A while back The Atlantic ran an interesting article written
by Noah Berlatsky of the comics-and-culture website, The Hooded Utilitarian. Titled “Star Wars and the FourWays Science Fiction Handles Race”, Berlatsky categorizes four aesthetic
strategies science fiction utilizes to represent race: the metaphorical, token,
diversity, and direct. No strategy is inherently superior to any other in his
opinion as each offers a unique perspective on race and can be utilized well or
poorly depending upon the skill of how it is used to represent racial identity.
Though the article is framed around science fiction, I believe that it is
equally applicable to fantasy fiction as well. Furthermore, I feel that
Berlatsky overlooked a fifth way for speculative fiction to imagine race:
alternative representation. This is especially relevant to the alterity of the
fantasy genre which is often set in alternative, secondary worlds with their
own histories and therefore our inherited racial categories, and the burdens of
their associated stereotypes need not be an essential aspect of the
world-building project.
The first method of
racial representation is the metaphorical. Fantastical and alien species serve
as the alternatives to the recognizable categories of racial identification.
That these species are often referred to as “races” despite them being
simultaneously identified as non (if not sub) human reflects speculative
fiction’s pervasive problem with recognizing race authentically. By
appropriating the term “race” into the discussion of non-human species,
speculative fiction risks the identification of racial minorities with inhuman
monsters which is exactly what racists do when they dehumanize minorities as of
another species (calling them “apes” for example). This opens a dangerous space
for speculative fiction to indulge in racial stereotypes without obviously
having to own it. Even if the metaphorical “races” are relatively inoffensive,
there is the problem that they are still structured according to homogenous
racial stereotypes. If an alien species is supposed to be a metaphor for race,
it must be ensured that there is recognizable diversity within the race and not merely amongst
races. Speculative fiction is fond of indulging in word-building with a
plurality of different racial species but each is only ever considered as a
monolith with established stereotypes This is especially relevant to role-playing
games based upon speculative fiction where racial categories are associated
with stereotyped attribute statistics such that particular races are inherently
stronger or smarter than other archetypes. For these reasons, the metaphorical
approach, while not necessarily worse than any of the other methods is
certainly the most challenging as it is likely to misrepresent race in such a
way that would justifiably offend minorities.
Token racial
identity is the second method by which speculative fiction represents race.
Unlike the metaphorical technique, the racial identity is literal but similar
enough to the metaphorical in that race is obscured from being anything but
nominally depicted. Token representation ensures that minority races are included
but their status as
racial minorities is not an
element relevant to the narrative. It is racial without any apparent social
implications between characters. Such racial recognition is literally only
skin-deep, serving more to describe the appearance of characters as opposed to
defining their experience as a people. This approach often provides more detail
than the metaphorical approach but does not ensure more depth. If anything it
may prove even more evasive. For while a fantastical substitute may not take
race literally, it may nevertheless explore the consequences of race and racism
to a greater extent through metaphorical parallels. The token approach may be
representative of post-racial societies of the future or alternative worlds and
histories, but if this is the case then it should be the burden of the
narrative to make the argument for such a setting. Speculative fiction isn’t
merely about exploring imagined worlds but in explaining them. Our society is not
colorblind, no matter how much some may claim to the contrary. So if such a
world is written into existence, the burden is upon the good author to explain
what differences between our world and the speculative world made possible to
see race as irrelevant.
Diversity in speculative fiction
is the third method of racial representation. Instead of the narrative being
dominated by white or pseudo-white people by default, the setting imagines a
racial minority as the focus of the narrative. White (analogues) may not
feature into the setting at all. Diversity goes beyond the strategy of token
representation, by making the narrative about minorities rather than merely
including them. The advantage of such an approach is that it puts minorities in
a position of power that they may not otherwise possess outside of such
speculative fiction. But at the same time the narrative may risk the accusation
of being socially escapist for refusing the recognize the struggle of
minorities as minorities.
The narrative may lose its appeal for those with more immediate concerns over
confronting racial inequality rather than imagining an escape from it. A
further danger is that by placing the focus on racial minorities, extra
attention is devoted to them and therefore it is essential that they be
represented authentically according to the concerns of that community. Simply
imagining a fantasy setting in Asia world does not guarantee that it will be
without offensive Orientalist stereotypes. And as with the metaphorical method,
it is irrelevant whether such stereotypes are derogatory or not since any
stereotype creates an artificial constraint around a community’s capacity for
self-expression and determination. Because of these concerns, diversity-focused
fantasy settings is best conducted by those writing within their own community
or consulting with authorities in a community.
The fourth approach to
speculative fiction’s racial representation is to do so directly and
explicitly. Regardless of whether the narrative is situated within an
alternative time period or world altogether, the way in which race is discussed
reflects contemporary concerns over racial identity and equality. If the
circumstances and characterization of races is not identical to the present
then it is at least continuous with it, possessing a narrative bridge between
the present and its speculative alternative. In either case, the world-building
is in continuous and transparent dialogue with concerns for racial identity and
(in)justice. It neither approaches race through the surrogate of misleading
metaphorical categories nor does it represent race as merely another feature of
the world-building itself. The concern with direct representations refuses to
speculate alternative possibilities of race and responses to it. By focusing on
relevance to contemporary politics, the narrative may ignore the imaginative
potential of speculative fiction to redefine those debates with new concepts,
categories and experiences. Speculative fiction reaches its full potential when
it isn’t simply determined by the present but is in constant dialogue with it,
offering a different perspective on familiar and relevant phenomenon.
The alternative approach is
the fifth means by which speculative fiction can depict race that I felt that
Berlatsky overlooked. It’s not simply reducible to one of the other four
methods because it takes race literally but differentiates it from our familiar
historical racial categories. As with the previous three strategies,
alternative approaches take racial identity literally but like metaphorical
techniques, they represent a divergence with a recognizable reality. Instead,
fictional racial identities stand as substitutes for real racial membership.
This isn’t the same as equating race with species as in the metaphorical
approach but drawing distinctions between race along different lines. This
allows for more detailed discussion of race than the metaphorical or token
approach without having to make an apparent connection to real races or racism
as necessitated by the direct method. There must be considerable
differentiation between fictional and historical races in the alternative
approach otherwise there is the concern that it will be legitimately identified
as guilty of cultural appropriation and exploitation. Diverse cultural elements
may be combined into a purely fictional culture, but it must be done carefully.
If an alternative culture is going to appear similar to the stereotype of its
historical inspiration, there must be adequate explanation for the familiarity.
If not, it risks reducing minorities to a means of supplying an exotic and
alien element of speculative fiction. The idea is to use an alien culture to
familiarize the audience with racial diversity, not to alienate a familiar
culture.
There are a variety of
methods available for speculative fiction to appreciate and interrogate racial
differences ranging from the metaphorical to substitutionary and
confrontational. But each of these methodologies must respect both the
authenticity and disparity of racial identities. One must consider not only
what is being represented, but how it is being differentiated from the
ideological status quo. Speculative fiction imagines alternatives to our world
but should remain in dialogue with this world because it is written and read within
this world. Whether imagining an alternative history or another world
altogether, speculative fiction remains interested in and appreciative of
difference. When those differences are superficial and repeat contemporary
injustices, the narrative is read not only as a failed exercise of the genre’s
imaginative potential but also its ethical imperative to celebrate
difference.
