Trying out a new platform: Gumroad

Gumroad

Phoenix With A Purpose.
Of Oysters, Pearls and Magic.
The Path of Kindness.

SF Signal Mindmeld: YA rebranding

Here.

Names, and what they mean to us.

I always feel a thrill when I read a book and see Chinese names. The feeling that I am reading something I know and could connect with is enormous. So, when I picked up this science fiction novel this weekend, I was happy (at first) to see Chinese or pinyin names. As I progressed further into the book, my happiness turned to discontent and later to annoyance.

I wouldn’t lie I am not Chinese. I have a Chinese name given by my parents. My pinyin name looks like this: Zhuang Xiaowei. That’s my name. I answer to it. My grandma calls me Swee Wee in the Hokkien jialect; ‘Siok Hwee’ is a derivative from the Hokkien version. The English name ‘Joyce’ came much later.

The science fiction novel seems to tell me that in the far-flung future, people like me would exist. That people with names like Chingwei, Zhang or Mingzhou would live on colonies and planets, doing fantastic things. Most of all, I thought that these people would have histories tied to their names, where they lived, who they were and what they did.

Instead, I got nothing. There arose the discontent and annoyance. Instead, I got people with Chinese or pinyin names and nothing else. No hint of how they looked like and what language they spoke. No heritage or historical background. You might argue: Hey, it is the future. Quit being so fixated on origins and histories. I will argue back that origins and histories make up a person.

So, these people are essentially given names. Just names. They remind me of people who just adopt names for the fun of it, for the exotic sound of it. No significance, no inkling of what those names actually mean. The annoyance is a product of this disregard. I am annoyed, because I expected Chinese people behind those names. Instead, I got people. Just people. Nothing else. Even the woman named Mingzhou had red hair and blue eyes.

Perhaps, it would be nicer if these people actually had a history or histories. Perhaps, it would be better if these characters would actually look and sound like Chinese or at least descendants of Chinese people or groups. Maybe I am asking and expecting too much.

There is a certain kind of ignorance when it comes to giving characters names that sound Chinese, but are not actually Chinese. Remember Firefly? The ignorance is perpetuated if people continue to believe that Chinese names are so pretty and exotic. They are pretty, but they are not exotic for you, tourist. Please don’t do that. Our names have power. They make up who we are.

If you are curious what book I was reading: here. Perhaps, it’s the grim dark future and names don’t matter anymore.

ISF 2012 Annual Anthology

Oh, look! The cover is awesome!

On other writery news… I might make another announcement soon.

Keep the word going!

Mentioned on the World SF Blog

Guest post at Visibility Fiction

Here.

Thank you, Holly!

New (free) story up.

Sword and Silence.

Also on Smashwords

Warrior women!

Yao Jin, reviewed!

EDIT:
THIS IS AWESOME!

We See A Different Frontier TOC

I am proud to be with luminaries in the We See A Different Frontier anthology.

🙂

Transmutation

So Write, says the phoenix in my chest. Write and melt your tears into worlds.
Should I even write, when the cry of the phoenix is muted by fire and ashes? I should burn myself in the crucible.

I pour all my tragedies and disappointments, my tears, into the crucible. Let it burn them into gold.
Goddess knows I have enough tears to feed a nation. So I pour them in, in, in.