I feel like the idea of 'protagnist' and 'main characters' needs to be challenged more in stories, by authors and readers, especially as we get away from imperialisitc storytelling traditions. It's pretty accepted that the white savior trope is dysfunctional racist paternalism--

I'd like to see that same critical eye on the concept of 'protagonists', because I feel like especially in SF/F, it's serving some similar purposes: the responsibility of change foisted on a single person (a princess, a space captain) the inherent homogeny of a single POV

I recently read A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o & his ability to weaves so many characters perspectives and memories together felt so revolutionary & innovative and not something I see commonly in current fiction! Probably cuz omniscient isn't 'trendy' or seems challenging

A Grain of Wheat is about community, private and public responsibility, forgiveness, complicity with colonial forced. All of these themes are served by the lack of one main protagnist and instead uses a complex decentered cast. Having a 'main character' shouldnt just be a given.

If you have a focus on a single protagnist: why? Does it serve a narrative purpose? Does it serve your theme? Does it serve your own authorial ideology? Can you diffuse your perspectives in your story? Why not?

I'm not saying protags are bad, just that they shouldn't be assumed right out of the gate to be necessary or 'right' for your story, just like any other narrative structural component.

Narrative trajectories of mainstream western fiction feel like theyve been slow to stray from an individualistic experience. There's alot at play as to why but what comes to mind: capitalism has a vested interest in keeping us autonomously & ideologically seperate from each other

Right now writing feels very dictatorial, answers are favored over mystery, ease over effort; but if we were to challenge these conventional narrative elements, ones we hardly ever question, we might be able to make more complex and radical works of art...

I should say Im struggling with this too! My own stories hew towards the individualistic and I'm realizing now I don't often agree with that on a craft level (for particular projects) or ideologically. It seems daunting to feel the need to rework these stories but..Growing pains!

But I'm tired of reading the same thing even among marginalized creators (me included) where you just plop in a woman of color in a hero's journey and have them enact the same violent imperialism in reverse lol as cathartic as it is. Gotta keep trying new uncomfortable things!

as a cartoonist whose industry is steeped in making every characters HYPER individualistic design wise (down to their silhouettes!), it really shows how much of a strangehold capitalism has on what a protag should be. Character design is often about marketing a product not story

Characters can look AND sound the same and still FEEL like their own person. But that's less "sexy" than a cast of color-coded, specifically shaped characters who all have their carefully crafted catchphrase lol

anyways I'm not decrying protagnists, just wanting to emphasize its another TOOL to be considered and shouldn't be taken as a Truth Of Story. main characters are going to be around forever & I like them! but also understand choosing one is a socio-ethcial choice: it's not neutral

oh I actually did this in my graphic novel A Map to the Sun https://us.macmillan.com/amaptothesun/sloaneleong/9781250146687

But actually I want to know your favorite stories with NO protagnist, instead a rotating cast or no permanent cast at all! For example: Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko

Also one of my all time favorite movies does this: Edward Yang's THE TERRORIZERS