Books about your country but written by foreign authors

[Draculus-del-Viafat]

Okay, we are all aware of fictional world with countries or kingdoms that don't exist in our reality. We also now that many writers tend to write stories about their home countries, because they know them better than any other country. But what about authors who set their stories in foreign lands where they've never lived, or even never visited? When you see a foreigner write books about your country, how do you feel about it? Annoyed, angry, interested, or couldn't you care less? Please let me know. Personally I don't really trust foreign authors to write books about my motherland, because I think they can't know enough, but something makes me feel like it's a stupid stereotype of mine.

 

[idaeasthesia]

When you write something about a place familiar to you, it is writing from the inside in, a self to self process. For having a foreigner write about my country, I would see it as an outside-in process, a self to other's process.

In all honestly, inaccuracy is almost bound to happen, especially if somebody does not know their subject well. I don't care how twisted their narrative is on my country or any particular country really, id rather just look at the accuracy of their content. Having inaccuracies in your content, especially of a real-life place or event where sources of information are available to be utilized really just shows how incompetent a writer is in fact-checking their content. in fact, you may see a lot of journalists falling into this trap, providing unsupported criticism and raw emotions only to eat their words later on.

 

[Ekfreet]

Nowadays with the internet, the holy grail of information, it's quite hard to get these inaccuracies unless you are actively trying to fuck it up. Or simply don't bother to look up info.

I read quite a lot of books, and the only times I was peeved by inaccuracies/racism/stereotypes were by the hands of some Japanese and Chinese web/light novel writers. Which isn't really that surprising as these types of stories tend to be really low quality.

 

[Monk_Origins]

My country isn't very well known, so it is rarely mentioned anywhere. But that one time... I still get angry when I think about it
My country is in a region with 2 more similar countries, and has a feud with one of them. Some random Chinese author on Webnovel(Qidian) thought 'Hey, what a great region to base my 21st century kingdom building novel!', and decided to paint all 3 nation as a den of thieves that are worth nothing and lives a medieval life. And of course, it is still up on qidian.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

To fully understand another country, you need to speak first and foremost its language. Translations don't suffice. I observed this a lot in history books.

Language is not just a matter of simple communication, but also a matter of culture and mentality. To understand a nation, you need to understand their language.

 

[yansusustories]

To be honest, I can't remember ever seeing a book set in my country that was written by a foreigner. But then again, I can only remember a handful of books set in my country that was written by natives as well so I guess it's not that surprising.
If I saw one and there were inaccuracies though, I think I wouldn't mind too much if it was smaller things. Like, yeah, it's easy to find out the general history of a country or the current political situation, the average weather of a certain month or the geography of specific places ... any major information really. But even though we do have the internet with lots of information available, it is very easy to get the small stuff wrong simply because you often don't realize how they might differ in another country.

My favorite example of this is the local traffic in the capitals. If you wrote a contemporary novel set in one, you'd likely check how people got around, right? And then there might even be a scene set in a train or subway station or something like that. Sounds easy, right? You just need the right station your character will depart from and where they go and maybe the specific name of how people call the subway in that country for immersion's sake. Then, you just have to have your character walk into the station, take out their phone or get their ticket, validating it at the turnstiles and go to the right platform. They'll wait for the subway to arrive, those security doors will slide to the side, everyone pours out and then the character will go in and sit down.
Sounds like a pretty universal experience, right? You couldn't get anything wrong there, right?
Well, you knew from the beginning that it wasn't so you probably looked out for what might be wrong with that. In fact, we don't have security glass doors at the subway (because who needs to prevent suicide, right?). Actually, if it's one of the old subways, not even their doors would open automatically. Oh, and those turnstiles I mentioned? Saw those on a vacation one year for the first time in my life and was pretty shocked because why the fuck don't we have them? They're such a smart invention. Pretty sure dodging the fares would be reduced by at least 50% if we had them.

