I really enjoyed the selections for this week because they included several stories that were set in places distinctly NOT European. Being faced with fantasy based in Cambodia and Korea made me think about the beginning of the semester when we all crafted lists of this genre. Most of the items we came up with, I think, were decidedly European. When we think 'fairy tales,'
who instantly comes to mind? Hans Christian Anderson, maybe? The Brothers Grimm? A lot of fantasy has roots in fairy tales, and these fairy tales have their roots in culture. I don't think I'm stepping out of bounds when I assume that the fantasy genre is mainly Western in nature. But what about cultures that are extremely divergent from ours? What about contemporary Cambodia? What about war-torn Korea? Other cultures have vast amounts of creative flavors to add to this genre, and I'm glad that several authors are beginning to explore beyond the age-old European recipes.
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I'd argue that fantasy isn't solely a Western thing. Remember Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon where they're almost flying? That's actually pretty common in Asian movies. There's also a lot of prophecies, ghosts, certainly fairy tales, and other elements of fantasy prevalent in Asian culture. The mythology of Asia and India for that matter is vast. A lot of the religious texts in India are huge. They basically make the Bible look short. A lot of their content is also over epic wars, magical or cursed artifacts, and avatars (where the word comes from- Krishna, anyone?). Those are all elements that I think would argue for a long standing 'fantasy' culture, at least as much as is found in the West.
I completely agree with you Renee; Fantasy exists as a strong presence in arguably every society. My problem is that Western writers don't often use tropes unfamiliar to European culture.
I'm confused. What specifically does Eastern fantasy have that we don't get exposed to regularly? Besides flying people, I guess. But Renee mentioned prophesies, ghosts, etc. And I was pretty sure we have a lot of fairy tales that began in or are strangely similar to those found in Asian cultures (i.e. the earliest Cinderella tropes have been decidedly Asian/Middle Estern in origin, I'm pretty sure.)
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