Born Confused
Encyclopedia
Born Confused is a 2002 young-adult novel by Tanuja Desai Hidier about an India
n-American
girl growing up in New Jersey
. First published in the United Kingdom
on October 1, 2002, it was later released in the United States
on July 1, 2003. In 2006 the novel was identified as having been one of several works allegedly plagiarized
by new novelist Kaavya Viswanathan
.
Hidier wrote Born Confused in 2000/2001, drawing "largely from autobiography."
She said in 2006:
An excerpt of Born Confused had appeared in Seventeen
magazine in 2002. Hidier was subsequently contacted by book packaging company 17th Street Productions (now called Alloy Entertainment
), but she declined their offer to collaborate on an "Indian-American teen story."
reported that Harvard University
student Kaavya Viswanathan
's highly-publicized debut young adult novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life (2006) contained "imagery, sentence structure, and paragraph organization" which was "strikingly similar" to material in Born Confused. The Independent pointed out three similar passages between the books; Hidier herself later found "two dozen instances of lifting from Born Confused in the Opal Mehta book." Portions of Viswanathan's novel had previously been alleged to have been plagiarized from several other sources, including Megan McCafferty
's first two Jessica Darling
novels Sloppy Firsts (2001) and Second Helpings (2003), and Meg Cabot
's The Princess Diaries
(2000). 17th Street/Alloy had helped Viswanathan "conceptualize and plot the book," and shares the novel's copyright
.
Hidier had also published a short story
called "Cowgirls & Indie Boys" in a 2004 anthology
edited by McCafferty called Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
girl growing up in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. First published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on October 1, 2002, it was later released in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on July 1, 2003. In 2006 the novel was identified as having been one of several works allegedly plagiarized
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
by new novelist Kaavya Viswanathan
Kaavya Viswanathan
How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life is a young adult novel by Kaavya Viswanathan, an Indian-American woman who wrote it just after she graduated from high school. Its 2006 debut was highly publicized, but the book was withdrawn after allegations that portions had been plagiarized...
.
Hidier wrote Born Confused in 2000/2001, drawing "largely from autobiography."
She said in 2006:
"I hadn't read any books I could recall with a South AsiaSouth AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n American teen protagonist [before I wrote mine] ... To the best of my knowledge Born Confused was the first book with a US female teen desiDesiDesi or Deshi refers to the people, cultures, and products of the Indian subcontinent and, increasingly, to the people, cultures, and products of their diaspora. Desi countries include India, Pakistan, Bangladesh...
heroine; that was one of the reasons my publisher wanted it, and it is certainly one of the reasons I wrote it – it was, and is, important to me that a young South Asian American have a voice, and that it be heard and read by people of all backgrounds and ages. And it is just as important that other South Asian American voices be heard; the more out there the more we can begin to approximate expressing the richness and diversity of this culture – the flip side being the fewer out there the more susceptible one becomes to a stereotyping of sorts, to sometimes having to carry the impossible responsibility of representing a culture that is as diverse as the number of people who make it up."
An excerpt of Born Confused had appeared in Seventeen
Seventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
magazine in 2002. Hidier was subsequently contacted by book packaging company 17th Street Productions (now called Alloy Entertainment
Alloy Entertainment
Alloy Entertainment is a book-packaging division of the Alloy Media + Marketing company—an American provider of media programs. Alloy is a leading producer of "chick lit"-style novels created for teenage and young adult audiences...
), but she declined their offer to collaborate on an "Indian-American teen story."
Plot
Seventeen-year-old Dimple is too American in India, and yet struggling to conform in America. She and her blonde, blue-eyed best friend Gwyn share "outsider status" as "the rich little girl who lived like an orphan and the brown little girl who existed as if she were still umbilically attached to her parents." Both resisting and ultimately embracing her family's culture and traditions, Dimple navigates suitable/unsuitable boy Karsh Kapoor, her interest in photography, and "a number of tricky situations."Controversy
On May 3, 2006, The Harvard IndependentThe Harvard Independent
The Harvard Independent is a weekly newspaper produced by undergraduate students at Harvard University. It is one of many hard-news media outlets on the Harvard undergraduate campus.-Origin and history:...
reported that Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
student Kaavya Viswanathan
Kaavya Viswanathan
How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life is a young adult novel by Kaavya Viswanathan, an Indian-American woman who wrote it just after she graduated from high school. Its 2006 debut was highly publicized, but the book was withdrawn after allegations that portions had been plagiarized...
's highly-publicized debut young adult novel How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life (2006) contained "imagery, sentence structure, and paragraph organization" which was "strikingly similar" to material in Born Confused. The Independent pointed out three similar passages between the books; Hidier herself later found "two dozen instances of lifting from Born Confused in the Opal Mehta book." Portions of Viswanathan's novel had previously been alleged to have been plagiarized from several other sources, including Megan McCafferty
Megan McCafferty
Megan Fitzmorris McCafferty is an American author known for The New York Times bestselling Jessica Darling series of young-adult novels published between 2001 and 2009...
's first two Jessica Darling
Jessica Darling
The Jessica Darling books are a The New York Times bestselling series of five young adult novels by Megan McCafferty, published between 2001 and 2009. Told from the diary-style perspective of character Jessica Darling, the series chronicles her misadventures through high school, college, and beyond...
novels Sloppy Firsts (2001) and Second Helpings (2003), and Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot
Meg Cabot is anAmerican author of romantic and paranormal fiction for teens and adults and used to write under several pen names, but now writes exclusively under her real name, Meg Cabot...
's The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries
The Princess Diaries is a series of epistolary novels by Meg Cabot in the chick-lit and young-adult fiction genre, and the title of the first volume, published in 2000....
(2000). 17th Street/Alloy had helped Viswanathan "conceptualize and plot the book," and shares the novel's copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
.
Hidier had also published a short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
called "Cowgirls & Indie Boys" in a 2004 anthology
Anthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
edited by McCafferty called Sixteen: Stories About That Sweet and Bitter Birthday.