So, no universal experience after all. But, honestly, most people would not google this kind of thing because they won't even think of how this might or might not be different from where they live. If you only ever see subway stations with turnstiles in your life, you're not going to consider there might be others out there (be honest, that's one of the last things you'd ponder).
In fact, even if you know it might be different because you've seen lots of stations in different countries, it's often difficult to find out what exactly the situation at a certain station is like in another country. You can google it but you'll still need a photo or video of that specific station (because no, not all stations are the same even in one country) and after looking through hours of material you sometimes might still not have a really satisfying answer.
And no, I'm not joking. I've been looking through material from train stations or public places to figure out whether they have turnstiles and things like that. It's not a very rewarding experience, I can tell you that. So, honestly, I don't fault authors for not paying attention to every single, little detail. As long as they get the major stuff right, I'm good. Details are nice but I'm not going to burn any books because they aren't 100% true.

 

[Rinne]

As someone from a country that gets portrayed quite a lot in a variety of media, it's mostly mixed feelings I have about it.

Books, movies, games, etc that are portraying it as a focus are usually things I avoid. Because often it's either "Oh my god, all of you have to die!" or "Oh my god, let me worship you!" Neither of which are really things I want to see or read. Disregarding that they are usually so inaccurate that it hurts. Not all, of course, but quite a few. A few too many. We got so much interesting history and culture but everyone always portrays the same things all over again. I get that it is comparatively recent history but jeez...
There are a few that are portraying it quite well but they're unfortunately rare.

Then there are those where it is just mentioned on the side or where it is at least not the focus. These are usually hit or miss. If the author researched a little and is actually writing something halfway accurate, then I'll definitely be happy and smile at it. But if it is just the same few stereotypes all over again, then that tends to annoy me quite a lot. Or if someone threw a bit of our language into it because they believe it's cool. Quite often it is just cringey as hell or so mangled I can barely read it.
Japanese novels are a major culprit in this. Hasn't been that long that I read a novel that was quite directly insulting our food culture. I had the mind to close the book right then and there and throw it away, to be honest. Yes, nice that you don't like our bread but that's no reason to insult it. I hate japanese bread as well, thank you.
Being on the receiving end of the same few stereotypes all the time isn't fun.
On the other hand, I also had the situation where I read a Japanese webnovel and it was referencing a bit about German customs. And more importantly, about the stereotypes they have towards the Germans, or more like, towards other cultures and countries in general. That was a pleasant surprise to read.

In general, if they are just going for a reference to it, I'll be happy to read or see it as long as it's appropriate for the story and not some random stereotype either.
If it's a book where my country is the focus... If it is about experiencing the culture and doing actual research, then yay, I'll be happy to read it. I remember some years ago I found a guideline of an American professor where he listed a lot of cultural and behavioural differences his students would have to take note of if they came to Germany. It was a real interesting read and also quite enlightening. There's a lot of behavioural differences you don't even really think about but when it's pointed out like that you're like "Yeah, that's right. We do that." Seeing your own country from a different perspective like that can be a very valuable experience.

But if it is yet another one about WW2, making it a major theme... it has to be damn good for me to bother with it. Because more often than not, it is just riddled with stereotypes or the author's own personal views, which obviously tend to be of political nature, thanks to the subject. And bringing real world politics into this, is an easy way to piss people off.
Parodies and comedies are usually fine by me, though. But those tend to put some research into it either way. Otherwise, their jokes might not work that well.

To sum it up, if there is some actual research behind it and avoids the typical stereotypes we have heard thousands of times already and could be avoided by a 3-minute google search, then it gets my approval. I am not expecting a totally accurate portrayal of the entirety of German culture. That's probably impossible anyway, considering that some regions are vastly different from others, despite being only a few kilometres away from each other. To add on, there's a lot of obscure culture you can't even find on the internet. Not even the german-speaking internet. Speaking from experience.
But as long as it is somewhat accurate, that's fine with me. And as long as it isn't yet another WW2 portrayal that nobody needed because there are already millions of them. At least, I don't need them.

 

[Discount_Blade]

Welp, in my country, foreigners in fiction think we are all blonde, and the women all have massive breasts. So go figure. Which neither of those would necessarily be a bad thing. Sadly though, it just isn't true.

