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June 21, 2007
Authentic Anyone
'If you are white and middle-class, it seems, you are allowed to be an artist; if you are Asian, you must be authentic... The publishing world wants Asian writers it can promote as authentic. Can they not be allowed to have imaginations? Can they not be allowed to simply tell stories?' read rest of Sarfraz Manzoor's article here
Much of the cult of 'authenticity' is expected by Asians themselves and yet, if an Asian artist goes bananas over the All Mighty M's, mangoes and monkeys and masalas (and mandirs, and bangles, and mosques and saris, and mystics and recipes, and mehndi and sequins oh my), then they're selling out, being exotic, unauthentic if you will. So what's the fine line between doing it and over doing it and who ultimately gets to set rules for something so subjective?
Posted by Soniah Kamal at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)