tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post5506892343322633970..comments2023-09-12T06:18:38.552-04:00Comments on The World in the Satin Bag: Literary Explorations: Epic Fantasy = Crushingly Conservative? (A Sorta Response to Liz Bourke)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13571452656553970472noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33813337.post-10202792420021880182013-02-28T23:01:07.636-05:002013-02-28T23:01:07.636-05:00I have to disagree with you on one crucial points:...I have to disagree with you on one crucial points:<br /><br />The two examples you give of epic fantasy that promotes (or at least displays) a progressive as well as conservative viewpoint, in fact displays only what classic conservativism defines as progressive.<br /><br />To the conservative mindset, looking back is the only way to discover the answers to the future. Conservatives consistently veer toward "returning to an ideal" to fix the troubles of the present rather than work toward new goals that did not exist in the past. In this way, the "Return of the King" is an exceedingly conservative version of a "progressive" event. A jump back to an ideal moves the world forward - this is a far cry from any kind of progressive worldview.<br /><br />With Kingmaker, Kingbreaker (which, full disclosure, I have not read, but going on your description here) we once again see another staple of classic conservative belief: that "progressive" movement of culture will happen naturally, as a byproduct of simply trying to preserve the status quo. In both LOTR and KK, we see not progressive moments as understood by progressives, but progressive moments only as understood by the conservative mindset: the best thing to do is struggle to preserve, to conserve, and the progress that is necessary to any culture will hence occur only at the proper time(s), pace, and way that mostly recycles differing status quos of the past.<br /><br />The protagonists of LOTR and KK (and the argument being "epic fantasy" in general) are more often than not PASSIVE progressives, which is precisely how conservatives want to treat any progression.<br /><br />The actual progressive world view is that progression must be actively, consciously, specifically fought for. Perhaps, like in epic fantasy narratives, constitutional slavery in the USA would have ended due to the natural tension between the North and the South and the Civil War that was unavoidable (the slavery issue could be argued as the most natural excuse for the war to occur). This would be the conservative concept of "progress". But then come the equally epic, and much longer (and ongoing) struggle for the actual enactment and enforcement of Civil Rights. If the Civil War is the conservative view of progress, the Civil Rights movement is the progressive's.<br /><br />In epic fantasy, largely due to the scope - which as you point out is beyond the impact or control of any one individual, or even single group of individuals - you almost necessarily end with a message of divine causality, where progress occurs not because anyone struggled for it specifically, but because the events are beyond the full understanding or control of any of the players.Dave B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05565133923004044115noreply@blogger.com