Placing on writers the responsibility to represent a culture is an onerous burden.

No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached.

For a novelist, it's kind of an onerous burden to represent an entire culture.

I am an American, steeped in American values. But I know on an emotional level what it means to be of the Chinese culture.

At the beginning of my career as a writer, I felt I knew nothing of Chinese culture. I was writing about emotional confusion with my mother related to our different beliefs. Hers was based in family history, which I didn't know anything about. I always felt hesitant in talking about Chinese culture and American culture.

A man who wields a pen has to be accountable to society.