Malka Older Q&A 2018

We did not get to all of these in class, so I’ve invited Ms. Older to stop by online to respond.

Joe Essid: We just discussed Mishima’s “narrative disorder” in class. I’d never heard of it. How do you define it?

If you don't mind I'm going to direct you to an essay I wrote on the topic: https://firesidefiction.com/the-narrative-spectrum

(There's also a short story which goes more in-depth with Mishima and the disorder, that you'll see linked at the top of the essay)

Several Students: Why did you choose to write Infomocracy using several different point-of-view narrators?

I felt it was necessary to show the impacts of the global system on a wide range of people, with their perspectives. Also, for a global election the book needed to feel really global.

Dylan M: What inspired you to set the majority of the story, and the major action, in and around Southeast Asia?

I mainly put it in places I know fairly well. I spent a lot of time living in both Japan and Indonesia. In the second half of the book there's more Doha (which I don't know very well, but I've spent a bit of time there and in the region) and Paris.

Erick and Raven: What inspired you to write a book about a global order based on microdemocracy? How important are domestic or international political systems in shaping this work?

Hugely important. And I was inspired because I was frustrated with those current systems. As Ursula Vernon (a wonderful writer based in North Carolina) writes in the afterward to one of her books (I paraphrase): "inspiration may be fleeting, but spite lasts." it's a good motivation for continuing to write.

Bryce and Cole: The novel appeared in 2016, the same year as our election. How did that election and the campaigning for it influence your novel?

I finished writing it in mid-2015 (publishing takes a long time), so very little or none. Previous elections, however, were very influential.

Cullen: Do any of the governments in the novel correspond to current ones?

Yes, there are some governments that are "descendents" of national or local governments in our world.

Rider: Do you think this form of government would work in our world?

Yes, I think it would work, at least for a time (which is all we can ask of it). We certainly have the necessary technology. In fact, it's not so far off from where we are: we have non-contiguous countries (Alaska, Ceuta, Gibraltar, Ile de la Reunion, etc); and many cities are divided into different boroughs/municipalities that, despite having no visible borders, have different laws and statutes.

Alex: You use a lot of teen or young-adult slang in the book. Is there any ulterior motive?

Just trying to get that cool cyberpunk vibe :-)

Loreto: What is the historical relationship between the centenals and election time?

Elections are when centenals choose their governments.

Garrett: Why did you feel it necessary to include new technology and a new form of government as the main differences between our world and that of the novel? Could you have focused on one or did you feel they fit together well?

I put in the new technology because it was fun and got me out of plot holes and it would feel strange to write 60 years in the future and have no new technology. But the most important and interesting technology in the book is the socio-political technology.