Bittercon: It's so Magical to be Homeless! The Romance of Urban Fantasy

[intertext]

This is really a lot of open questions and food for thought than a fully developed thesis. It just struck me, in my - admittedly somewhat limited - experience of urban fantasy, that the "urban" in "urban" seemed to reflect a somewhat limited and romanticized view of the "street."

Just to put my thoughts into a context here, my exposure to urban fantasy rests mostly on Charles De Lint, most of whose works I have read, Emma Bull, Will Shetterly and Neil Gaiman, whose Neverwhere I include in the genre. I would, or could, also include Justine Larbalestier's "Magic" trilogy and there are one or two others that I have forgotten. Amongst Emma Bull's work, I have read and enjoyed both War for the Oaks and her and Will Shetterly's Borderland novels, and my comments and questions here relate to all of those.

Anyway, it seemed that among these works, there is a common sympathy for and interest in the marginal, the scruffy, the downtrodden. Not that this group is in any way undeserving of sympathy or interest, but it struck me that these works definitely downplay the disadvantages of life among the disadvantaged and - yes - romanticize life for the homeless and the income-deprived. What I wonder is, is this some intrinsic part of a greater literary tradition? Are the authors riffing on folk-tales, whose heroes, if not princesses, tend to be clever thieves, disadvantaged or displaced innocents and so on? In some ways, what I'm asking is whether in fact this is the opposite side of the "Fantasy of Manners" coin - Fantasy of Bohemian Manners?

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is the only somewhat anomalous example - its hero, if I remember, is an average guy who gets lost in a strange alternate or parallel world. And as far as that goes, I guess it's not really "about" magic or fantasy in an every-day urban setting. Does anyone write about magic among the stockbrokers? Or ER, except with magic?

Anyway - that's my pitch. Any thoughts?

Comments

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Also, people without magical powers generally don't end up in fantasy novels.

Strictly as a generalization. ;-)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

I agree that there is some romanticisation of poverty and homelessness in many works of urban fantasy, but I'm not sure that they will lead anyone to embrace homelessness. In general, I dismiss arguments that reading or watching something will cause others to do it, in large part because I believe that those who act on such impulses generally have other issues going on. Young people who run away from home, for instance, are often running away from abusive situations. For them, the streets, no matter how awful, may seem the better option. But, hopefully, if they're reading stories like de Lint's, they'll also notice that there are other options than the streets, that there are people and organizations who, like the Grasso street angle, want to help them.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Outsider characters can act as connectors to some other reality or world. I really, really need to read a bunch of the stuff I've seen referenced this Bittercon session, but given my scant reading, what popped into my head was the tramp character in The Dark is Rising.

Liminal characters can be messengers, and they move back and forth between worlds more or less with impunity, although they may have sacrificed their sanity (or some other thing) in the bargain.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Deerskin is a remarkable book, written by an extraordinarily perceptive and talented author.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Liminal characters can be messengers, and they move back and forth between worlds more or less with impunity, although they may have sacrificed their sanity (or some other thing) in the bargain.

Yes. Excellently expressed. *g*

[intertext.livejournal.com]

It is one of my absolute favourite novels, evah - hence the userpic :) And Robin McKinley is one of my fave authors.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry that my comment was so upsetting to you that you felt it needed to be removed. One of the aspects of urban fantasies such as de Lint's and the Bordertown series that I most respect is their advocacy of a group that is rarely heard and often maligned. I do understand the urge to do as you did and I very much suspected that your reason for your action was as you have stated. The difficulty is that you allowed a personal friendship to influence your decision to let one person be heard, while you censored another's comments, at least in part, because you didn't know them.

As I stated in the original post, my reason for being anonymous was to protect my husband's right to privacy. What I didn't say was that had the experiences been my own to relate, I would have posted openly. At this point, I'm very distressed and saddened by what's happened. I don't want to continue to post in this way; it feels very uncomfortable for me and probably for you as well. I wish you and your friend the best and am glad to see that the discussion is continuing.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

That's true.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

No - your comment wasn't upsetting to me; I sympathized and was sorry for your hurt, and hope I expressed that. I also respect your reasons for wanting to remain anonymous, but if I let one person's remarks stand because I happened to know that person and perhaps was able to understand where she was coming from, well, that's only human, too, and it is, as you said at the beginning, my journal :) I think my strongest feeling was simply that I wanted to stop the proliferation of a "yes it is/no it isn't" kind of exchange on a topic that didn't really fit the tone or content that's being discussed here. In fact, I see that superfoo has deleted her own comment, so I hope that will be an end to it.

I'm very sorry for your distress.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Heh. Yes. Exactly. And even the job, as I mentioned below, is a "cool" one. The Artist doesn't work at McDonald's - it's always at the funky bar in the neighbourhood or the cool bookshop :)

[lidocafe.livejournal.com]

I risk a lot by writing about something Intertext knows I have no knowledge of, as I can count on one hand the number of fantasy novels I've read. However, this fascinating discussion has got me thinking about romanticization of all sorts of marginality, not only street life but also drug culture, rural poverty, war trauma, and so forth. This makes me wonder if we have a doubled attitude to such experiences/arenas. On the one hand, we suspect that life at the margins or in extreme situations has more freedom, more intensity, and more authenticity or "magic," and even that those very margins exist because of our inability to honour those who don't fit into our world but perhaps see things more clearly. On the other hand, maybe it's partly an expression of a cultural pyschological trauma. I believe that most of "us" are extremely traumatized and terrified and sorrowful about the pain and loss that street people, among others, manifest in their very existence. Perhaps romanticizing this culture (or even "explaining" it) allows us to transform that pain into something that will not annhilate us spiritually. Not to relieve guilt, necessarily, but to cope with the horror of just how broken our civilization actually is.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

From my limited experience of such things, it's relatively easy to get a job at a funky coffee shop, because there's usually an incredible amount of turnover in the staff. It's not getting the job that's hard, it's lasting for more than a couple of months. Plus, the pay is probably better at McDonald's which is a large enough corporation to have to follow a bunch of regulations that just doesn't apply to small businesses.

