After returning from a trip, travellers are usually consumed by an overwhelming desire to tell everyone about the amazing experience they have had. This is what a travel writer is paid to do in the most eloquent way possible. However, it can also be the hardest part to master when it comes to depicting and representing other cultures.<\/p>\n

Cultural sensitivity should be paramount when writing travel content, but it is often sorely overlooked. Mariellen Ward of the Breathedreamgo travel blog has discussed the dangers of cultural imperialism (or the belief that your way of life is better) in travel writing<\/a>, while photographer Bani Amor has criticised colonialism in travel literature<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When writing about location, ethnicity and society, there are certain to be complicated politics that come into play. Although there’s no one-size-fits-all phrasebook to help travel writers avoid all controversy in their content, there are helpful tricks for traversing this complicated terrain. Scroll down to read the advice of the World Words team.<\/p>\n

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Read and interact<\/strong>
\nTo truly capture a culture you are not familiar with, you have to look beyond the interesting titbits you hear on the regular tourist trail. Of course, these may be important bits of information, but it is essential to contextualize them with a wider body of literature. Search out accounts by the best and brightest writers the country or place has to offer, in order to gain a deeper insight into its mores. Speak with locals to find out what life is really like for them. Look at anthropological accounts of the society to understand practices you might find unusual. Remember, the way you do things in your country might seem strange to a visitor at first, and it would be disheartening to see traditions misunderstood. Readers appreciate when writers clearly comprehend a culture, so do your research.<\/p>\n

Cultural awareness<\/strong>
\nWhile a good travel writer needs a keen awareness of the history and society of the culture they are addressing, they also need to possess the faculty to examine their own. Are you writing about a culture once colonised by your own? Is your writing at risk of being tainted by a ham-fisted Hollywood film about the place? Scenarios that shape your narrative can lurk in the subconscious. You must be aware of influences on your world view, historical or contemporary, and how they can impact upon your work. A self-reflexive approach will help you keep any ill-informed assumptions at bay.<\/p>\n

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Terminology<\/strong>
\nThroughout history, different groups of people have been called different things by both themselves and others. However, terms that might not even be meant to offend can still cause anguish in certain communities. Look at the case of the Washington Redskins, an American Football team. People of the Oneida Indian Nation campaigned for the name to be changed<\/a>, seeing it as an insult. The team argued that they had opted for the name to \u2018honour\u2019 Native Americans<\/a>. While this example is not from the world of travel writing, it highlights how unwittingly offensive people can be when they do not use the preferred terminology of other societies when referring to them. Make sure you are always using respectful language by consulting official tribal or national sources on terminology.<\/p>\n

Vocabulary<\/strong>
\nTo explain this point, I am going to focus on one word: \u2018Exotic.\u2019 It connotes the unusual, the exciting. It lingers on the tongue like a tasty dish from a foreign land. It lies there, enticingly, as you try to explain the culture of another country. Soon, everything is labeled exotic in your copy; the people, the food, the animals, the plants. Yet, it is arguably a blanket term<\/a> for peoples from backgrounds that differ from whatever is typical in the writer\u2019s society. In effect, it is entirely subjective, meaning different things to different people. Instead, why not explain the nuances of the culture you are writing about in a way that is both faithful to its people and objective, rather than subjective.<\/p>\n

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Developing your sense of cultural sensitivity is vitally important for every travel writer, whether you are an up-and-coming newbie or an established pillar of the travel writing community. Take the time to find out more about the cultures you are covering; your writing will improve and you may just learn a little something too.<\/p>\n

What experiences, good and bad, have you had writing about different cultures? Leave a comment below, or share you thoughts with us on Twitter<\/a>. You can also see examples of our own culturally-specific writing here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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A version of this article was originally published in May 2015 on the World Words site. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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