Min-Zhan Lu's "Professing Multiculturalism"

In this essay, Lu looks at the way in which good writing had been classified in the past and poses a new approach which takes into account multiculturalism. The old criteria of determining the skill of a writer depended upon their knowledge of English, and the writer's experience in writing. Oftentimes the knowledge of English was tied to them being a native speaker and their experience was tied to them being educated. Lu explained that while Gertrude Stein's works were originally criticized because they did not follow those confines, she defended her cridentials and her work was published as a result of that. Theodore Dreiser, on the other hand, was met with criticism for his work when he took on an unconventional style and he backed down somewhat, likely because he was the son of a poor German immigrant and his formal education was sporadic, according to Lu. Students also face this issue in the classroom when their work is classified as poor and Lu emphasizes the idea that we need to take into account their cultural background before being so quick to classify. Each student brings different life experiences to their writing and therefore will have a uniquely different voice.
This point made me think of how artists are oftentimes criticized when they start a new style of painting, and it is not until years later, sometimes, that their innovative genius is recognized and acclaimed. I think the same is true for writers. Stein's writing was very innovative and somewhat abstract, but not uneducated in the least. The want is to jump to the conclusion that when a work does not follow the confines of the formal rules of English that it is due to inability to do so. Really, however, I am reminded of the idea that a writer has to know all the rules before they can break them effectively. Stein, for instance, knew all the rules and felt confident in stepping away from them. When someone is from another culture, it does not mean that they do not know the rules of our language.
Futhermore, I remember once reading about a student who was having trouble in English because he never wrote in the form that was expected of him as a student of English: outline of ideas, thesis etc. Instead, he would write lofty ideas that never clearly spelled out a thesis or conclusion. Actually, this was because he was from a high context culture where circular logic is used as opposed to our linear model. In the case of his cultural background, it would be rude and undermine the intelligence of the reader to tell them flat out what the point was. Instead, he gave enough clues such that one might come to their own conclusions. The problem was not that he did not understand English, but simply that he came from a different cultural background and that is exactly the problem Lu asserts needs to be addressed.