Celeste’s answer to “Hi Celeste, I'm currently reading your book, and am enjoying it. Why did you chose to use the word …” > Likes and Comments
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Makes perfect sense. Great reason. It kept the book true to the time it was written about.
It was clear from the onset. :-) Once I knew that the book was set in the 70s, there was no question; for authenticity, in my opinion, it HAD to be done. There really was no other option BUT to refer to them as Oriental. Believe me, it's as offensive as it gets where racial slurs are concerned, but you were tasked with telling a painful truth with this subject matter. Additionally, a HUGE part of the father's inner turmoil was from feeling "less than" due to the stereotyping of Asian people back then.
Finally, your book is gorgeous-gutwrenching, but pure poetry! I enjoyed it immensely.
I was wondering this as well! Thanks for clearing that up! I look forward to reading this book :)
I had assumed it was the reason. I was in my 20's then and we definitely would have used the term at that time. I loved how you wrote it true to the decade.
I, too, assumed this was done intentionally to convey the time period and social norms at the time. Your novel was so beautiful, Celeste! I loved it. Can't wait to read more of your work!
I just started listening to the audio-book and I'm very much enjoying it. My husband who is from Israel, originally from Morocco often uses the term Oriental when referring to Chinese and/or Japanese people. My daughter and I always take issue with him when he does so, telling him that it is a demeaning term and Asian is more appropriate. Then when I heard Oriental in the book, I was going to google it and find out if perhaps I was wrong. I am so glad I came to this site and found the answer to my query. Thank you Celeste NG, Juliana and the others.
My husband and I are both originally from Ohio (Cleveland area) and when we visit we still hear family members over the age of 60 use the term "Oriental." It shouldn't surprise me after all these years, but it's always a bit of a shock when I hear it.
Also the comment is used in reference to the lawyer's search for dolls which his daughter could identify with. At the time there was a doll called Oriental Barbie...
My daughter is 13 and Chinese, as I adopted her in China as a toddler. She recently heard Chinese people referred to as "Oriental" and she didn't know what it was. After a long discussion, it was a clearly a moment of realization to her of another racial injustice that her culture has endured. Having just read this book, I remembered the way I felt seeing that word in print used in that manner and saw it as a reminder of history. May the young and old always know where we have come from and the path we took to get where we are today.
I don't care for 'White' either , because I am more of a tan ; however , I refuse to be offended because there are so many serious abuses in the world .
Why do you think oriental is an outdated term? And why do you think it fell out of vogue into offensiveness? Because of an adjacency to commercialism as the OP implied? It seems very arbitrary to deem a descriptor as offensive, especially without any reason. Would it be wrong to refer to Europeans as occidentals?
I've occidently done that , but no Europeans complained .
Orient is from Latin word “oriens” - east, therefore I do not understand why there would be a problem to refer to people from Orient as Oriental. It is not a derogatory word. One can call a carpet Asian instead of Oriental.
It definitely "surprised" me the first time I saw it in the book, but my (Korean) mother-in-law still uses "Oriental" so I wasn't entirely shocked.
Ms. Ng, I very much appreciate your answer and the wisdom it displays. I am dismayed when, for example, Laura Ingalls Wilder has her name unanimously removed from an award because her descriptive terms about Native Americans are, by today's standards, "racist". Ms. Wilder is not here to defend herself, however, are we going to banish books and authors that do not rise to the level of our current sensibilities? Who is to be the arbiter of acceptability?
Yes, I can totally see that. As someone who grew up in the 70s, hearing the word "Oriental" was not uncommon. This was definitely time appropriate.
I love this answer. As an African American author of pre-Civil War Historical Fiction, I found certain offensive terms necessary to maintain the authenticity of the narrative. Thanks for the confirmation.
Knowing the setting of the book including the time period, I found the intent of using the word to be evident. Perhaps a wake up call even for those who find it offensive although they are not subjected to it as often as their parents might have been. I read somewhere that every generation knows (and by default, uses) fewer slurs than the one before. I am not sure if that is true, but I hope this question is evidence of that being factual.
