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Ran across an otherwise postive review of Writing in the Dark that said I recommended writers appropriate other cultures' monsters for their own work. That was news to me, so -- thinking maybe I did that without being aware of it -- went back through the book and checked. 1/?
I did find places where I suggested writers be inspired by mythology, but in my mind I was thinking ancient mythologies not more recent folklore. (I don't think I mad that clear.) I'm grateful to the reviewer for bringing up the point about cultural appropriation of material. 2/?
Because now I wonder -- and I'm asking for opinions here -- if using elements of or being inspired by ancient mythologies is also cultural appropriation (if you aren't part of that culture). I can see an argument that Greek and Norse mythology has been part of westerb culture 3/?
for a long time (or maybe I should has been studied and taught in the west for a long time). But what about other mythologies (thousands of years old)? Do you think using elements of them count as cultural appropriation too? 4/?
To be clear, I'm not intending to argue with the reviewer. I'm grateful they took the time to review the book (and the review was overal very positive), but the review raised an important point for me to examine.
