Ethnicity

My last post really got me thinking about ethnicity. As someone with a sociology background, how is it that I know so little about stereotypical ethnic behaviours, beliefs, etc? Maybe it was my focus on research and not the classes on ethnicity. Maybe I simply don’t think that way? Maybe I am small town Canadian and need to get out more?

To quote Max Weber (sociologist), ”The whole conception of ethnic groups is so complex and so vague that it might be good to abandon it altogether.” I hear you! What is the purpose? Is it just for identifying yourself as part of a group? Sure, I’m half Finnish, but I don’t speak the language, don’t know the customs, culture and have never been to Finland. So what does a Finnish ethnicity mean to me? At the end of the day, not much. On the other hand, being Canadian means a lot to me. I speak the language, apologise when I am in someone’s way and don’t have to take off my shoes at airport security when I am skipping around the few large provinces that we have.

Out of curiosity, I began snooping on the net for a cheat sheet on ethnicity and behaviours. And all I could think was, “I can’t believe I am looking for stereotypes to use in my writing.” It feels SO wrong! Yet, ethnicity probably does effect the way that some people behave–particularly those who reside in large cities and within their ‘ethnic’ areas such as Chinatown, Little Italy and the like. I know that the true Finnish like their personal space whereas true Italians tend to use their hands a lot when they are talking. Yet, beyond that, I don’t know a whole lot more that could be incorporated into a character. And I would need more to create a depth that is believable to make a character more real.

So are my characters going to suffer by being ethnically generic like myself? Possibly the answer is to think outside ethnicity and instead focus on small characteristics like one’s feelings on physical space, attitudes towards the body and that sort of thing and develop a character from there. In fact, that is likely what Linda Seger meant for someone to do when they thought of ‘ethnicity’ when developing a character–for her, ethnicity is probably a shorthand.

Anyway, on Wikipedia (a site I used to detest because people would use it for technical information, believing that it was all 100% accurate and wouldn’t double source the info) they have a list of ethnicities and it is HUGE! The discussion about it is pretty good too. The fact that there have been wars over ethnicities illustrates once again that this is not a light issue. One comment also mentions the fact that geography plays a great deal in influencing ethnicities–for which I would agree. Regional differences are probably more important than ethnicity.

And what about us Canadians? I guess we only get to be a nationality and not an ethnicity. Yet, I think and identify myself as a Canadian more than my ancient heritage. I think my attitudes, philosophies and behaviours are much more ‘Canadian’ than ‘Irish’, ‘Scottish’ or ‘Finnish’. So, I suppose I may have to rethink the whole ‘ethnicity’ part of my worksheet so that it makes more sense to me and gets me thinking in the way that Seger’s word ‘ethnicity’ was supposed to. But until then, it remains the same. If you have suggestions on an ethnicity work-around, drop a comment.

Ethnicity and Character Development

After making my worksheets on character development, I decided, let’s try it out. For my main character who I felt that I didn’t know well enough, it appears that behold! I do actually know her. In fact, I know quite a bit. Whew! And the worksheet has just served to help me see what I already knew and now I can hopefully carry it through a little better than I was. So, it looks like I may have another edit coming. On the other hand, I think it will be quite useful in learning who my characters are in a piece I am just starting.

One thing that sort of jumped out at me with the worksheet was the whole ‘ethnic background’ context surrounding the character and its influence on making them who they are. This is something that I have not thought about. I suppose because in real life, it isn’t something that I take into account. I don’t look at my friends and say, ‘”Ah, yes. That would be their German heritage influencing their behaviour right now.” I suppose, really, I know very little about the different ethnicities and the behaviours, attitudes and philosophies that come with them. Is that because of the wonderful melting pot that Canada is? Out my way, are we just a mish-mash of humanness?

In a lot of ways, I think we are quite removed from our ethnicities. For example, I have Irish, Scottish and Finnish heritages. But I don’t think they particularly influence me–at least not in a large, noticeable way. I think there are much, much larger influences in my life. For example, the way other kids treated me in elementary school has influenced my attitudes and behaviours a lot more than my ethnicity.

So, despite my lack of awareness in regards to ethnicity, it is an interesting part of the character development study.