Groupmind help on Islamic Fantasy
Oct. 24th, 2011 11:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahjrossWorld Fantasy panel schedules are up and here's mine (I'm moderating):
The Lands of Islam
Islamic lore is one of the world’s richest stores of fantastic premises, as illustrated by Burton’s “1001 Arabian Knights” and its sequel. A look at the legends and lore from this fascinating cultural source, as well as other Middle and Near Eastern stories and myths. Are there specific dos and don'ts for writing Muslim characters with authenticity? And what are the considerations about using Muslim characters in the current political climate?
I could use some help here. First of all, there are so many things wrong with the panel description, it's hard to know where to begin! It conflaties Islam and Middle Eastern/Arab culture/folklore, "all Islamic countries are Arab and Middle Eastern," and so forth. "Near East" is an old term, once used for the Ottoman Empire, now replaced by "Middle East."
The wiki article on 1001 Nights says much of the oldest material came from India (e.g., Jataka Tales), although the Scheherezade frame story appears to be Persian; stories such as Ali Baba and Aladdin were not in the original but interpolated later by European translators. Yet we lump them all together, treat the Burton translation as definitive, and plunge into adoration of what we consider exotic.
So... if you were in the audience, what would you like to hear, what points made, what authors or books mentioned? We could start with making a distinction between religion, ethnicity and folk stories (which the 1001 Nights definitely is, complied in Arabic around 7-8th C CE); we could talk about folk tales throughout the Islamic world; or fantastical literature with Islamic themes; or books with Muslim characters; or Muslim writers; or the position of culturally diverse fantasy in the political climate of anti-Muslim prejudice. Or --?
The Lands of Islam
Islamic lore is one of the world’s richest stores of fantastic premises, as illustrated by Burton’s “1001 Arabian Knights” and its sequel. A look at the legends and lore from this fascinating cultural source, as well as other Middle and Near Eastern stories and myths. Are there specific dos and don'ts for writing Muslim characters with authenticity? And what are the considerations about using Muslim characters in the current political climate?
I could use some help here. First of all, there are so many things wrong with the panel description, it's hard to know where to begin! It conflaties Islam and Middle Eastern/Arab culture/folklore, "all Islamic countries are Arab and Middle Eastern," and so forth. "Near East" is an old term, once used for the Ottoman Empire, now replaced by "Middle East."
The wiki article on 1001 Nights says much of the oldest material came from India (e.g., Jataka Tales), although the Scheherezade frame story appears to be Persian; stories such as Ali Baba and Aladdin were not in the original but interpolated later by European translators. Yet we lump them all together, treat the Burton translation as definitive, and plunge into adoration of what we consider exotic.
So... if you were in the audience, what would you like to hear, what points made, what authors or books mentioned? We could start with making a distinction between religion, ethnicity and folk stories (which the 1001 Nights definitely is, complied in Arabic around 7-8th C CE); we could talk about folk tales throughout the Islamic world; or fantastical literature with Islamic themes; or books with Muslim characters; or Muslim writers; or the position of culturally diverse fantasy in the political climate of anti-Muslim prejudice. Or --?
