#colombian

WWC Follower Asks:

Hi! Im currently writing a story about an upper class Colombian girl (who lives in Colombia) who’s autistic and queer, and spends plenty of time online on fandom spaces. Due to the fact she spends most of her time on us-centric spaces, she has assimilated on aspects of US culture strongly, to the point her own thoughts are in English at the moment, as US-centric (or English speaking) communities of people with her same interests/neurodivergencies/sexual orientations are bigger than Latin American ones. This will causes her to have an identity crisis over where does she truly belong, as she doesn't feel that she fits traditional Colombian expectations (which is noted by people close to her) and she knows she will never fully “get” the people of her online spaces. I also must add she doesn't have a “traditionally” Colombian personality, as she’s quiet and nerdy. The issue comes with her character development, as i want her to come to terms with herself and find what she’s comfortable with culturally, but im scared this may end up on two routes: either the resolution implies she is not “Colombian enough” and she must correct herself for it and reject any aspect that's not Colombian (which is bad, as it implies there’s a right way to be Colombian) if she decides to embrace Colombian culture more, or the opposite but with us culture (which is even worse, as it can imply us culture is “better”, which is awfully colonialist). do you have any feedback regarding this? thank you. (clarifications out of submission: Im autistic and queer myself so i have no issue with that part, and I have consulted a colombian friend of mine for the story (which has been helpful, but they really emphasize the different cultures found on colombia and how departments sometimes seem like entirely different worlds, which makes me nervous. Aside from the fact culture regarding class differences works somewhat differently), but again, Colombian culture is very unfamiliar to me, so yeah)

Write your character's "specific" authentic self

I’m an Argentinian-American Latina, not Colombian, but I think I can help here! You seem to be asking about how to avoid stating there is a “right” way to be Colombian when you’re not from the culture, and don’t want to make all-encompassing generalizations? 

You’ll be able to fix this simply by getting more specific and stop talking in generalizations. Let me explain (and please bear with me a bit): 

Trigger Warning: Shakespeare slander ahead 

Specificity is universal. Let's look at two stories about vengeance: 

Shakespeare's Coriolanus, and Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus. Coriolanus is a very dry story about two war generals who want to f*ck, and the titular character wants to take revenge on “the people” of Rome. I care more about the plotline with the generals f*cking because I’ve seen them together. I know they’re rivals. There’s stakes there - they challenge each other. Who are these “people” of Rome that Coriolanus wants vengeance on for disrespecting him? IDK and I don’t care because these people are a nebulous abstract concept, compared to this general. 

Meanwhile, Titus Andronicus is like a real housewives show. It’s messy and dramatic, and everyone is petty, and over-the-top, and we pay attention. It's a spectacle. But it’s also really specific: Titus kills Tamora’s eldest son after the war, at the start of the play. That’s why she holds the grudge the whole time. She wants revenge for her son, and has her other two sons assault Titus’ daughter Lavinia in response. This is tit-for-tat and escalates the whole play through. This is specific enough that nobody thinks these characters represent Rome or the Goths – they represent themselves.

That’s where we’re at with your story – “colombian culture” is a nebulous abstract concept, and characters who don’t represent themselves yet. 

Once you specify what you think it is, it will no longer be abstract. Once you have the hyper specific circumstance that your main character is in, you can edit from there. Let’s say, your MC’s mom is super religious, and the MC is a teen Colombian girl in a rock back and wears black lipstick. Not “traditional” Colombian in the eyes of her mother. She cannot measure up to the expectations of her mother, over the type of religious and quiet Colombian girls she “should” be. And that’s difficult for your MC to accept. Now, when she turns to her American or online friends who do accept her, it’s not so much that "‘"America=good" but rather that these friends reflect her punk rock alt style, and offer solidarity. 

This specific scenario is not a story of generalizations and hyping up US culture. It’s a story of a girl in conflict with her mother over what type of young woman she should be. 

You can mix and match traits, but the concept works the same: 

Patriotic mother, who suppressed her indigeneity to speak on Spanish + indigenous daughter MC who practices her indigenous language with dad = MC is not "Colombian" i.e., not patriotic enough for the mother. 

Party goer Colombian high schoolers + shy bookworm MC = not Colombian i.e. outgoing enough for the schoolmates. 

Hyper religious family + punk rock MC = not Colombian i.e., "religious" enough for the family. 

We can see here - through story - how “Colombian” is being used as a purity test to exclude whichever trait the MC has. And now we can see how a young woman might chase peer approval or a mothers love. This is no longer about who’s Colombian or not, but more about specific expectations and desires. We know exactly what the abstract concept is here. 

Yes, we’ve all heard about how Latinos are perceived as loud and fun, and social, and maybe your character is a bookworm. But there’s always people going against the grain in society - when I did my exchange year in Japan - most kids were in cram school all day long. But, there were still those edgy kids– the girls hanging out in co-ed groups with messy uniforms, hiked up skirts, and *gasp* make-up. Like, I KNOW someone somewhere was like ‘those girls aren’t real Japanese.’ But they were just being themselves. So when you talk about this, it’s not that she’s not “Colombian enough” – it must be that she’s not up to someone else’s expectation of what she should be, compared to who she happens to be. When the MC therefore, finally finds solidarity with her online friends it's a safe space, not some ego-measuring cultural competition between the US and Colombia.

Good luck and happy writing.

-Melanie 🌻

P.S. listen to Colette’s suggestions about the research process.

Tread carefully and research thorougly

Identity stories are TOUGH to write from outside of the identity, particularly if you're not coming from one with cultural similarities.

While you do have some aspects of their identity down from personal experience (Autism and queer) that you can write from, if you are not Colombian yourself and have little/no personal connection here, you'll need to tread carefully, particularly if the being Colombian part is a large aspect of your character's identity struggle, as it seems to be. 

So ask yourself:

Why do you want to write this type of story?

What connection do you have to the communities not your own?

How are you narrowing down the identities to more properly research? For example, is the family Afro-Colombian, white and Colombian, etc.

What may people get out of the story, if it were summed up by its key messages and takeaways?

I like Melanie's advice about writing about your specific character. She does not need to represent all of The People, and should be allowed to shine as her individual self.

Still, research, research, research and consult, consult, consult. Possibly even collaborate. That, i'd highly recommend.

Just as you have with your friend, which is good, hear from people you're writing about and see if this is a story that is welcome from these communities. It's a good idea to hear from multiple perspectives and cite them in your references!

(Those voices may include our followers! Colombian folks, is this a story you want to hear, particularly from a non-Colombian? What makes it something you want to hear or do not want to hear? Share your advice!)

More reading:

White Authors and Topics to Avoid/Tread Carefully (You’ll note that identity stories is in our topics to avoid/tread carefully list)

Writing about Poc trials and tribulations

Interviewing BIPOC for research

Note: I am not Colombian. My perspective on this is coming from a general BIPOC voice and other asks Mods have answered regarding identity stories and writing about the struggles within. 

I just want to say thank you, Nico, for your amazing work♥♥♥♥♥

💛💜❤️💙🩷（💚❓）