Conan, Boardgames, and SJWs! | THE COLLINE GATE—Thoughtful Political Discussion

Amadan
Illuminati

Posts: 1,599

Conan, Boardgames, and SJWs! Mar 1, 2017 14:40:50 GMT -5

Post by Amadan on Mar 1, 2017 14:40:50 GMT -5

Okay, I will contribute a thread.

So most of you know I am a big fat nerd.

(Actually, I'm neither big nor fat. But definitely a nerd.)

Among my nerdy interests are boardgames. And pulp swords and sorcery novels.

So behold, the intersection of my hobbies and ranting against SJWs, in this essay I originally posted on boardgamegeek.com:

Mostly Untrue Things

Vaguely on topic as lately it seems like everything is being connected to Trump somehow.

(Is anyone else a BGG member?)

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robeiae
Thaumaturge

On a down bound train

Posts: 6,692

Conan, Boardgames, and SJWs! Mar 2, 2017 9:29:48 GMT -5 Optimus likes this

Post by robeiae on Mar 2, 2017 9:29:48 GMT -5

From your piece:

What they clearly are not is actual Native Americans, nor directly based on them, and how Hornbeck concluded that they are specifically based on the Iroquois, I have no idea.

I'm pretty sure that point of view is from L. Sprague de Camp, though I'm not sure on what he bases it. He knew his Conan stuff, though. I'd probably accept his POV on this.

That said, it's a "so what" moment for me. Howard obviously used whatever he needed, when it came to other cultures, including stereotypes, myths, and pseudo-histories. But he used these things as inspirations for his world-building. I think that is where Ms. Hornbeck's disconnect is: she's not getting this. The world of Conan is not real, it's not supposed to be real, and thus isn't a reflection of someone's mistaken version of reality.

The world she imagines is a world without imagination, and I think that sucks.

Nice piece.*

* I haven't laid out any guidelines for linking to our own stuff, so I guess I should, just in case.

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Amadan
Illuminati

Posts: 1,599

Conan, Boardgames, and SJWs! Mar 2, 2017 10:09:25 GMT -5

Post by Amadan on Mar 2, 2017 10:09:25 GMT -5

Another Conan aficionado later pointed out some other Howard works that indicated that he did indeed partially base the Picts on American Indians. But not specifically the Iroquois.

Hornbeck's viewpoint is actually very common in SF/fantasy/gaming circles that are dominated by SJW-type thinking: one is always on the lookout for ways in which depictions of any culture other than the creator's* are appropriation, or hidden code for racist/colonialist sentiments.

* Only if the the creator is white, though.

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