Thread by @thebencheah

One of my pet peeves in #fantasy fiction is cultural imposition. That is, the writer imposing elements from his own culture into another culture that has no reason to have these elements.

It's a depressing common phenomenon -- and very difficult for writers to overcome. /1

In Japanese light novels and manga, you see non-Japanese characters acting in Japanese ways. These include:

-using Japanese-exclusive honorifics
-bowing the way Japanese do
-Japanese cuisine in an environment that does NOT support such cuisine
-Japanese power distance

/2

If a story is set in another world, with its own people, culture, history and geography, why would the characters think, talk and act like Japanese?

Isekai'd Japanese would do this, but why would natives of the world use the customs of another world they don't know? /3

The easy answer is that the author is pandering to the audience.

He uses terms and culture the audience is familiar with to connect with the audience.

The cynical answer is that he's just plain lazy.

This approach undermines the story and the genre. /4

Fantasy -- especially fantasy set in a radically different world and culture -- is a departure from the known and the everyday.

That setting has its own culture, history, notable people, geography, climate, all of which leave their mark on its inhabitants. /5

Taking the norms and customs of this world and inserting them into the fantasy world undercuts suspension of disbelief.

It's a flag that the reader is talking to the audience instead of letting the audience figure things out on his own.

/6

When taking a real-world culture as the inspiration for your setting, remember that the devil is in the details.

Etiquette, values, language, history, clothing, cuisine, everything that marks a culture distinct from others.

The little things make or break a story. /7

In my own work, when writing about non-Western peoples and cultures, I do my best to write the story as if it were translated into English from the native language.

And I do everything I can to preserve the essence of the spotlit culture and people.

It can be hard.

/8

In my webserial REALM OF BEASTS, the hero describes a name like this:

"‘Liu’ is ‘flow’ from ‘flowing water’, ‘Fang’ means ‘fragrance’.”

Here's what he actually said:

"流水的流， 芳香的芳."

Two different sentences. Two different sentence constructions.

/9

This is how Chinese people describe names in situations when they can't draw the characters.

Chinese is a tonal language. Many words sound like each other. To figure out which word is being spoken, you need to draw reference from the other words around them.

/10

When identifying a specific word, Chinese speakers will use a phrase that includes that word to clarify which word is being spoken.

This is NOT something you will see in an alphabet-based language like English. They will just spell the word. /11

You can't directly translate Chinese to English while still retaining the feel and euphony of the Chinese.

If you're writing for an English-speaking audience, they won't know that 流 is pronounced 'liu' and means 'flow'.

You must account for your readers.

/12

In my planned #wuxia series, everyone calls the hero Swordbreaker because of his signature weapon.

In Mandarin, it is written as 鐧.

But you can't go around calling people 鐧. For one thing, the hearer won't know which character is used.

For another, it is dysphonic. /13

In Chinese, his nickname is 破剑王. Break-Sword-King -- King of Breaking Swords.

While it sounds cool in Chinese, 'King of Breaking Swords' is too long for a nickname in English, or even a martial title.

Hence, 'swordbreaker' -- when the text calls for English. /14

Translation and localisation can be tricky.

On one hand, you must honour the setting of the story.

On the other, you must ensure your audience knows what you're saying.

The devil is in the details.

To achieve the highest level of writing craft, do both.

/end