Plumbing the hivemind!

[oyceter]

1) So... does anyone have examples of sf/f books with third-culture kids, or anything resembling a third-culture kid?

A third-culture kid is basically someone who is born into one culture, raised in another, and then returns to the first culture or moves on to different cultures, thereby creating a "third culture" that is a mixture of the first two. Or something. The difference between a third-culture kid and an immigrant seems to be that last step of returning to the "original" culture and finding it foreign as well.

My one example so far is Temeraire, and that's a sort-of example.

2) Also, any examples of movies in which a white man goes into a non-white culture and saves it or somehow one-ups it? Or basically, movies set in non-white civilizations that still end up focusing on the white guy.

My current list:
- Last Samurai
- Dances with Wolves
- Kingdom of Heaven
- Glory
- Cry Freedom
- Blood Diamond
- Constant Gardener
- Geronimo
- The Last King of Scotland (critique + example of trope? Haven't seen it)
- Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (from current casting reports)
- Wind Talkers

Comments

[matt-ruff.livejournal.com]

Yes, but if that's the case, why is so much of the book focused on Blackthorne?

My understanding is that Clavell's initial inspiration was hearing about a real-life Blackthorne figure, an "English samurai" who became a trusted advisor to the Shogun Tokugawa. Given that that was Clavell's own hook into the story it makes sense that he'd use Blackthorne as a doorway and proxy for Western readers unfamiliar with 16th-century Japanese culture. (The fact that Clavell was himself a former British soldier who'd spent time as a prisoner of the Japanese no doubt had something to do with it too.)

Toranaga's ambition seems to be there solely to get Blackthorne entangled in stuff.

With respect, I disagree. What really strikes me about Shogun, particularly given its genesis, is the degree to which it's an ensemble piece. Blackthorne's a major character, and if you did a page count I don't doubt that he'd have more "stage time" than anyone else, but one of the reasons the book is so long is that it's not all about him -- the narrative is constantly switching to other characters' stories and perspectives, and not just the major players, either. Clavell tries, to an extent I find remarkable, to make even the background characters three-dimensional (that's not to say I love all his choices, but the effort strikes me as worth emulating).

Blackthorne is given as the main POV character because of the assumption that the white male American audience must have a POV character like them to get into something (like the most recent example of the casting for Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

I don't think these are comparable cases. Blackthorne's based on a real guy whose historical importance would merit his inclusion in the story even if he weren't the readers' tour guide. With the Wounded Knee movie, it sounds like they're pulling white people out of thin air.

Going back to your original post, one thing that occurred to me is that Shogun has a couple "third culture kids" in it -- the Japanese Jesuit brothers who were born in the home islands, travelled in Europe for eight years, and have now returned.

I'd also list Mariko as a pseudo-TCK. You're absolutely right that on one level she's there to be the tragic fantasy love object that every Western explorer needs to find, but I don't think her Christianity is a part of the fantasy. I think she's Christian because Clavell wanted at least one major viewpoint character who embodied the conflict between traditional Japanese mores and the new Christian values.

[oyceter]

Given that that was Clavell's own hook into the story it makes sense that he'd use Blackthorne as a doorway and proxy for Western readers unfamiliar with 16th-century Japanese culture. (The fact that Clavell was himself a former British soldier who'd spent time as a prisoner of the Japanese no doubt had something to do with it too.)

As you state, basing the story on the real-life stranded pilot is a narrative choice, and it's one that I disagree with. It would be absolutely fine on its own, but given the general trend toward the selection of white male characters as viewpoint characters for "foreign" societies, and the fact that Shougn probably is one of the only book that many Americans will read about Tokugawa Japan, fictional or non -- those are the things that I am protesting.

Also, I compared it to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee because the half-white protagonist that they chose was also based on a historical figure. So while they aren't exactly pulling white people out of the thin air, they are still making that same narrative choice to frame the story a la a white perspective.

I think this is something we are going to have to agree to disagree about.

[matt-ruff.livejournal.com]

I think this is something we are going to have to agree to disagree about.

Fair enough. And, by the way, I'd be interested in recommendations if there are other novels dealing with the Tokugawa Shogunate that you think are worth checking out.

[oyceter]

Sadly, I have read very few English novels on Japan that I would recommend... Actually, I can't think of anything off the top of my head right now. Hrm.

[matt-ruff.livejournal.com]

Hmm, looks like season 2 Heroes may fit the bill...

It's perverse of me, I know, but I'm already wondering if Hiro will meet up with Blackthorne's real-life counterpart (and what his superpower will be)...