What culture is she?

Question

A young woman I know is of Middle Eastern descent and wants to be an author.

She does not follow traditions or partake in culture from her family's origin country/culture.

She lives in USA.

Is she American because she lives there?

If so, should she choose a typically-American pen name?

Should she choose a typically-Middle Eastern name, similar to where her name came from?

Can she choose from whichever culture/nation is going to be viewing her work the most -- Chinese for donghwa, Korean for manhwa?

She has seen the case of Rachel Dolezal and is worried, especially being Middle Eastern, if she is found out maybe people will think she is a bad person. As her friend, I am pointing out it is better to do like JK Rowling and know your audience but I also do not write. I do not know. I ask because I do not know. :) Please help.

Answer 1

I think indeed how your friend identifies as a writer depends very much on what she writes and where she hopes to publish. But she needs to remember that her legal name will have to be known to a publisher and, should she be so lucky, a literary agent. Dolezal’s situation was very different and very complex. An authentic ethnic background may be more of an asset for getting published than a whitebread American identity.

The main thing your friend needs to figure out is what i is she is driven to share with the world. Then she can figure out how to go about sharing it.

Answer 2

The question of what culture she belongs to is a tricky one. The interest in tracing our ancestry and doing DNA tests has influenced our thinking on culture. Think of the ads you see for Ancestry.com. There was one with a man who thought his family was German; he became an expert in German dancing. Then he found out he was actually Scottish, so decided he needed to learn Scottish dances. There are several ads where black Americans trace their ancestry to a specific African nation and adopt that culture as their authentic culture. Culture is human-made and is an important part of our identity, but it is not the only part. I would encourage your friend to not think about herself or her writing in terms of culture. I would encourage her to find her authentic voice and write from that. It may take her a lot of time spent writing to find her authentic voice. It will be time well spent.