommend for weaving elements of diverse cultures into your writing respectfully and authentically.
- Live Among Different Cultures
- Engage with Cultural Experts
- Collaborate for Authentic Representation
- Honor Foodways with Humility
Live Among Different Cultures
As Jacqueline Woodson once said, if you want to tell someone else's story, you need to have 'sat down at the table with us and dipped the bread of your own experiences into our stew.' That is to say, the only way you can incorporate elements of diverse cultures into your writing in a respectful and authentic way is to first incorporate elements of diverse cultures into your LIFE in a respectful and authentic way. There's no shortcut to this; it requires a lifetime of deliberately attending diverse schools, traveling the world and meeting different people, eating at ethnic restaurants, living in diverse neighborhoods, celebrating other people's holidays with them, learning to speak other languages and dialects, and so on.
I work with authors writing outside their own experience all the time, and it's always easy to tell who has done the work and who hasn't. The biggest tell? Presenting what's 'other' as other. Looking up a couple of quick facts online does not suffice for research; you have to both understand and respect another culture as being just as complex as your own and not something that can be reduced to a few trivia items. The most respectful and authentic portrayals are those that indicate that the writer sees everyone as equally human, and you can't do that unless you have gotten past anthropology or tourism and really sat at the table with everyone else.
Engage with Cultural Experts
Incorporating diverse cultures into writing starts with thorough research and cultural sensitivity. Connect with cultural experts and community members to gain authentic insights and avoid stereotypes. Read books, watch films, and engage in conversations with people from the culture you're writing about. Travel to cultural hubs and participate in local traditions and events. Portray characters and traditions with respect and accuracy, paying close attention to cultural nuances. This approach ensures that your representation is authentic, respectful, and enriches your narrative with genuine cultural elements.
Collaborate for Authentic Representation
It takes careful research, sensitivity, and collaboration to integrate elements of diverse cultures into writing respectfully and authentically. Whenever possible, speak with people from the culture you're writing about. Their insights and feedback are invaluable. Consult academic works, first-hand accounts, and contemporary perspectives. Identify common stereotypes and clichés about the culture, present nuanced, multifaceted portrayals, and learn from your mistakes. Cultures differ in beliefs, practices, and individual experiences, so be kind with your words to those who hold opinions that differ from yours and whose beliefs you disagree with.
Honor Foodways with Humility
When I write about cultural foodways, I try to be mindful of the fact that I am not an expert in that particular cuisine. I aim to provide education and celebration for that food culture, and I point to others who are true experts in those food traditions. When I create a cultural recipe, I try to avoid claiming that my recipe is better or healthier in some way. My goal is to lift up global foodways and experts within those foodways, but to remain humble in my own knowledge. Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN, SharonPalmer.com