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Authentic Representation In Fantasy

A Brief Overview

I spent my senior year of high school researching the effects of authentic representation in fantasy literature. As a queer, neurodivergent, AFAB person and an avid consumer of fantasy, I'm quite passionate about this subject. I really wanted to know, if I take real-world issues completely out of context and put them in a fantasy world, will people think about them differently? 

 

In a 2013 study by Ohio State University, researchers explored the idea of losing yourself in a book, a concept known as experience-taking, which is when a reader takes a little bit of a character inside themselves and it changes them. In this study, students read a story with a gay character. One group knew the character was gay the entire time and the other group found out later in the story. The second group reported higher levels of experience-taking and greater acceptance toward LGBTQ+ people. When we read fiction, we find things in the characters to identify with and we form emotional connections with them. By the time the second group learned the character was gay, they’d already identified with them and experienced the story with them, which allowed them to see the character and LGBTQ+ people in a different light.

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Forming a connection with the characters is an incredibly important part of reading and experience-taking. When we connect with the characters, we empathize with them and we experience the story with them. When we connect with the characters, we are able to fully invest ourselves in the story. This is what makes the stakes feel high when we read. This is why we cry when a character dies, why we clench our fists when a character goes into a dangerous situation, why we cringe when a character does something stupid. When we form empathetic connections with characters, the story feels real, like we’re right there with them. And that’s why experience-taking happens, why we’re able to change our perspectives when we read.

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I asked LGBTQ+ participants what they think is different about queer representation in fantasy versus in other kinds of fiction, and every single one of them said it’s different because in fantasy, the representation is not overt.

In fantasy, we’re not reading a coming out story or a story about overcoming queerphobia. The story doesn’t revolve around a character being queer, and it’s not a plot point. It’s just another piece of who they are. And that’s how it is in real life, too. I’m not going to walk up to someone and say, “Hi, I’m Tessa and I’m pansexual and having a gender crisis.” No! I’m just going to say, “Hi, I’m Tessa” and you’ll find out I’m queer after you’ve gotten to know me. It’s the same thing with characters. You meet them, you identify with them, and then maybe they’re in a bar on a reconnaissance mission or something and noticing the hot girls and the hot guys. 

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Stories with overt representation are still incredibly important, don’t get me wrong. But someone who isn’t accepting of LGBTQ+ people is not going to pick up that kind of book. However, they might pick up a fantasy book because they like the look of the plot, and then they’ll encounter queer characters. If you look at the books behind me, every single one of them is a fantasy with queer representation, but you wouldn’t know that just by looking at the covers, right? Just like in the Ohio State study, these readers will identify with the characters first, and then find out the character is queer. And maybe if they come into contact with representation that way, they’ll see that queer people are just like them. 

How You Can Include Authentic Representation In Your Writing

If we say only people who have certain identities can write them, we won't get the widespread representation we need. That said, don't just start writing a character without knowing what you're getting into. Here are some tips on writing good representation.

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  • Avoid Tokenism. 

    • Tokenism the worst. Seriously. And fantasy has a long history of it. A token character is a minority side character which often perpetuates stereotypes. Make your characters round and developed - don't make their only personality trait being a minority.​

  • Make Your Representation Intentional and Recognizable

    • If you announce that a character is gay after you publish a book when you didn't write it with that intention, it doesn't count. When you start writing, take the time to flesh out your characters - including their sexualities, disabilities, and/or neurodivergence (or lack thereof). Then write with that in mind.

  • Be Accurate

    • Inaccurate representation is just as harmful (if not more) than no representation at all. The best way to avoid that is to 1) Do your research. Make sure you know all there is to know about the identity you're writing so you don't get it wrong. And 2) Get sensitivity readers. Have people who actually are the identities you're writing read your work. They'll let you know if you've gotten anything wrong.​

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This is just a starter kit; they're my three biggest tips, but not the only ones. If you have any questions or you want to learn more, please contact me. I would be happy to help!

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