How do I go about writing aquatic humans as an allegory (or w/e the right word is) for Indigenous people?
How do I go about writing aquatic humans as an allegory (or w/e the right word is) for Indigenous people?
I'm considering writing the merfolk in my story as a sort of metaphor for indigenous peoples, as well as other sea-dwelling or otherwise aquatic humans. Is this inherently problematic in and of itself, or is there a way to write this that works and is respectful to actual indigenous folks? If it's inherently disrespectful, I can nix the idea, but as of current I don't have any other equivalents to write them in with. I'm sure I could figure something out easily enough, though.
If you haven't already explored the literary genre of Afrofuturism or Caribbean futurism, it would be good to read some exisiting literature. The Deep by Rivers Solomon depicts merfolk as the descendents of pregnant African women thrown overboard from slave ships. Tentacle by Rita Indiana doesn't explicitly contain merfolk, but it does focus on water deities and mystical properties of the sea (as well as time travel and colonialism) in order to represent indigenous perspectives.
12What aspect of indigenous peoples would you want to represent? Think about that in detail, and think about whether what you want to represent might just be a stereotype.
I can imagine that this can be done tastefully. But it could also turn out really horrible. What specifically do you mean by a sort of metaphor? Do you want to go into some indigenous social constructs and living conditions? If so, WHAT groups specifically?
Do you only want to talk about stolen land and shamans? I would advise against that. The question is more nuanced and you have to be more detailed to get usable answers7Have you watched Avatar: The Way of Water? It's pretty much what you want 😂
7The books that get various complex cultures right, have friends/advisors that are native to those cultures to explain nuances - read drafts and offer edits.
5Being overpowered by civilization is a universal human experience. You are allowed to write about that. Everyone’s ancestors were conquered, and each of us is tyrannized by the mere existence of civilization.
4Could just copy that Pukahontas 2 movie.
4This may seem problematic as an idea but I think black panther 2 pulled it off in a respectful and interesting way.
Namor (king of Atlantis) has always been a big part in marvel comics, being the first mutant. But the way he was portrayed in the movie gave him an indigenous history that made him and Atlantis as a whole a lot more interesting than he’s ever been in the comics.
3I’m not well versed in the comic history, but I thought Apocalypse was the first mutant. I didn’t know Namor came first.
2Ah yeah you’re right, I think Namor was at one point the first mutant in the original x-men comics but now there is Apocalypse and a few other mutants that came before him.
1You are correct. Namor was one of the original 3 main title Marvel Superheroes along with Captain America and the android Human Torch (different from the Fantastic 4 Human Torch) and first appeared in 1939. After X-Men became popular he was retconed into being a mutant and has sometimes been called the first mutant because he was created first despite the in universe timeline having him be younger than Xavier and Magneto. When Apocalypse was created as a functionally immortal mutant from Ancient Egypt he took on the in universe title of the world's first mutant but the Submariner still occasionally gets the title out of universe.
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I second this. They did an excellent job of tying real South America with the fantasy of Atlantis and Namor.
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If you're having to ask, it might be a little much. You need confidence, and the realization you are not going to get it perfect. No one ever gets those kinds of things perfect.
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