I read a lot of Australian specfic, as you may know. And I think the one thing the majority of it lacks *is* Australian voice. Or even some kind of voice at all to distinguish it from the thousands of other pieces written in a year. I guess that's a funny thing to say in some ways. The majority of SF, at least, has a very American voice about it - well, it would, more Americans than anyone else get published. The nature of it is that more Americans publish thus there are more Americans who get published. I spose too, more Americans write than anyone else. But the downside of that is this very homogenous output. And I think in some ways, that gives non-American writers an advantage when they submit to American outlets (providing the quality is up to scratch).
There's been lots of discussion since I've been around about Australian voice in science fiction and in horror - do we have one and if we do, what is it? I think that's why I was so excited when Sue Isle submitted "The Sun People" to Shiny - it's set in my own city, Perth. She writes of places in the CBD that I know so well I can wander around with my eyes shut. Sooooo often I read other writers' work set in their own cities. And you know, that works too - I have a love and familiarity with New York and Paris that I may otherwise not have done. And that's the cool thing about reading - travelling overseas and seeing new places for the price of the book and not the airfare. And so with "The Sun People", we bring y'all out there to our little city. Kind of. Cause of course she's set it post-apocalypse but whatever. I wonder though if that's how other people read that story - can they relate to something that is very Australian, very Western Australian? Do they just read it as a random unfamiliar city - and not that there is anything wrong with that, if they do?
Should Australian publishers be looking to create a strong Australian voice, stories set in our cities, using our jargon and idioms and dealing with our own problems? Or should we be trying to appeal to a more mainstream sf readership (is there such a thing) and homogenising our works so that they fit in with the crowd and get swept along in the wake?
I know which I'd rather read. What about you?
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
girliejones- girlie jones
- Twelfth Planet Press
Comments
I'm also wondering about your comment on the film industry. Are you saying that trying to make "australian" films has stifled things? In what ways would you say? Should we also be making generic movies that appear to be set in LA or NY? Or nowhere? I'm trying to think about movies and stories that we would write that would not be obviously set in Australia.
Saw is a classic example, where every Australian film agency it was submitted to rejected it outright, and it subsequently went on to make half a billion dollars for American film companies and distributors instead.
Genre film gets screwed, is what I suppose I'm saying. No action, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, etc. Just quirky comedies and suburban dramas.
I like to read anything that has a good plot, strong character and a point. I don't care where it comes from or what colloquialisms they employ.
Ticonderoga published a piece by N. Joy Dodds' which was set in rural Australia. It was creepy because it was totally Australian in theme, voice and textuality. I don't think it would have worked as well in a random American or British setting, but then that could have just been my opinion.
So it's a little like that with Australian voice. I'm not going to stop reading just cause most doesn't have it, but I really get excited when I find a good one that does.
Again, the American ubiquity gives them the advantage, in that they can set things in LA or NY or perhaps even small town Maine, and they _are_ familiar places to almost everyone.
I was pleased with one of my White Wolf fiction gigs (being a US company, as you are probably aware). I set it America just as a default, and the editor said I should use Australia. It made very little difference (and was trickier because I am actually less familiar with local police procedure), but I appreciated it.
So it's a bonus if you do know the place but hopefully not essential. Also I do rather trash Perth :-) At time of writing the underground railway in the city hadn't yet been completed and I already had it destroyed and derelict :-)
Sue
I don't necessarily look for stories with an Australian 'voice', but do get a bit excited when I find them.
On the other hand, you could take the example of someone like Charles De Lint who, wanting somewhere to set his stories and liking elements of many different cities, created his own city of Newford. He said that he also managed to avoid the problem of making mistakes and having fans write to him and tell him that "such and such coffee shop isn't on that particular street". He has been describing it for so long that it has taken on a life of its own and is probably as familiar to his fans as their own home cities.
I love your example of De Lint's work. I think that's just as much fun to read too - stories set in their own world's that you can get absorbed into. I mean, I spose that's what fantasy writing is about.
But fiction written by Australians who aren't trying to sound American (or English) is much harder to find in the US.
Would you *want* to read fiction written by Australians who aren't trying to sound American?
In general, it is not important that that sense of place be any one place, but if there wasn't a variety, then everything would be so bland. A story says something about the culture that the writer comes from, and with that stripped out, the story is much less.
And there are certainly schools of thought that say that the 'australianess' needs to be removed for an (mainly US) overseas market. Take the aforementioned "Possum Magic" - there is a story about the US release that apparently there was an initial request to change the food mentioned, because overseas audiences wouldn't understand about lamingtons and vegemite sandwiches. (I may have the details wrong, but I'm pretty sure I have the gist right)
sorry if this is a bit rambling. I can't seem to get the thought out clearly.