White Characters Dominating Fantasy Worlds

Well technically mine takes place in alt-future, and discusses topical to theme of real things that happened in our verse.
That and the MC that brings them up is a history buff. Granted it takes place in the 28th century. So who says that
past events (in our history), cannot teach those in those in the far future. Point is we as a species have a tendency
for repeating things, and in that repetition comes escalation (with the aid of better technology, and using the frame
work of those events to a much greater effect). History is a blessing and a curse. What changes is how these things
are used, but the overall concept remains roughly the same.

With great power, comes great responsibility.-Spiderman

 

In my story prejudice is addressed but by species rather than race. As for what race my characters are, it isn't mentioned as it isn't brought up, but I do have a picture of everyone in my head. And no, not all of them are white. It all depends on what part of the world they're from.

 

That's what I meant by alternate reality...

 

I notice that a lot of Fantasy novels are set more in fantasy 'places' rather than fantasy 'worlds'. As was mentioned, the fantasy genre is really medieval-european-magic-fetishism, although that has been branching out into new territory of late. But when people say a cast is all white, it's usually because the story takes place in a very small section of what we must assume is a larger world. And, lo and behold, that small section is usually Europe.

I'd like to see more fantasy 'worlds'--entire literal worlds with science and anthropology behind them. Places where man was either placed where he is by a creator or where he has survived naturally and wandered, explored, and evolved. A fantasy world that mirrors reality in the progression of early man, but with certain differences. What if Africa had more domesticatable animals and better places for agriculture? What if Persia and Europe had switched places, placing Europe next to China so Persia had to rely on boats and ships to facilitate trade? What if the Aztecs had murdered Cortez on the spot, stole his horses and armor, and used the new knowledge they gained by experiencing a different culture to expand their own?

This is all stuff I'd like fantasy to talk about. I think you can take the trappings and important essences of 'fantasy' and drop them in places that aren't Europe.

Just, you know, one of those hasn't been made into a movie yet.

 

I know the pedants are going to scream that it's not really Fantasy, but have you ever read The Years of Rice and Salt? Long story short: Europe doesn't survive the Black Plague. Like, at all. And... go!

 

As most such discussions seem to.

 

How do you know that

 

>90% of the members on this forum who say they're writing fantasy describe WIPs that fit the standard fantasy bill. Sampling error or not, some definitions of fantasy have more relevance than others.

 

I'm rather skeptical of that figure.

 

I can't remember if I mentioned these already in this thread...

There's Alison Goodman's Eon/Eona books that take place in sort of historical Chinese/Japanese fantasy world. It's up to the reader how they imagine the characters, but I'd wager many would think of dark eyes with the fold and jet black hair (and probably the cover; there's a silhouette of a person with a katana-like blade) instead of bright blonde blue eyed freckled Northern Europeans.

The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdied takes place in this sort of Oriental, Arabian-nights kind of fantasy world.

Nalo Hopkinson's The Salt Roads is almost exclusively about non-white characters apart from Charles Baudelaire who has a cameo in it, but he's not a POV character.

Then there are books like The Night Watch series that is set in present day Russia or The Witcher series which heavily draws from East-European/Polish lore. I can understand that when you read these books, you imagine the characters white unless otherwise stated. Obviously in the real world there's diversity in the skin hues of e.g. Russians, but we'll still conjure up a stereotypical image pretty effortlessly while we read.

Having said that, I love Medieval-Europesque fantasy and I'm glad people keep writing it. I'd also encourage readers/writers who want to see something different to look a little deeper or write the kind of story they want to see published. Furthermore, there are other "white cultures" than what's been portrayed in GRR Martin/Eddings/Tolkien type medieval Europe sword & sorcery, so I'm not sure if focusing so strictly on the amount of melanin in the characters is any less narrow-minded. If you want to read something more diverse, something that's a bit atypical, there are also fantasy books with ethnically Caucasian characters that can introduce the reader to other fantasy elements than knights, dragons, and swords such as Troll: A Love Story by Johanna Sinisalo (also LGBT themed).

 

Writers like Nalo Hopkins and Nnedi Okorafor are the reason one of my forum 2017 resolutions is to stop tapping Octavia Butler and Samuel R. Delany as the go-to examples of people of color writing excellently, with diversity, in the realms of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I read an article last year (did you show it to me??) that talked about the need to do this because constantly and exclusively tapping these two paragons of the genre makes them seem at best unicorns, aberrations never to be repeated. At worst, tokens. Their work is humbling and benchmark - compared to anyone - but if we are to speak relevantly on this particular topic we have to acknowledge these newer faces on the scene; else, we defeat our own purpose.

So... I was jazzed when I saw you mention her.

 

N K Jemisin as well.

 

Perhaps I'm the only person on this thread who's MC isn't black or gay?

 

Maybe. Is that important to you?

 

That's because she's a transgender Native American, right?

 

I would totally read that story.

ETA: It just came to me why your comment resonated with me. In Gemma Files's Hexslinger series, your transgender Native American is brought to life. Leader of a band of desperados.

 

Nope.

 

Spoiler

 

Not really sure how that adds to the conversation, but.... whatevz.

 

@PilotMobius Any chance you could put that in Spoiler tags? That picture is very very big.

 

Handled.

 

Huh. Forgot moderators could do that

Spoiler: That was easy

Condescension is always "good"

This guy genuinely thinks he's "helping" LGBT+s by saving them from eternal Hellfire, your MC just knows that the Bible doesn't actually say that (even though this other guy thinks it does ).

 

Nope, I hear you. In my Fantasy* piece there's a dolphin (yes, a dolphin) who ends up being a bit of a patsy and puppet for the antagonist. This dolphin is a prig and a prude and is clearly (even to me) seen as a "right wing conservative" analogue. I need to work on him because he's just too ham-fisted.

* Not really Fantasy. Science Fiction dressed as Fantasy. Pern, Darkover, you know the deal.