The objectivity of a journalist is hotly debated. Some argue a journalist should eliminate any bias someone may have in one of his or her stories, while others claim true objectively in humans is impossible. Asne Seierstad seems to take the latter side of the argument. Her book, The Bookseller of Kabul, fits into a unique genre: literary journalism. Though technically nonfiction, Bookseller tells the story of a family through third person omniscient point of view. Seierstad uses this genre to present a theme within her writing about an actual family. The genre is further contested because the book is told through her Western eyes about the life of an Eastern family. Because she takes this point of view, some see her position as ignorant to other cultures. However, because Seierstad writes using literary journalism, she tells her audience she knows she is biased and cannot escape it, and therefore doesn't try to.
In her forward, Seierstad claims the reason she wrote her book was because a family she met in Afghanistan "inspired [her]" (xv). Right away she tells her readers this is a novel, not a news article. Because she chooses to write the story in literary form, she shows readers this is her side of the story. In literature, there is no objectivity -- bias is assumed. Seierstad wants to comment on this family, which is why she chooses to write her story in that form. However, because what she writes about is technically a true story (or rather, a compilation of stories claimed to be true that no one can prove otherwise), calling Bookseller fiction is incorrect. Because of this, Seierstad is forced to call her work nonfiction. Though she tries to steer readers away from believing her work is a piece of journalism in her forward, her story is nevertheless judged as an inaccurate and biased news article.
The topic of Bookseller also brings Seierstad’s objectivity into the spotlight. Because she is a Caucasian woman writing about an Afghan family, her inaccuracies about the actual happenings of the family are highlighted and labeled as racist. In an article in The Los Angeles Times, Shah Muhammad Rais said Seierstad came to Afghanistan “with a picture already in her mind” (King). However, this is how writers operate. They have their own thoughts and ideas about life around them and they put on paper. Rais and other critics assume Seierstad’s bias as something she should have tried to avoid, though it is the journalistic aspect she doesn’t want in the story.
The journalist’s duty of objectivity is difficult to maintain. Asne Seierstad realizes it is something she does not want included in The Bookseller of Kabul. Instead, she twists ordinary journalism and makes it literature, where she knows she can write her opinion freely. However, because she wrote her story based on “true” events, the book must bear the burden of nonfiction, forever committing readers to misinterpret the author’s purpose for writing the story the way she did.
Works Cited
King, Laura. "The Bookseller of Kabul responds." Los Angeles Times 25 Feb 2009 1. Web.12 Apr 2009. .
Seierstad, Asne. The Bookseller of Kabul. New York: Back Bay Books, 2002. Print.
Melisa,
ReplyDeleteI think you bring up a very valid point which a lot of people did not address in their critique of Seierstad, in that Seierstad did not want this book to be a completely journalistic piece. And we really must all keep in mind that there is going to be an inherent bias in everything, which will only become that much more evident when you are looking at a culture so vastly different than your own. But Bookseller is neither fiction nor non-fiction, and it is this exact blurry line that keeps critics and the reading audience unaware of where to place the book. It is also what hooks a reader, and keeps the book so inherently interesting.
hey melisa,
ReplyDeleteThat is a really good point, the fact that she wrote this in a book and not in a newspaper under the culture section in and of itself should indicate that she is, above all, telling a story. I agree that I dont necessarily care that she chose to position herself outside the novel, it was a literary technique, not a lie.
I definitely did not take Seierstad to be racist within this work at all. I certainly think that she filters in her opinions in multiple places, but actually more often than not I think she does a good job, particularly for a woman of her background, of just telling us her observations.
Melisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is nearly impossible for someone to have no bias at all, because it is part of human nature. In the situation, culture and lifestyle that Seierstad put herself in to, I can understand why this is so difficult for her to do.
I was surprised by the articles that we read because all of them had negative connotations towards her novel. I did not think that she was biased, only simply, giving some of her perspective, how she saw and interpreted the Afghan culture.
The Bookseller of Kabul, like you said, is an interesting combination of literature and journalism and I enjoyed this mixture of writing.
Melisa,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you about how Seierstad utilizes literary journalism in The Bookseller of Kabul. This is something I accepted throughout the novel considering she forewarns the reader in her introduction that there will be biases.
As Westerners, we naturally view the Eastern world in a certain way. We strive not to stereotype and make judgments. However, we cannot let go of our perceptions and our circumstances in order to be truly objective.
Seierstad took a family she met in Afghanistan that she thought had significance and wrote their story. She had limitations placed on her, particularly in regards to the language barrier. She fully admits that there is bias in place. However, The Bookseller of Kabul remains to be an enlightening piece about the Afghan people.