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Debbie
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Jun 25, 2015 10:28AM
Makes perfect sense. Great reason. It kept the book true to the time it was written about.
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It was clear from the onset. :-) Once I knew that the book was set in the 70s, there was no question; for authenticity, in my opinion, it HAD to be done. There really was no other option BUT to refer to them as Oriental. Believe me, it's as offensive as it gets where racial slurs are concerned, but you were tasked with telling a painful truth with this subject matter. Additionally, a HUGE part of the father's inner turmoil was from feeling "less than" due to the stereotyping of Asian people back then.Finally, your book is gorgeous-gutwrenching, but pure poetry! I enjoyed it immensely.
I was wondering this as well! Thanks for clearing that up! I look forward to reading this book :)
I had assumed it was the reason. I was in my 20's then and we definitely would have used the term at that time. I loved how you wrote it true to the decade.
I, too, assumed this was done intentionally to convey the time period and social norms at the time. Your novel was so beautiful, Celeste! I loved it. Can't wait to read more of your work!
I just started listening to the audio-book and I'm very much enjoying it. My husband who is from Israel, originally from Morocco often uses the term Oriental when referring to Chinese and/or Japanese people. My daughter and I always take issue with him when he does so, telling him that it is a demeaning term and Asian is more appropriate. Then when I heard Oriental in the book, I was going to google it and find out if perhaps I was wrong. I am so glad I came to this site and found the answer to my query. Thank you Celeste NG, Juliana and the others.
My husband and I are both originally from Ohio (Cleveland area) and when we visit we still hear family members over the age of 60 use the term "Oriental." It shouldn't surprise me after all these years, but it's always a bit of a shock when I hear it.
Also the comment is used in reference to the lawyer's search for dolls which his daughter could identify with. At the time there was a doll called Oriental Barbie...
My daughter is 13 and Chinese, as I adopted her in China as a toddler. She recently heard Chinese people referred to as "Oriental" and she didn't know what it was. After a long discussion, it was a clearly a moment of realization to her of another racial injustice that her culture has endured. Having just read this book, I remembered the way I felt seeing that word in print used in that manner and saw it as a reminder of history. May the young and old always know where we have come from and the path we took to get where we are today.
I don't care for 'White' either , because I am more of a tan ; however , I refuse to be offended because there are so many serious abuses in the world .
Why do you think oriental is an outdated term? And why do you think it fell out of vogue into offensiveness? Because of an adjacency to commercialism as the OP implied? It seems very arbitrary to deem a descriptor as offensive, especially without any reason. Would it be wrong to refer to Europeans as occidentals?
I've occidently done that , but no Europeans complained .
Orient is from Latin word “oriens” - east, therefore I do not understand why there would be a problem to refer to people from Orient as Oriental. It is not a derogatory word. One can call a carpet Asian instead of Oriental.
It definitely "surprised" me the first time I saw it in the book, but my (Korean) mother-in-law still uses "Oriental" so I wasn't entirely shocked.
Ms. Ng, I very much appreciate your answer and the wisdom it displays. I am dismayed when, for example, Laura Ingalls Wilder has her name unanimously removed from an award because her descriptive terms about Native Americans are, by today's standards, "racist". Ms. Wilder is not here to defend herself, however, are we going to banish books and authors that do not rise to the level of our current sensibilities? Who is to be the arbiter of acceptability?
Yes, I can totally see that. As someone who grew up in the 70s, hearing the word "Oriental" was not uncommon. This was definitely time appropriate.
I love this answer. As an African American author of pre-Civil War Historical Fiction, I found certain offensive terms necessary to maintain the authenticity of the narrative. Thanks for the confirmation.
Knowing the setting of the book including the time period, I found the intent of using the word to be evident. Perhaps a wake up call even for those who find it offensive although they are not subjected to it as often as their parents might have been. I read somewhere that every generation knows (and by default, uses) fewer slurs than the one before. I am not sure if that is true, but I hope this question is evidence of that being factual.
