https://hamzasar.medium.com/the-moral-metaphors-of-fantasy-b0ab0671d748
"She did not let fantasy be confined to the white-centric, heroic saga
tropes it had been subjected to (and still is, despite the efforts of Le
Guin and those who came after her). She understood the immense potential
of fantasy in exploring the nuances of human morality. She refused to
engage in the pointless discussion of ‘child’ vs. ‘adult’ fantasy. It
simply did not matter to her. What mattered was writing a meaningful
story that captures the human condition in all its complexity and
messiness. The simplistic reduction of humanity to fighting clear cut
wars was not enough. The moral lessons to be learned from stories were
not meant to be simplistic or superficial. Beating enemies through force
is not sufficient to find conclusions for our problems in real life. Why
should this be the case in fantasy then? Are fictional worlds supposed
to be simplistic? What does a good moral position look like? Le Guin
probed these questions in her fantasy and then answered them emphatically.
And this effort to make fantasy into a complete, multi-layered, complex
affair is one of Le Guin’s most important contributions. Her politics,
her writing, her characterization were all engaged with and emanated
from this core effort. On 21st October 2020, Le Guin would’ve been 91
years old. But she isn’t here anymore. She is gone. In her stead, she
has left an entire legacy of powerful fantasy storytelling. Our way to
pay tribute to her is to read the stories she crafted and to learn the
nuanced lessons she taught us. And then say thank you to her. RIP Ursula
K. Le Guin, the queen of fantasy fiction."
Via
libramoon@pluspora.com.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
