Cultural Appropriation

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In today’s modern world, fiction writers can write about anything from stories in space to stories in a small town in the middle of nowhere and who is stopping them? Well there maybe one thing: cultural appropriation. According to Maisha Z. Johnson, cultural appropriation is a “power dynamic in which members of a dominant culture take elements from a culture of people who have been systematically oppressed by that dominant group”. Since it is a complex issue and has lots of dimensions to it, it is hard to point out if something is appropriation or appreciation. In their U Student Affairs Diversity Council newsletter, Amerique Phillips defines appreciation as “honoring and respecting another culture and its practices, as a way to gain knowledge …show more content…

How can we point out what is right or wrong in writing where there is often no picture depiction like in TV shows and movies. In today’s society, writers are writing for a diverse audience, and every reader , including myself, are looking for representation of themselves in those characters. How can a writer write about people without offending anyone? And the biggest question of all is how can writer avoid appropriation? These questions will not only help in starting a conversation on where does the line lie, but also help writers reach out to a larger audience without offending anyone. In this argument, I’m going to show you how writing creatively should not be the only priority, a writer should also consider different reader’s reactions to their stories which they can do by looking at the 3 S’s and how apply them to their …show more content…

We can apply this to fiction writing by looking at if the characters created are unique or just another version of the stories that have been told by that culture itself. While writing, a writer needs to consider the “difference between inspiration and similarity”(Collins). Inspiration is when one takes an idea and makes it their own, while also considering the other S’s , while similarity is when one would copy it, making little to know difference in characterization compared to the culture, this could lead to stereotyping and the writer could receive negative

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