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So I see we& #39;re having the "can white people write POC POVs conversation again" and one of the frequent arguments I see is "But I& #39;m writing second world fantasy so I don& #39;t have to worry about this" and...
...fun news, friend, you get to do EVEN MORE WORK!
...fun news, friend, you get to do EVEN MORE WORK!
Unless your world is a carbon copy of our world (and, more so, the particular culture that you are a part of), race will most likely be defined and function differently than it does here and now, or here and historically.
It& #39;s 101 level knowledge that race is not solely biological, but cultural in definition. So you& #39;ve worked out that people in your world look different from one another--neat, but that& #39;s just phase one in how that FUNCTIONS in your world.
Race isn& #39;t just a genotypic or phenotypic expression of hereditary traits. It& #39;s a cultural understanding of self and other, of intersections with place, belief, values, family...the list goes on.
So you have to ENGAGE with that stuff in your work. I& #39;m not saying you have to write racism, bigotry, or systemic oppression into your work. The amazing thing about fantasy is that we CAN create the worlds we& #39;d love to see.
