There is so much discourse surrounding R.F. Kuang at the moment and the word I have to say about it all is: disappointed.
In case you were unaware about what is going on, R.F. Kuang has included a minor character in her upcoming book Tapei. Why would this cause controversy? Because that character is Israeli. Now this character does not add anything to the story. Nor does this character appear again (according to the ARC readers).
I LOVED R.F. Kuang. Her writing style, her narrative style, the themes she writes about, the passion and conviction that she puts into every book. Babel is a book I have recommended to everyone, a book that is a 6 star read for me. And I just can’t understand why she has done this.
By including this character she is perpetuating a narrative that is normalised. And she has stood up for the plight of Palestianian people so how can she then perpetuate this normalised narrative? It really had disappointed and baffled me. If you want a full read and understanding of what normalisation is, please check out the BDS movement guidelines. But essentially the incorporation of Israel in media and communities is allowing them to continue the oppression of the Palestinian people. It’s comes part and parcel of boycotting the big corporations amongst other things.
R.F. Kuang has gone from writing books about colonisation and genocides, the long lasting impact and effect this has on societies, individuals and generations to then including a a genocidal, colonising nationality in her book? A throwaway word? Something that never had to be included? And that’s what makes this SO frustrating, for somebody who is extremely intelligent I do not for one second believe that she did not know what she was doing. This was a choice. A conscious choice. R.F. Kuang has always been a very intentional writer, so the incorporation of this is very intentional. And then the writing that follows is so jarring. I’ve read the pages that have been shared online and it is just so confusing. The religious imagery that is used to describe the transcendental emotions and feelings that are caused by the Israeli pianist are so coincidental with Zionist propaganda that it really threw me.
I had preorderd Tapei and a special collectors edition of Babel and I have now cancelled both of them. As someone who is pro-Palestine and has boycotted massively over the last 10 years, who has been on demonstrations and who has been extremely vocal about the suffering and oppression of Palestianian people I just cannot sit here and condone this and normalise it myself.
R.F. Kuang. Do better. Be better.
Todays Bookish Thoughts 