 

[Nakakure]

Welp, in my country, foreigners in fiction think we are all blonde, and the women all have massive breasts. So go figure. Which neither of those would necessarily be a bad thing. Sadly though, it just isn't true.

which country?

 

[AkalE]

For a ln instance of a sucessful author writing about a different country is Rudyard Kipling. I'm sure most of you have read the Jungle Book too.

The reason why people don't like portrayal of their national identity by foreigners is because we as humans inherently find outside criticism distasteful. We know our own flaws and don't mind speaking about them, but when someone on the outside mentions of them, we get defensive.

I will talk about fiction writers, since academic works are a different issue all together.
I would suggest webfiction authors to err on the side of caution. We are not professionals and we way too easily fa into the trap of writing a stereotype, if for nothing else then to keep the daily release schedule.

We may not like to do it, but we do it all the time. Think about the dense Jap MC. The loud American. The fancy named Brit. The IT guy Indian.
Those things are so typical that we don't think twice before using them.

If we do write a modern day story with a foreign setting, it is best to keep the plot character centred. And don't generalise.

Also, there are exceptions. If anyone wants to write a webfiction with a foreign setting, you might want to read The Metaworld Chronicles.

 

[TDM]

For a ln instance of a sucessful author writing about a different country is Rudyard Kipling. I'm sure most of you have read the Jungle Book too.

Kipling was born in India and lived there most of his life. He briefly moved to England, to go to school, but returned about 20 years later, lived for another decade in India, and the moved to Vermont where he wrote Jungle Book. That said, he was, in fact, a white guy; the fact that he was white didn't affect his ability to observe and artistically (and arguably accurately) portray people of all backgrounds who lived in India (though not everyone would agree that he did that).

 

[NotaNuffian]

Well, I have read works like what OP states and even if somehow the foreign writer is capable to portray the culture correctly, no swearing or bad image, the writer can still get burned just because the reader doesn't like the work due to his nationality *cough* mainland readers insulting japanese mangaka for showing the Beijing Opera *cough*

I live in a relatively obscured nation and to be honest, the most insulting I got from reading a CN novel is how my nation is full of criminals and mafia (might be true) and definitely a den of black magic (which is not true, maybe) and that the place is vastly inferior to the Mainland, cultural and magic-wise (wtf?!). Cue a three long chapters of how the great MC rid the world of my country and its pathetic citizens...

As far as things go, I don't really care, stereotyping is common and everyone has a standard, some would feel more superior than others, I have the tendency to put my brain to sleep when reading such works and drops them if the problem persists.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Since I live in a third-world country people imagine 80% of our people to be aboriginal shitholes who barely evolved past spear chucking. Any city we have is just gonna be depicted as a cleaner but still fucked up version of Brazil.

If anything, I want an answer from the perspective of a JAPANESE.

How does it feel to be portrayed as a literal land of absolute freedom where women are freethinking enough to join a harem and toxic work culture doesn't exist?

 

[Discount_Blade]

Well, I have read works like what OP states and even if somehow the foreign writer is capable to portray the culture correctly, no swearing or bad image, the writer can still get burned just because the reader doesn't like the work due to his nationality *cough* mainland readers insulting japanese mangaka for showing the Beijing Opera *cough*

I live in a relatively obscured nation and to be honest, the most insulting I got from reading a CN novel is how my nation is full of criminals and mafia (might be true) and definitely a den of black magic (which is not true, maybe) and that the place is vastly inferior to the Mainland, cultural and magic-wise (wtf?!). Cue a three long chapters of how the great MC rid the world of my country and its pathetic citizens...

As far as things go, I don't really care, stereotyping is common and everyone has a standard, some would feel more superior than others, I have the tendency to put my brain to sleep when reading such works and drops them if the problem persists.

Sounds like Chinese talking about Taiwanese. Have met Chinese that genuinely found Taiwan to be a cesspool despite the fact they had never been to it.

