War Dancing

Some people like radishes. Others prefer bananas. This difference manifests itself not only in culinary choices, but in other areas of life as well. Some readers like literary fiction; others prefer popular titles. Some folks like George R. R. Martin; others prefer J. R. R. Tolkien. Some people like Tony Hillerman; others prefer Sherman Alexie. Mr. Hillerman won honors for his mystery fiction, including the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar award; Mr. Alexie won, among other prizes, the 2010 PEN/Faulkner award for his collection of poems and short stories, War Dances, the title story of which appeared in the August 10, 2009 issue of The New Yorker.

The point I want to bring up with Mr. Alexie's writing is how much whitewashing goes on in the selection of which writer wins which award, and what writer gets published by whom. Like so much else in capitalist America, publishing exists to make money. Which means editors will buy only those manuscripts they think will appeal to the most buyers. Therefore, they aim at the lowest common denominator. Which in a market dominated by Euro-Americans means Euro-Americans.

So for a non-Euro-American writer to break through in the United States market, his or her writing must appeal to the majority of Euro-American readers. Which means the writing must conform to Euro-American standards and taste. Which means that even when the writer is a bona fide outsider -- as in the case of Mr. Alexie or Toni Morrison or Gore Vidal --  that writer must still engage a majority of Euro-American readers. Which means that no successful Tribal or Black or Gay writer has ever been able to achieve real, meaningful cross-culture appeal. To attract the most readers, a writer must appeal to the most readers. Which in North America means middle-class white.

Mr. Alexie's stories are alternately funny and poignant, touching and barbed. They give a view of the universal human experience. However, they do that through a biased lens. Because of that, their truth is subjective. Though they are about people on the fringe of society, they are still about people in society. They are ultimately Euro-American tales. Because that is what Euro-Americans want.

And that is whitewashing.