Thank you for this post, and thank you for calling out the squares on the bingo card that should exist.
We've gotten many stories with similar themes submitted to our magazine. It is so sad that this keeps happening and happening.
It's not a new idea that there's a problem with speculative fiction writers who attempt to "subvert" or otherwise "neutralize" racist tropes by using their authorial control to make those tropes literally true in their world. So the Navi are literally connected to the earth. Patricia Wrede writes about pre-Columbian Americas that are literally "empty of people but full of dangerous animals, many of them magical." The beings that South Africa are subjecting to apartheid are literally insects. This is not subversion; this is entrenchment.
THIS. The same old tropes are combined with "these aren't supposed to be REAL [people of marginalized group], these are FANTASY people/creatures who are used as ALLEGORY." (Hm, Avatar.) Then "this isn't about you, it's allegory" becomes an excuse.
I recommend this excellent video by Expanded Horizons two-time contributor Carter Meland, if you have not seen it already. It covers the use of Indians as "allegory."
no subject
Thank you for this post, and thank you for calling out the squares on the bingo card that should exist.
We've gotten many stories with similar themes submitted to our magazine. It is so sad that this keeps happening and happening.
It's not a new idea that there's a problem with speculative fiction writers who attempt to "subvert" or otherwise "neutralize" racist tropes by using their authorial control to make those tropes literally true in their world. So the Navi are literally connected to the earth. Patricia Wrede writes about pre-Columbian Americas that are literally "empty of people but full of dangerous animals, many of them magical." The beings that South Africa are subjecting to apartheid are literally insects. This is not subversion; this is entrenchment.
THIS. The same old tropes are combined with "these aren't supposed to be REAL [people of marginalized group], these are FANTASY people/creatures who are used as ALLEGORY." (Hm, Avatar.) Then "this isn't about you, it's allegory" becomes an excuse.
I recommend this excellent video by Expanded Horizons two-time contributor Carter Meland, if you have not seen it already. It covers the use of Indians as "allegory."