2 | White-Dominated Cultural Appropriation in the Publishing Industry

2 | White-Dominated Cultural Appropriation in the Publishing Industry Zhinan Yu, Department of Communication This chapter seeks to explore cultural appropriation as a diverse, ubiquitous, and morally problematic phenomenon (Matthes, 2016, p. 344) emerging particularly in white writers’ novels. In approaching this goal, a case study based on English writer James Hilton’s best-known novel Lost Horizon (1933) will be given through addressing relevant theoretical concepts including imperialist literature, colonialism and orientalism. The case study aims at exemplifying how white-dominated cultural appropriation implemented by writer’s misuses and misperceptions toward Asian cultures. Then, in the second part of this chapter, multifaceted perspectives will be drawn into the discussion for giving cultural appropriation a further sight beyond the novel itself, and pay attention to the book publishing industry as an international yet still race-biased business in terms of globalization. Keywords: cultural appropriation; imperialist literature; white-dominated; Lost Horizon; book publishing; globalization. Introduction In a 2015 article published in The Guardian, novelist, essayist and literary critic Anjali Enjeti astutely asserted that writers of colour are “severely under-represented in the literary world”. In this piece, Enjeti chronicles a controversy over the Best American Poets 2015 anthology, wherein the volume’s editor, Sherman Alexie, decided to publish the poem “The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve” despite the author’s use of a racialized pseudonym. After selecting the poem, Alexie found out that the poem’s author, Yi-Fen Chou, was actually the Chinese pseudonym for Michael Derrick Hudson, a white man from Wabash, Indiana. In his bio as Yi-Fen Chou, the author indicates that this poem was rejected 40 times under his real name, but only rejected 9 times under his pen name, and he has realized he could Copyright © 2018 Yu. Cultural Appropriation in the Publishing Industry 12 increase his rate of publication under this pseudonym (bio cited in Spears, 2015). Using a pen name is common practice, to be sure, but a white man using a Chinese pseudonymn to increase publication rate is a form of cultural appropriation that suggests there is a perceived privilege in assuming a stolen ethnicity (Enjeti 2015). In a perhaps strange move, Alexie chose to publish the poem under the Chinese pseudonym, seemingly condoning an act of cultural appropriation on the part of Hudson. Alexie justified his actions, blaming himself for racial nepotism when selecting the poem, arguing that he was drawn to the poem “because of his own personal bias to publish people of colour”. Enjeti (2015) disagrees with the editor’s designation of “racial nepotism”, arguing that “Nepotism represents shared alliances and acts of favoritism among people in power. And in the publishing industry, people of colour do not have power”. For Enjeti, then, this collection an example of a publishing industry rife with discrimination and cultural appropriation. This chapter explores cultural appropriation and discrimination in the book publishing industry. In particular, it focuses on cultural appropriation as a diverse, ubiquitous, and morally problematic phenomenon in publishing (Matthes, 2016, p. 344), focusing on how white authors appropriate and often misrepresent non-white cultures. In approaching this goal, a case study based on English writer James Hilton’s best-known novel Lost Horizon (1933) will be invoked to help unpack relevant theoretical concepts including imperialist literature, colonialism and orientalism. Imperialist literature, according to Hall (1995) is a discursive frame referring to the ideology of colonialism, or white-centred expeditions that attempt to dominate the non-white cultures by propagandizing colonialist attitudes. Hall's study of culture and ideology is incredibly profound, and sparks further inquiries and debates between imperialist literature and individual and/or collective dignity within a culture that has been misappropriated. Lost Horizon offers a critical example in which we can see cultural appropriation served as Hilton’s colonial metaphor, fitting perfectly in the paradigm of imperialist literature. The second part of this chapter extends this narrative to the broader book publishing industry on a globalized scale. Drawing on Berry’s (2008) work on cross-cultural studies, this section will discuss racial discrimination in the industry (in general) and cultural appropriation (specifically) as a way to unpack the racial biases that dominate business practice. Moving through the Grey: Publishing in Action The Publishing Business: Transformations and Opportunities (ISI6314 – Winter 