ShadeZ
Maester
Has anyone else noticed fantasy writers almost always give humans the benefit of the doubt over other species and tend to elevate them to a higher level even if they have fantastic beings like elves or faeries.
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Why Do We Promote Humanity in Fantasy
- Thread starter ShadeZ
- Start date
Aldarion
Archmage
Well, yeah. It is difficult to write something you are unfamiliar with; basically you'd need to be a speculative psychologist to convincingly write an alien species. As such, most fantasy species (or races) come to represent aspects of humanity, or an idealized version of humanity (Elves!), rather than being wholly unique. As a result, humans are always more interesting.
Mad Swede
Auror
Do we though? I can think of quite a few examples where that isn't the case, Tolkien being the most obvious example. If you mean that writers tend to give their different races/species similar psychology to humans (as Aldarion wrote) then I think you're probably right. That written, I think a lot depends on what sort of work you're trying to write, and what it is you want to focus on. Yes, you can write in such a way that humans get elevated, buyt equally you can write a work where humans are in some way looking up to another species (see for example Arthur C Clarke's Childhoods End).
Prince of Spires
Istar
Define higher level.
I think humans get a lot of focus because humans are easier to write convincingly than other races. It's very hard to make a dwarf perspective feel like an actual dwarf perspective instead of just a short human. And then you get into the fact that most people think of themselves as the hero of their own stories. If your protagonist is human, then he'll think of himself (and thus humans by proxy) as pretty good. And since in most stories the protagonist wins, it's more or less by default that humans win.
I think humans get a lot of focus because humans are easier to write convincingly than other races. It's very hard to make a dwarf perspective feel like an actual dwarf perspective instead of just a short human. And then you get into the fact that most people think of themselves as the hero of their own stories. If your protagonist is human, then he'll think of himself (and thus humans by proxy) as pretty good. And since in most stories the protagonist wins, it's more or less by default that humans win.
Ned Marcus
Maester
Well, we're humans, so it's natural and easier. I also have point of view characters that are non-human (a dragon, for example) but less of them.
Insolent Lad
Maester
It seems to me speculative fiction has a long tradition of championing the 'other' over the ordinary humans, who frequently come off as crude, ignorant, and tending to violence. That other might be, in SF, a mutant or similar gifted being, or of a not-quite-human race in fantasy. Those others, admittedly, are usually of a human-like character, and certainly represent those of us who fell alienated from our fellow humans (pretty common among writers and readers of speculative fiction—or maybe among writers in general).
Chasejxyz
Inkling
There's a good image out there of what furries would look like if they were invented by snakes instead of humans, so its snake bodies with animal ears and tails tacked onto them.
The fact of the matter is is that (to our knowledge) there is 1 sapient species (left), which is H. sapiens sapiens. There was a time where we lived side-by-side with other sapiences, but they all went extinct. And considering we interbreeded with them, we saw them as some sort of equals. They didn't have writing, they didn't pass down oral histories, so we don't know how exactly they thought of them, how they would write stories about other intelligent species and how they would differ from us...So when we write speculative stories about other intelligent species, we have to make things up, and you always write what you know, so whatever you make will be about us.
Now if you mean that authors tend to make humans as SUPER AWESOME and just better than other races, I totally get you. I think it's very anthrocetnric and kind of silly. My current WIP is about humans, but it's written by a high elf for a (presumably) non-human audience. Humans don't have magic*, they have dreadfully short lifespans, their bodies break down pretty easily, they can only walk around, their vocal systems are rudimentary, and their "visible light" is only ROYGBV! Their senses are horrible! So to some people, they are not truly sapient, since the ability to use magic is seen as the determining factor between intelligence and animals. But humans have hands and can do things with them that no one else can, and their ever-present sense of their own mortality and perceptions of time and space causes them to approach issues in ways no one else can. Humans are unique in the way that any given species can be unique (cheetahs run fast, bees make honey etc), but that doesn't make them better than any other species, objectively, at least. Of course some people still think they are, and that's a source of contention.
So if in your world there is something about humans that makes them uniquely suited to something, then yeah, that's fine, but if they co-evolved with other sapient species, then they will have a niche they are very good at doing. But so will every species. There are a ton of species that drink nectar, but there isn't JUST hummingbirds or JUST butterflies or JUST bees, one of those kind isn't hands-down better than any other. They each do really good in specific situations, but I'm sure the bees think that the bee way is the best way.
*except under very special circumstances, which is discussed in the book
The fact of the matter is is that (to our knowledge) there is 1 sapient species (left), which is H. sapiens sapiens. There was a time where we lived side-by-side with other sapiences, but they all went extinct. And considering we interbreeded with them, we saw them as some sort of equals. They didn't have writing, they didn't pass down oral histories, so we don't know how exactly they thought of them, how they would write stories about other intelligent species and how they would differ from us...So when we write speculative stories about other intelligent species, we have to make things up, and you always write what you know, so whatever you make will be about us.
Now if you mean that authors tend to make humans as SUPER AWESOME and just better than other races, I totally get you. I think it's very anthrocetnric and kind of silly. My current WIP is about humans, but it's written by a high elf for a (presumably) non-human audience. Humans don't have magic*, they have dreadfully short lifespans, their bodies break down pretty easily, they can only walk around, their vocal systems are rudimentary, and their "visible light" is only ROYGBV! Their senses are horrible! So to some people, they are not truly sapient, since the ability to use magic is seen as the determining factor between intelligence and animals. But humans have hands and can do things with them that no one else can, and their ever-present sense of their own mortality and perceptions of time and space causes them to approach issues in ways no one else can. Humans are unique in the way that any given species can be unique (cheetahs run fast, bees make honey etc), but that doesn't make them better than any other species, objectively, at least. Of course some people still think they are, and that's a source of contention.
So if in your world there is something about humans that makes them uniquely suited to something, then yeah, that's fine, but if they co-evolved with other sapient species, then they will have a niche they are very good at doing. But so will every species. There are a ton of species that drink nectar, but there isn't JUST hummingbirds or JUST butterflies or JUST bees, one of those kind isn't hands-down better than any other. They each do really good in specific situations, but I'm sure the bees think that the bee way is the best way.
*except under very special circumstances, which is discussed in the book
Perhaps the OP could explain further and provide an example or two.
ladyander
Scribe
I can't say I have seen that very frequently.
I can't probably name more examples that this is the exact opposite. Maybe we just read different kinds of fantasy novel.
I can't probably name more examples that this is the exact opposite. Maybe we just read different kinds of fantasy novel.
