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The book industry uses race and ethnicity as marketing tools. Theory says that it helps identify the market demographic. This rather quaint view of modern readers adds another dimension to the belief that the industry is run by sales people, not those with any literary inclinations. Cynical as one may be about the ability of the market to comprehend the basic desire to read a decent book, these sales methods are pretty common. So the industry isn't being discriminatory as such, just running on its treadmill.

The sales pitch, however, can be another thing. There remains the "novelty" of ethnicity to Western market concepts. Somehow, "they" have succeeded in writing a book! They even have a culture, and opinions, and we've found it, and published it! How sweet. Nice of the industry to catch up on this bit of information. This is the destructive part of the equation. Life on the reservation, life in the ghetto, life as a refugee, life during the Cultural Revolution Whatever the subject, some of the most brutal of human experiences are categorized by this weird demographic approach. It's a sort of colonial approach, Victorian patronization.

Typically, it also avoids entirely the facts, and doesn't seem to have quite figured out that the readership is so big because of some real interest. The history of "ethnic" literature is pretty impressive. Since the early days in which non-European writers, artists and other media started to make an impact, the tide of pure revelation and humanization which they started has probably done more to break down stereotypes and conceptual blindness than anything else. The advent of the ethnic authors was a true revelation, and sold accordingly.

The readers don't seem to see "ethnic" literature as anything but human experience, and nor do many authors. To Western readers, it's a new frontier, a world they don't know. It's hard to overestimate the impact of reading some of those books. For me, even my admittedly limited reading was a life changing event. I read Chinese, Australian Aboriginal, Native American culture, and a smattering of some others, like candy. Can't get enough of it. New perspectives, different ideas, it's a range of experience which it would be otherwise impossible to know.

It's had an impact on my writing, too. Respect. I have learned, partly through shock, and partly through some eventual understanding. As a white Australian writer, I would not, at gunpoint, put words into the mouth of even a fictional Aboriginal character, in one of my books. I don't, in my opinion, have the right. Australian Aboriginal authors happen to be very articulate people, and don't need (or deserve) one of "us" messing things up. Ethnic literature has the role of authenticity, and that's a truly priceless contribution. The world doesn't need any more third hand versions of humanity. Literature certainly doesn't. Fiction is bad enough without descending to such depths.

It's a matter of opinion if it could ever again be as bad as it was, like the old ethnic myths. Those old enough will remember the mindless caricatures of other races which used to exist. The level of pure, unadulterated ignorance was nothing less than grotesque, by current standards. There was literally not one un-slandered, un-denigrated, race or ethnicity on the face of the Earth. Literature has changed, and the mindsets have changed. The industry is way behind the times in assuming that reader demographics can be defined, or confined, like that. Even if it was an industry-wide world-view, it's way past its expiry date. This is a global audience, and it has its own needs and priorities. Ignorance is not an option.

Learn more about this author, Paul Wallis.
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