Guest Post: Reflections on Writing about a Foreign History and Culture

I want to welcome and express thanks to this month's guest blogger, Chrystyna Lucyk-Berger, who has had some interesting experiences she brings to bear on her historical fiction. Her work shoujld be of interest to those curious about other cultures and her time period. Read and enjoy this post. Leave a comment or ask a question below. Chrystyna will be happy to respond!

I am an American, living in Austria, a regular visitor to Italy, and my latest novels take place in the former Austrian Tyrol that now belongs to Italy.

 

Confused? Stick with me. I’ve got a story to tell.

In 2005, I was inspired to write about the systematic oppression of the Austrian Tyroleans when their province was severed in two and annexed by Italy in 1920. For reasons that require an entirely different telling, I got interested in this history. The more I researched, the deeper the story got under my skin and, the next thing I knew, I was working on the Reschen Valley series.

I had moved to Austria in 2002 while working on an entirely different historical novel based in Ukraine. Because I have Ukrainian roots and speak the language, writing that seemed easier than the undertaking I began in 2005. For that Ukrainian novel, I had the background and language necessary to confidently depict the culture. When I began tackling the Austrian-Italian conflict, I was running up against brick walls not only in the limited research available in English, but also in understanding the Tyrolean and Italian cultures and their intricacies. I had the daunting task of portraying a foreign world as accurately as possible, a world that was also foreign to me.

Not only were the differences in the Italian and Austrian cultures important, finding the parallels between my characters were key for development. I avoided taking sides in this conflict. So, more importantly than getting the specific details and differences down, I was also looking for common ground available to my characters. Further, when I studied language barriers and cultural barriers, I found a lot of dry hay to play with, and I started lighting matches.

I also had to make decisions about how I present this foreign world to an English-speaking audience. The techniques of presenting culture-specific vocabulary for the purpose of authenticity, for example, must be done with careful consideration. Secondly, I had to make sure that certain aspects of the foreign world were not so foreign they would be too difficult to understand. I had to be selective about what I represented in my novels. And this created a nagging worry that I was not able to do justice to the Tyroleans or to the Italians.

For starters, I would like nothing more than to have these novels translated into German and Italian. I believe both of these cultures are still trying to come to terms with their history. My fear is that, with a translation, the culture, the language and even the world I’ve created for this series will come out filtered. And with a heavy dilution, you have the risk that those who live within these cultures – these languages! – will not be able to recognise the world I have so painstakingly created to be authentic to a foreign audience.

Which begs the question: What right do I have to write about this conflict in the first place? Will my novels fail in those countries?

Someone once wisely said that there is no such thing as bad publicity. This is what I imagine is going to happen when the book gets distributed in German and Italian speaking countries. Either the reader is going to say, “This is such hooey! An American wrote it.” or they are going to say, “This is so great! An American wrote it!” In the end, I remind myself that my job is to write a story about characters people will recognise, and that is a novelist’s common denominator. Because I most definitely have a story to tell!

CHRYSTYNA LUCYK-BERGER grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota and now lives in the mountains of Austria with her hilarious dog, royally possessive cat, and phenomenal husband. Her series, Reschen Valley is releasing throughout 2018 and 2019. No Man’s Land and The Breach, the first two in the series, are available now and on March 15^th, respectively. You can join her newsletter for special deals, book launches, releases and promotions at: https://www.subscribepage.com/ReschenValley

Her novels are available in e-book and paperback formats (and Kindle Unlimited) on Amazon under:

amazon.com/author/chrystynalucykberger