The strange dilemma of the 'ethnic-fiction' writer is that you are supposed to carry a banner for your homeland, be a voice for it, and educate the rest of the world about it, but I think that's far too onerous a burden for any writer to bear.
Interpretation
Writers from specific ethnic backgrounds face the pressure to represent their culture and educate others, which can be overwhelming.
Khaled Hosseini expresses the challenge faced by 'ethnic-fiction' writers who are often expected to serve as cultural ambassadors for their homelands while also fulfilling the artistic demands of their craft. This expectation can be a heavy burden, as it places the responsibility of representation and education on the individual writer, which may detract from their personal expression and artistic freedom.
In practice
In a speech about multicultural literature, one might quote this to highlight the pressures faced by ethnic writers.
You're gutless. It's how you were made. And that's not such a bad thing because your saving grace is that you've never lied to yourself about it. Not about that. Nothing wrong with cowardice as long as it comes with prudence. But when a coward stops remembering who he is... God help him.
There was brotherhood between people who had fed from the same breast, a kinship that even time could not break. - Amir
I don't outline at all; I don't find it useful, and I don't like the way it boxes me in. I like the element of surprise and spontaneity, of letting the story find its own way.
And that's the thing about people who mean everything they say. They think everyone else does too.
Perspective [is] a luxury when your head [is] constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.
The desert weed lives on, but the flower of spring blooms and wilts.
People call me the painter of dancing girls. It has never occurred to them that my chief interest in dancers lies in rendering movement and painting pretty clothes.
In school I was in the dark room all the time, and I've always collected stray photographs; there's a great deal of memory in them.
Reinforced concrete buildings are by nature skeletal buildings. No noodles nor armoured turrets. A construction of girders that carry the weight, and walls that carry no weight. That is to say, buildings consisting of skin and bones.
Doubtless criticism was originally benignant, pointing out the beauties of a work rather that its defects. The passions of men have made it malignant, as a bad heart of Procreates turned the bed, the symbol of repose, into an instrument of torture.
That which is not slightly distorted lacks sensible appeal; from which it follows that irregularity – that is to say, the unexpected, surprise and astonishment, are a essential part and characteristic of beauty.
Through my art I have tried to explain my life and its meaning. I have also intended to help others to clarify their lives.
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