2018) Cultural Appropriation in the Publishing Industry 13 Cultural Appropriation and the Lost horizon A second, powerful strand of the English literary imagination to set beside the domestic novel: the male-dominated world of imperial adventure, which takes empire, rather than Middlemarch, as its microcosm…In this period, the very idea of adventure became synonymous with the demonstration of the moral, social and physical mastery of the colonizers over the colonized. – Stuart Hall (1995, p. 20-21) Cultural appropriation is a common phenomenon that can be pervasively seen in the literature and other forms of art. In an artistic and aesthetic sense, “cultural appropriation”, according to Young (2008) is defined as an act of borrowing specific cultural elements from other cultures and then incorporating those elements into the artists’ own artworks (p. 4). Especially in novels, as Young (2008, p. 31) claims, where cultural appropriation is more thoroughly conveyed because it is the thing that all novelists would do. Of course, the opening story about Hudson-as- Chou points to another form of cultural appropriation: a white man assuming the name, identity and cultural heritage of a marginalized minority writer. However, although cultural appropriation is such a commonplace in novels, since it always compounds ethical and cultural issues, it has become necessary to understand this concept as more than cultural borrowing but also a form of cultural misrepresentation. To a greater extent, cultural appropriation could place minority cultures in danger of being further misinterpreted and marginalized, and in this regard, Lutz (1990) gives the definition of cultural appropriation based on his aboriginal study, as part of a process of displacing people and history by other dominant cultural heritage (p. 167). No matter which angle you choose to approach cultural appropriation, cultural exploitation and domination will always be its intended ends. Written by James Hilton in 1933, Lost Horizon tells a fictional story about four westerners' fantastic expedition and journey in a remote valley (called “Blue Moon”) of Tibet. This novel achieved huge success and immediately became popular in western societies following publication and made into a film (also named Lost Horizon) in 1937. Impressively, the mysterious Tibetan valley in the story becomes embodied as the hidden mythical locus of Shambhala, as well as the idealized projection of a Chinese-style paradise, characterized as Moving through the Grey: Publishing in Action The Publishing Business: Transformations and Opportunities (ISI6314 – Winter 2018) Cultural Appropriation in the Publishing Industry 14 peaceful and transcendent, as having spectacular natural landscapes, and whose inhabitants enjoy longevity. This novel is the first document that narrates fantasies about Tibet and the myth of Shangri-La from a Westerners' perspective. But arguably, Hilton's imaginations and fantasies are not all positive, and the most obvious to detect is the persona setting of the major roles in this novel. Hugh Convey, one of the four foreign travellers, a veteran as well as the lover of Shangri- La who is assigned as the successor of the High Lama in Shangri-La at the end of the story. Charles Mallinson, a diplomat, who is also the only one desires to leave Shangri-La, but goes missing as a result. Henry Barnard, a fugitive who steals 100 million dollars, and finally decides to stay in Shangri-La for prospecting gold. Miss Roberta Brinklow, a Christian missionary who wants to remain in Shangri-La and preaches Christianity. Besides them, there are several Chinese characters should also be mentioned. Chang, the guide who leads the four Western travellers into Shangri-La and provides them much help. Lo-Tsen, a young and beautiful Tibetan girl, who falls in love with Mallinson and eventually leaves the valley with him. In this novel, the four protagonists more or less project Hilton's subtle colonizing attempts of Tibet. In the story, except Mallinson, the three other Westerners are willing to settle themselves in Shangri-La. Later, they even successfully proclaim their superior positions as whites. Convey is honoured as the new High Lama—the holiest religious leader, which implies he takes control of religion. Similarly, Brinklow's preaching also connotes religious imperialism of Christianity in local Tibet. Sadly, Chinese characters are not safe from Hilton's colonized depictions either; for example, Chang is good at speaking English, and Lo-Tsen (a Chinese girl who inhabits in such a hidden valley) can play the piano. From these descriptions, we can see even Hilton's imaginary wonderland is in the faraway East; white culture still inevitably embedded into Tibetans’ daily lives. As Said (1977, p.

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