WISCON!

[oyceter]

Eeeeee! Programming is out for Wiscon! I copy Mely and post my schedule and a poll.

Not Just Japan: Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy

"What works of science fiction and fantasy are being produced in Asia today? How does the popularity of anime and manga fit into this, and how do we bring in other Asian nations and not focus solely on Japan? Questions to tackle may include: Can we even classify certain works and genres, such as wuxia, as SF/F, and is there a difference in how speculative fiction in Asia might be thought of? How do people who are just being introduced to Asian SF/F react to a different set of tropes and genre expectations, versus those who grew up with it? And where do Asian-(nationality) folks (e.g. Asian-Americans, British Asians) fit in?"
Friday, 8:45-10:00 P.M.

M: Rachel Kronick
Vandana Singh (!!!!!!!!)
me


Can Internet Drama Change The World?

"Impassioned blog debates have initiated many into feminist praxis, queer critique, and antiracist ideology. But they also generate frustration, disillusionment, and flamewars. Participants in online political discussions are frequently derided for wasting energy that would be better expended in 'real' political work than in online drama, but many can also attest to the importance of online participation to developing understandings of power and privilege. This roundtable will raise questions of the validity and importance of online micro-political interventions, and their relationship to social justice activism on a larger scale."
Sunday, 10:00-11:15 A.M.

M: Alexis Lothian
Julia Starkey
K Tempest Bradford
Woodrow Hill
me

[Poll #1183668]

Comments

Very short version

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Movies: I'm not all that into mainstream Indian movies (indie films tend to be very realistic) but there's a lot out there that's either based on Indian myth and so has miracles, demons, etc, or is similar to Western fantasy and superhero stories.

Plus a lot that, like we talked about earlier, isn't really fantasy but is more non-realistic elements in otherwise realistic stories. In Western media this sort of thing includes ghosts, prophetic dreams, etc; in Indian media reincarnation and "boons" (wishes granted by Gods or holy people) is also common. Again, I consider this related to fantasy but insufficient on its own for me to classify it as such.

TV: More retellings of Indian myths, watched by about a billion people.

Random fantasy literature: What I read was in English, so that's got to be just the tip of the iceberg.

India has a huge publishing industry and most of it is never exported... and it's not exactly hard to find Indian novels in the US and the UK, so that gives you an idea of the size of it. Also keep in mind that there's a ton of books written in various languages (India has 14 official ones, and that does not include English) and many of those are never translated into any other language.

I read a lot of Indian fantasy for kids-- lots based on Indian folklore, but definitely more of a genre fantasy feel than straight myth. Though there were also a ton of translations and retellings of various myths and folktales. There was just a lot out there.

Magazines: "Chandamama" and "Tinkle" were two I read, general-interest magazines for kids. They often had short or serialized fantasy stories.

Comics: Amar Chitra Katha was a big company retelling myth, folklore, and history-- the latter sometimes of dubious accuracy.

Mainstream literature: A lot of Indian authors writing in English have strong magic realism elements in their writing. It's not genre fantasy and it isn't marketed as genre fantasy-- it's more like the magic realists from South and North America. I think this is fairly common in lit that was not written in English and not translated either, but obviously that's just my impression, since I can't read that stuff.

Genre lit: Not so much there, but again, probably lots that wasn't ever translated into English. Ashok Banker (whom I find unreadable, but YMMV), Amitav Ghosh, Jayant Narlikar (mostly untranslated.)

Re: Very short version

[oyceter]

You are awesome, thank you!

Re: Very short version

[deepad]

I read 10 pages of Ashok Banker's Ramayan retelling and had to restrain myself from ripping the pages up!

And I have memories of having Jayant Narlikar's work in Hindi being read out aloud to me, and loving it!

(Here via Oyce... now to dredge up some names for her.)

Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Rama.

The blow-heat of rancid breath against his face, guttural whisper in his ear. He snapped awake. Sweat-drenched, fever-hot, bone-chilled, springing from his satin bed, barefoot on the cool redstone floor. Sword, now. A yard and a half of gleaming Kosala steel, never out of reach, a bolt of lightning in his fist. Soft rustle of the silken gold-embroidered loincloth around his tight abs.

Re: Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[deepad]

Waah, stop, you're hurting me!

The part where I lost my temper was when Manthara pimped out Kaikeyi... I was reading it for research for a dance-theatre performance I was scripting that was reclaiming Kaikeyi from her perception as a villianess, and comparing the nuanced characterisation in the Valmiki version with Banker's drivel left me frothing.

Um, have you heard Neil Gaiman's podcast on the Ramayana at the British Library website? I admit to a knee-jerk annoyance at the idea of a white Englishman who cannot pronounce 'dharma' properly being asked to script the Hollywood introduction to the epic for the benefit of the Western world.

Re: Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

He lost me at "tight abs."

I do like Neil Gaiman's writing but yeah, I'd be happier if his was just one of many versions appearing in the West. I haven't heard the podcast, so I remain baffled at the idea of how it's even possible to mispronounce dharma.

I should probably confess that I have been attempting to inflict Mahabharata-influenced stories of my own upon the world for some time now. But I would hope that mine would just join the rest of the many already out there, rather than being seen as the true version. (Especially since one of mine has giant robots!)

Re: Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[deepad]

O Rama, of the arms down to the elbows and the washboard stomach!

(There's a hilarious English translation of a Kalidasa shloka that comapares the woman's buttocks to steps leading down to a pool. Ahem.)

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/whatson/downloads/files/gaiman.mp3
It's not so much mispronounce as say it with a British accent, but I am finicky and post-colonially snobbish.

Do I dare ask about the giant robots? (I always vascillate between being a canon ho and subversive for the Mahabharata.)

Re: Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

It's a fantasy set in a steampunkish, non-colonized India that's more-or-less modern-day, but in which the Mahabharata is ancient but real history-- but itself a weird alternate version. The giant robots are really more like golems -- they're biomechanical earth creatures with a symbiotic relationship with humans.

So there's a mildly faithful backstory, but the main story is completely different, though there are thematic and plot parallels. If I ever get it published, I'll put in a foreword explaining that it's based on the Mahabharata but is not remotely accurate and shouldn't be taken as such.

Re: Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[deepad]

Would love to read it!

Re: Behold! Rama the gym rat!

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Thanks! It's my not-so-Sekrit Novel. Even more insane than it sounds! I'm hoping to have a draft done... well... at least in a year. I'm hoping for six months from now, but I have a lot of other things I'm working on so my time and attention is divided.