Why do we keep using the same races and would people be willing to accept new ones?

[Bortasz]

1. There are people (Social justice Warriors and Professional Victims) that will find offensive everywhere.
2, The goal is not to make of yourself a easy target.

 

[FatCat]

This is cowardly, imo. SJWs are a far-left sect that can condemn whoever they want under the terms of ambiguity. I highly doubt the majority of free-thinkers believe in their propaganda.

 

[Bortasz]

This is cowardly, imo. SJWs are a far-left sect that can condemn whoever they want under the terms of ambiguity. I highly doubt the majority of free-thinkers believe in their propaganda.

The problem is not if somebody believe them.

It is: How much problems (Death thread harassment ) they create. Being accuse of racist is dangerous in some part of the world. And it is stigma that is very hard to wash away.

And it is not cowardly. When i walk through street I check left and right even when I have green. This is because I know that there are morons on the street, and I prefer do not have problem with them.

Also the free thinkers are minority in all societies. Most people have other stuff on thee mind to check the news they are serve in TV.

 

[Mythopoet]

I wrote a blog post yesterday on the subject of this thread after thinking about it for a while:

https://sarahmccabemythopoet.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/worldbuilding-wednesday-fantasy-races/

My take is basically this:

1. There's a huge amount of variety out there in fantasy races, even when those races share the same name they are often very diverse in their characteristics.

2. The reason the same races do pop up, at least in name, over and over is simple: mythology. Fantasy is the new mythology and so mythology is the foundation of fantasy. These races all come from mythology.

3. Authors use these races because 1. they really like these mythological races and want to write about them 2. it's a way to participate in the creation of mythology as a human cultural phenomenon 3. like it or not, it really is easier for many readers to believe in a secondary world if it's full of fantastical things that are nevertheless familiar.

4. This is not something new fantasy writers should scoff at. (more on that in a future post)

 

[WooHooMan]

2. The reason the same races do pop up, at least in name, over and over is simple: mythology. Fantasy is the new mythology and so mythology is the foundation of fantasy. These races all come from mythology.

I did a short story some time ago were Dwarves had grass hair, lived in swamps and spoke to spirits. Everyone who read it commented how bizarre and random that was even though it comes straight from mythology (central African mythology to be specific).
Then you get people using Tolkien or Lovecraft or whatever races while under the impression that they have some basis in actual mythology.

There's a point where mythology stops mattering and it just becomes whatever interpretation readers are familiar with. Which is unreliable since different readers are exposed to different things.
I guess that's part of the transition from old mythology to modern mythology (aka fantasy fiction).

3. Authors use these races because ... like it or not, it really is easier for many readers to believe in a secondary world if it's full of fantastical things that are nevertheless familiar.

If there is a single answer to the thread title's question, this is probably it