Medieval Fantasy in Popular Culture

Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon is the first novel of an anticipated trilogy. And, in a drastic change from every other fantasy series, his world features a colored majority, so much so that there are literally no white characters , a drastic departure from the hyper-white normative of the genre. Despite his clear descriptions of skin tone and very Middle Eastern setting, for whatever reason, readers, and even fans, still seem to think the characters are white. How do we know this? Take a look at the second image that pops up when you google the book's title. The artwork is clearly intended to be the main three characters of the book: Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, an aged ghoul hunter, Raseed bas Raseed, the Doctor's assistant, and Zamia Banu Laith Badawi, a "tribeswoman" who can take a holy form known as the Lionshape. This was likely produced by a fan, as it is not cover art, and we can make the assumption that people do not usually create such de

Rape Will Make Benjamins There has never been a deficiency in the raping of women in popular culture, but it seems to have reached a pinnacle in Game of Thrones . Writer Nina Raine said that “If you create a drama with a rape in it that doesn’t get talked about, that must surely be because the character didn’t get raped enough times”. This notion was specifically the case in the television show Game of Thrones. J.R.R Martin’s ideas were executed and altered to become more popular and interesting for the viewers. If you ponder on this idea, it sounds extraordinarily crude and twisted almost suggesting that mankind has no more morals left to scavenge for. The casual violence of rape in Game of Thrones has become so normative and playful to the extent that the audience forgets that it is wrong and immoral. Half the male cast in Game of Thrones are known for their authoritative, hyper-masculinity, and sexism toward women like chieftain of the Dothraki, Khal Drogo. However, these fact

Game of Thrones is a book written by George Martin. In this medieval fantasy tale, there are many references to blood and violence. This is because Game of Thrones is a type of fantasy referred to as gritty fantasy. Gritty fantasy is known for its blood, war, violence, grey lines, and rape. Sexual violence is very common and very present throughout the book. In fact, there is a theme of rape as a common thing among some cultures. Specifically, more in the Dothraki culture than in the White culture. Often in fantasy, there is a common theme of “Whiteness.” This is what Helen Young refers to as “Habits of Whiteness.” This idea is that the White race and their traditions and culture are put at the center of the book. In fact, the “Whiteness” is put above all other non-White races. A common theme in fantasy is that the White characters are often the good and well-respected characters and the non-White races are depicted as “savage-like.” For example, in Game of Thro

Breaking Down Hyper Masculinity in Tolkien’s World Building In Tolkien’s fantastical worlds, there are surprisingly many reflections to our own world’s issues. Tolkien’s world also suffers from the issues of misused-privileged power, war, racial and social inequities, and greed. Which of course means that there is bound to be gender discrimination and stereotypical (sometimes toxic) gender roles. Now this is not the only case in fantasy where stereotypical gender roles are the basis for world building. In fact, we are introduced to it at such an early age it becomes surprising when these societal norms are challenged. Even with Tolkien’s writing this style of character writing would not be a problem, only if it did not impact the readers own identity and development. As humans, we base our learning of societal norms and behaviors off of observations from the society that surrounds us. And of course a portion of this learning comes from the books that we read

Aggregate of the Medieval in Throne of the Crescent Moon In Saladin Ahmed's book Throne of the Cresent Moon, the Cresent Moon Kingdoms represent a hodgepodge of medieval middle eastern societies and cultures.  The Cresent Moon Empire is a mixture of Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and Turkey as well as the Persian and Ottoman Empires. We can see the influence of each of these cultures through the story and particularly in the city of  Dhamsawaat . The tea houses of Dhamsawaat were a feature of Turkish society, meanwhile, the name of the empires itself references many middle eastern flags such as Algeria, Pakistan, and Turkey.   Another example is the Kaftans that are worn by multiple characters were worn by multiple middle eastern cultures, including but not limited to Morocco, Algeria, the Ottoman Empire and the Persian Empire.  The entire book is littered with references to Islam such as the different titles for God like the Merciful, the Almighty etc., the existence of Ghuls