 

[Discount_Blade]

Since I live in a third-world country people imagine 80% of our people to be aboriginal shitholes who barely evolved past spear chucking. Any city we have is just gonna be depicted as a cleaner but still fucked up version of Brazil.

If anything, I want an answer from the perspective of a JAPANESE.

How does it feel to be portrayed as a literal land of absolute freedom where women are freethinking enough to join a harem and toxic work culture doesn't exist?

Have met numerous Japanese women when I lived in NYC. These Japanese women do NOT like the Japanese men from Japan. In fact, they've insulted them for their lack of "manliness". They hate Japan's work culture which makes them almost completely incapable of being good parents since they spend more time at work then in the home. This is just from 4-5 different Japanese families that I met who came from Japan. Two were from Tokyo, one was from a city called Gifu, and the other said she was from Shikoku but I later learned that was one of the larger islands of Japan, not the name of a town or city or anything. So idk.

 

[TotallyHuman]

It would probably be about as accurate as my own depiction in most cases as I myself have no confidence to say that I know my country well

 

[BenJepheneT]

I live in a relatively obscured nation and to be honest, the most insulting I got from reading a CN novel is how my nation is full of criminals and mafia (might be true) and definitely a den of black magic (which is not true, maybe) and that the place is vastly inferior to the Mainland, cultural and magic-wise (wtf?!). Cue a three long chapters of how the great MC rid the world of my country and its pathetic citizens...

Let me guess: Southeast Asia?

 

[YuriDoggo]

My country isn't very well known, so it is rarely mentioned anywhere. But that one time... I still get angry when I think about it
My country is in a region with 2 more similar countries, and has a feud with one of them. Some random Chinese author on Webnovel(Qidian) thought 'Hey, what a great region to base my 21st century kingdom building novel!', and decided to paint all 3 nation as a den of thieves that are worth nothing and lives a medieval life. And of course, it is still up on qidian.

Do it back

 

[miyoga]

Speaking as a reader, not as a writer, I'm always interested in seeing what other people believe to be true about a country. In China, for example, most people believe that all Americans are tall and/or fat, love to eat hamburgers and own at least 1 gun. While most people would agree that this isn't true of the majority of the US population. This comes from a lack of information provided and an overabundance of media promoting this image.

Having spoken to a published writer (both under his name and as a ghost writer for a popular franchise), his approach is to do the proper due diligence for his story before attempting to write the (complete) story. In his career, he's: spoken to Yakuza members in Japan, trained in various martial forms from around the world, visited the places he's written about, spoken to locals (either on his own or through a translator)... Point is that he'd done his research before writing the story he wanted to tell in order to minimize the inaccuracies. His current project is a series of books set in ancient China, however, he himself is from Canada.

It may help, but as an outsider looking into a place, there will always be some sort of inaccuracy or inconsistency due to the lack of intimate familiarity. this lack of familiarity can then lead to discussion and understanding by both the reader and author. The author can learn from readers of the locale in which the story takes place while the reader gains the understanding of how others view either their country, their province/state or even their particular community. Just as an example, If you think of Perth, Montreal, St. Louis, Busan, and Johannesburg, what comes to mind about each place? I can guarantee that there would be more than a few misnomers even among our eclectic group of readers and writers here on SH.

 

[thedude3445]

Have met numerous Japanese women when I lived in NYC. These Japanese women do NOT like the Japanese men from Japan. In fact, they've insulted them for their lack of "manliness". They hate Japan's work culture which makes them almost completely incapable of being good parents since they spend more time at work then in the home. This is just from 4-5 different Japanese families that I met who came from Japan. Two were from Tokyo, one was from a city called Gifu, and the other said she was from Shikoku but I later learned that was one of the larger islands of Japan, not the name of a town or city or anything. So idk.

This post is a good example of the way that stereotypes can adversely affect an author. If their experience with people of another culture are people who are going around spouting off big things like "Japanese men are bad and effeminate" it can influence authors to perceive that to actually be true and put it into their stories. With Japan in particular, so many people in this side of the web fiction world misrepresent the country in massive ways that it baffles me, and I imagine it's even worse for countries with less pop culture exposure.