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| Question: what are the odds that this picture was taken in America? |
I’ve spent the last few months of my life considering the fantasy genre and its lack of wide-scale success. Indeed, science fiction and fantasy (Speculative Fiction) make only about 6% of the books sold in the United States. That means that for every 100 books sold in this country only 6 are Speculative Fiction. Now, there are lots of good reasons why the appeal of these books can be so low. Chief among these is the demand for personal investment (memorizing dozens of unpronounceable names, places, and complex ideas, etc…) and the level of education the reader is probably expected to have. However I would like to focus on one specific area of Spec-Fic: fantasy.
Here in the United States, and especially in the CBA market, there can be some pretty serious uphill battles in getting that stuff off the ground. So I would like to postulate the theory. I’m not entirely certain of this, and I’m not married to it (so I guess it’s more of a hypothesis) but what I have noticed is as follows: traditional fantasy is a largely European phenomenon.
Stop and consider for a moment. Out of all of the well-loved fantasy written in the last… well… ever, it was almost all written by Europeans. More to the point, the overwhelming majority are from the UK. J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, Susan Cooper, Brian Jacques, and even Terry Pratchett are all from the UK. Though, there are exceptions. Most notable would be Robert E. Howard, author of the Conan stories of the 1930s. But what you’ll see in these stories is a dramatic shift in style and even genre (Howard is sometimes credited with originating the Sword & Sorcery sub-genre).
Thus brings me to the really important question: why?
Thus brings me to the really important question: why?
I suppose I should back up a little while I start saying this. There are lots of genres of fantasy, and there are lots of Americans who have been very successful. Superman is an American fantasy, and so also is Stephen King’s massively popular Dark Tower series. One could also very safely say that Star Wars is a fantasy. But what you’ll notice about all of these is that they are not “traditional” fantasies. In other words (or to put it very bluntly) the are not pseudo-European. They do not usually involve castles, dragons, peasants, kings, feudal systems, or any of the things that European history is steeped in. Indeed, Star Wars is often cited (as much as anything) as being a Western – the quintessential American genre. Continue through the list of successful American fantasies and you will find that most have major roots in the Western genre. Both Stephen King’s Roland the Gunslinger and R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt the Dark Elf are admittedly by their creators inspired largely by Clint Eastwood’s ‘Man With No Name’ (Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, Good, Bad and Ugly). Even Conan has some very arguably Western traits.
What I think we’re seeing is a clear case of cultural honesty. While a person (this includes me) may want to write about castles, kings, and knights, those are historical and cultural allusions to things that are not part of American history. Our history is one defined by the Old West, World War II, and the international space race (all are drawn upon heavily in the creation of the great American myth of Star Wars).
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| This says it all. |
I would even go so far as to say that part of the success of Avatar comes from its (blatant) allusions to American history.
Now, none of this is any way is meant to say that American culture, history, and society is in any way superior to that of other cultures and places. I’m simply suggesting that if you are an American writer, writing for American readers, then perhaps the best way to resonate with them is to stay American and not pretend to be a European.
Just a very personal thought. Reactions welcome.
5 comments:
A couple of quick thoughts on your thoughts:
It is the age of globalization.
With the way that information and technology have been making the world a much "smaller" place, it is easier than ever for people from anywhere on the globe to learn about and relate to people anywhere else on the globe.
If I, as a white American male, want to write a story from the perspective of a Native American, or an Inuit, or an Asian woman, or whoever, it is not very difficult to do so. Or, maybe I should say, it is not as difficult as it once was. A person no longer needs to travel abroad for years at a time to learn about various cultures or national histories.
All of that to state that I don't think we are as "tethered" to the history of our specific geographic regions as you are making us out to be!
One reason that steampunk will be an awesome trend: you've got both US-ian (wild wild west-ish) and European options.
Steampunk has quickly become my favorite genre of literature. I somehow completely missed Steampunk during all of my years growing up reading fantasy and sci-fi.
Steampunk in its proto-form was essentially the "Edisonade," stories featuring inventions and distinctly "American" in their focus on exploration, exploitation, and manifest destiny.
If you ever get a chance, check out Edward Ellis's "The Steam Man of the Prairies." It was written in.... 1880-ish (1886, I think?) and is THE prototype of steampunk. I would probably have a seizure if I ever found a first edition in tact. There is only one known in existence.
This is a reaction to your thoughts and to parts of our conversation from yesterday evening.
I tend to agree with most everything you said and I have to say that you're on to something with the whole European vs. American history-thing. Until you've lived abroad, you can't really and truly understand that we are still different (all cultures), no matter how much of a global melting pot this world tries to be today. Little things like being driven to school every day past medieval castles and living on a diet of mostly hand-made raw cheeses and artisan wines and breads (the wines not necessarily excluded from the diet of a person who is still being driven to school, mind you) will make a big difference in a person's understanding of the world. When things around you have such a clear history dating back hundreds upon hundreds of years, it tends to weigh in on what you find to be interesting in the fantasy genre, as well as in other areas. (think music and visual arts) The idea that someone who hasn't lived in a world steeped in such history could realistically take the rules and break them (which is what all great art really is - knowing the rules and willingly, sometimes willfully, breaking them, with a purpose) in order to create great fantasy is just slightly nonsensical. You have to know something very well in order to create fantasy based upon it. Now, this is not entirely true in all cases, obviously, but I really do think you're onto something, as I said before.
Moving on to successful American fantasy/sci-fi, let's take a look at the beloved Joss Whedon creation, Firefly. Prototypical space-western, in your face! It is so clear to me why Firefly is such a phenomenon among fans in America. It appeals to those very things that have shaped our country and its people. As a series, it plays on our fascination with the exotic, while still keeping the theme comprehensible and "safe" within the zones of what still feels "American" at its heart. It caters to our desire to be seen as cosmopolitan, but still the superior society on the planet/in the verse (for example, the use of a mixture of English and Chinese, heavy on the English, as the universal language of choice). Wouldn't you think that some planets would have a majority of say, French-speaking inhabitants instead of English-speaking, for instance? Perhaps we would have seen more diversity than there already is in the series had it been allowed to run its course without being cancelled, but I am not so sure.
At any rate, I do think that it takes living with a history/culture to truly be able to create something new and fantastical based upon it. It's no wonder that I so often feel annoyed by American fantasy fiction, but tend to devour the European offerings with relish. The authors you mentioned really do hit the nail on the head, so to speak, and quite literally blow their American competition out of the water, in most every case. I have been accused of being "un-American" before, but I don't think in this case that the name really applies. I just happen to prefer the generally superior traditional fantasy offerings, which happen to be mostly European in origin. Who can blame me for seeking out quality? That said, I do love many American authors/works, but they tend to be very different in their choice of subject matter and setting.
Maybe we can elaborate on this idea at some point in another conversation.
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