Author Jade Chang’s mission to smash Chinese stereotypes in literature, and have a laugh
The Wangs vs. the World author, who appeared at the 2017 Hong Kong International Literary Festival, wants Asian characters to be written more authentically because there are more than just ‘stories of pain’ to be told
There is a sea change under way in the publishing industry. For years publishers have taken a very narrow view of Asian literature, but that is finally shifting.
“A lot of people have basically been told, ‘Your characters don’t feel Asian enough’. What the publishers mean is that if they are Indian they are not eating enough mangoes, or if they are Asian they are not eating enough dumplings,” Chinese-American author Jade Chang told the Hong Kong International Literary Festival on Saturday.
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“People want to see these markers of ‘Asianness’. I knew that was what publishers wanted and my reaction was – fine, lets just march in there and blow the whole thing up.”
The 39-year-old writer whose debut novel, The Wangs vs. the World, is a New York Times Editors’ Choice and was named one of the best books of 2016 by Buzzfeed, NPR, Elle and Amazon, says publishers have typically wanted two kinds of immigrant stories: either books about China’s exotic past – empresses, concubines and foot binding – or novels about struggle and how hard it is for a Chinese person in America to feel like they fit in.
“When those are the only stories that are told, there’s a sense of ‘Aren’t we being so thoughtful helping these people share these stories of pain’. But the effect of it is, ‘Look, all these people have are these stories of pain’. Therefore it means that they are not people who have hopes, desires, joy, anger, cynical views of the world – every single human thing,” she says.
