Guest Post
The Transforming Effect of Crossing Cultures: Travel in Fiction
I’ve traveled
or moved from one part of the globe to another. In the foreign places I visited
with my husband, we occasionally stayed for months in cities that appealed to
us. Twice, we lived for six months in one city, the longest visitors are
allowed without applying for visas in the European Union.
While our travels might count as
relatively moderate globetrotting, I’ve probably been socialized or exposed to
more cultures than the average person. So, it’s inevitable, I
suppose, that I would dig into this experience and weave it into a novel, as I
have done in The Shade Under The Mango Tree.
Luna’s journal brought the main characters
together. But travel is what draws them closer. Lucien’s travels to both Europe
and Asia inspire Luna to break out of her sheltered and privileged life and go
to Cambodia on a Peace Corps assignment. There, she not only encounters a
culture very different from that she grew up in. She also witnesses the ravages
on the mind and spirit of her “family” left
by the grim and deadly history they survived.
Though travel is essential to
the plot, it’s secondary to the main themes of the novel. But its role is not
limited to moving the plot. It is also only through travel that Luna can
witness how vividly different the ancient Cambodian culture is from American
culture. From the characteristic finials on the colorful royal palace and the national
museum to her harrowing experience precipitated by the lasting effects of its
deadly history.
Travel transforms both Lucien and
Luna. Privileged and naive when she leaves her western home, Luna returns
depressed but sure of herself. She will
write a book to better understand the trauma she went through and to increase
awareness of the lasting consequence of Khmer Rouge atrocities.
Enter the Giveaway:
THE SHADE UNDER THE MANGO TREE Book Tour Giveaway
De rien/De nada/You're very welcome! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds good. I like the cover.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! This looks so good!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great book. Looking forward to reading this.
ReplyDelete