73 lines
2.9 KiB
HTML
73 lines
2.9 KiB
HTML
<!doctype html>
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<html lang="en">
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<head>
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<meta charset="UTF-8" />
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<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="book-page.css" />
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</head>
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<h1>COEXISTENCE DOESN’T MEAN SELF-ERASURE</h1>
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<p>
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In some stories, ecological themes are handled quite superficially: humanity
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is depicted as a parasite, technology as a source of corruption, and ancient
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lifestyles become romanticized and stereotyped, often without a solid
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historical or anthropological base. Although they provide fertile ground for
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Villains, such simplistic perspectives represent a form of cowardly
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nihilism.
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</p>
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<p>
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What natural fantasy proposes is, instead, to make a humble and brave
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choice: our heroes must stop seeing themselves as masters or tormentors of
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nature, and remember they are merely one of its many expressions, embracing
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the responsibilities that arise from their ability to invent, create, and
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transform.
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</p>
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<p>
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In short, we can coexist with the planet we live in precisely because we are
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humans, rather than in spite of it.
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</p>
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<h2>CULTURAL INFLUENCES AND COLONIALISM</h2>
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<p>
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When we imagine a story centered around sharing and coexistence, we are
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often influenced by existing cultures that consider those principles as the
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foundation of their civilization, tradition, and philosophy. Historically,
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however, those same cultures have been targeted by violent and repressive
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colonialist politics, their voices silenced even in present day. Their
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characteristic cultural elements are often trivialized and reduced to mere
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appearances, robbed of their significance and made to conform to consumer
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logic, a surface representation that removes all introspective or
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revolutionary charge.
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</p>
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<p>
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If you want to take inspiration from these cultures when you create new
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stories and characters, please strive not to repeat that harmful rhetoric:
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</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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Look for detailed and
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<strong>not instrumentalized sources</strong> which present information
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with integrity and respect, without trivializing cultural complexities or
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reducing them to stereotypes.
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</li>
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<li>
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If your setting includes tribal cultures, or cultures inspired by
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real-world native populations, do not consign them to the role of
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enigmatic strangers, keepers of riches, threats or victims in need of
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help: make them <strong>full-fledged protagonists</strong>, avoiding
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recurring stereotypes like the mystic, the raider or the scout.
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</li>
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<li>
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Finally, make sure not to associate the search for harmony and
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spirituality with a forcibly ascetic, passive or impractical lifestyle; on
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the same count, do not associate it with a lack of interest in science and
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technology.
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</li>
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</ul>
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</html>
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