Culture as a superpower: novelist Ela Lee
By Taniyah Clarke (Sixth Form Academy)
Is culture a curse or a superpower?
The culture from which we come from is so much deeper than physical features or languages. It is a part of who we are. It might be the one thing people cannot deprive us of.
Award-winning author Ela Lee sheds light on this concept while exploring themes of culture and identity in her debut novel Jaded. At Wimbledon Book Fest, the award-winning writer answered queries about what was going through her mind while writing Jaded and how it represents her culture.
According to Lee, ‘People exist on different spectrums of reality.’ Readers can apply this to the main character Jade who has her life together and is so sure of herself until she is not. Jade must rebuild everything she once knew and navigate reclaiming her identity after becoming a victim. Jade’s reality shifts almost instantly without memory of how it happened which reminds us that life can change so swiftly, and it can be difficult to keep up with it.
Jade’s situation emphasises the struggles that culture carries with it. However, when we change our perspective of culture from this horrible curse, it can be transfigured into a superpower. Yes, Jade’s assault is going to stay with her, but so is her culture. It is a part of her identity, and it is what makes her so inimitable.
Ela Lee dives into her personal feelings stating that she tried not to project them into her novel Jaded.
‘I feel the least Korean in Korea,’ says Lee. The fact that Ela does not feel fully intact with her culture does not change the fact that she is half Korean. Her portrayal of this in Jaded is her superpower.
Therefore, whenever I feel left out in a room where I should fit in, I remind myself that I have a superpower.