Bookstores, on the other hand, especially those small bookstores, are getting harder and harder to find, as the big box stores take over. But, once you've landed a position in one, you're probably there for life, if you managed to last through the breaking in phase.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm very glad you spoke up, you've made some really astute observations. :)

Thinking about it, isn't one of the reasons we often turn away from street people the guilt we feel when we see them? We know that what we can do, or maybe what we are willing to do, isn't going to make a real difference in their lives. We're not going to bring the homeless person home, and if we did, there are thousands more like that one, so, it's easier to cope with our response by turning away.

In urban fantasy, we can look at the problem, but in a less threatening way. We can feel sympathetic, but we can't bring the characters home, except in the imaginary sense. Which isn't to say that the sympathy we feel might not help us to modify our response to someone on the street. It's just that we don't have to face that guilt head on.

[lidocafe.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's true. And under the guilt we feel at turning away from one fellow human, perhaps we feel a great unease about the whole system. That's very threatening for people who are doing their best to get ahead in that system. So perhaps the fantasy that the world at the margins is one of excitement and deeper insight is actually an expression of desire: the desire to explore whether, in fact, we've got it all wrong, the desire to drop out and seek something that might lead to a kind of happiness/truth we have dreamed of but not yet achieved.

[faeriemusicsmom.livejournal.com]

I've just come home from an excellent local production of Rent that my daughter was in; she commented on the similarity between Rent and the Charles de Lint books she's been reading. And of course Wild Swans could be the same people as Rent 15 years earlier. I'm wondering, how much difference does it make whether it's fantasy or not? Do many of these comments apply equally well to non-fantasy like Rent?

[intertext.livejournal.com]

It's funny - aberwyn and I were having just such a conversation here (http://community.livejournal.com/bittercon/13914.html)! Rent is a very good example of exactly the kind of atmosphere I've been thinking about.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Yes. We work hard, lead stressed out lives, want to improve ourselves and our families, and sometimes wonder if it wouldn't all be better if we could just drop out somehow. And, people do, all the time. Not so much that we're aware of it as a big pattern, but we know there are people who've sold their homes and bought a boat to sale around the world, as well as people who for one reason or another, just don't show up at work one day, and never come back. We may worry about them and be afraid they've made foolish choices, but on some level we may also suspect, rightly or wrongly, that they know something we don't.

There was a young man sitting in front of the grocery store one day, a couple of years ago, twisting some kind of long leaf material into long-stemmed roses and humming while he did. I have no idea what his background was, but he might have been homeless. I chatted with him a bit about his work and offered to buy one, but he steadfastly refused the money and insisted I take two of the flowers. It was quite a humbling experience.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

I noticed during the nineties that Elfpunk romanticized being runaways, but I think adults were reading those, not kids.

Certainly it seemed that as long as you were beautiful and had cool scruffy clothes with glitter, you'd come out just fine, and discover magic and a posse and everything.

Holly Black did a beautiful job with the grit of being on the streets in Valiant. Non romanticized, convincing.

I do think that city streets in genre can get romanticized...even aside from fantasy, the sf does it: everyone is a twenty or thirtysomething, cool, no inconvenient jobs or parents or kids, everyone has a mod bod, etc etc.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

Has anyone commenting on this thread read any of the X23 comics from Marvel? There is a large section of the X23 book focussing on a young mutant named Kiden (who goes by Nyx), who becomes a runaway/"street" kid after breaking a bully's arm using her ability to slow time. I think she has another ability in conjunction with this, as well.

The entire X-Men cast is pretty well rounded, and there is extremely grey areas between "good" and "evil" and outcast/accepted.

[(Anonymous)]

This is off-topic, but I have to tell you, I ADORE your user pic! Princess Mononoke is one of my favorite films.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I have a problem with not logging in. I adore your userpic.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

In regards to this, there was an article I read recently about a suggestion to help "cure" the problem of poverty/homelessness and encourage people to work through their problems.

Essentially the theory was this: Pump a ton of money into social services, and really, TRULY get people started on their feet. The article used a bee-sting analogy: for example, if a person has only one or two bee-stings, they are likely to treat them by rubbing ointment on them, or whatever. But if a person is COVERED in bee-stings, curing one or two is hardly helpful, because they are still covered. Same with cars; if a person has a new car and they get a dent in it, they will likely fix it. If a person has a run down P.O.S car, they probably won't bother dealing with another scratch.

Of course, this idea was EXTREMELY controversial, and met with people's outrage at the very thought of helping those who "did this to themselves." I wish I could find the article. . . http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_economic_inequality.html
I think that's the article.

Lidocafe - I still remember something you said one evening while we were waiting for a bus downtown. You gave a man some change and said that you had seen where some of the people who become addicts and homeless grow up, and you said "if you look at that, what other choice did they have?" As you know, I come from a background with a rather jaded view of the world, and also some amount of hopelessness when it comes to society's redeeming features, but the remark has stuck with me.

Also, I think that maybe authors with more "socially conscious" motivations for writing about the poor, the outcast, etc. are wanting to stimulate and inner-dialogue with the reader about these issues. For example, if we are to see a street person, we can walk right past without engaging them. But in a novel, we are CHOOSING to engage with characters, and perhaps by making characters realistic personality-wise, we will be more compelled to consider the homeless people who resemble the "street person" in the book we are reading. What I'm saying is, I don't know about you, but when I see people, I often think "that person is TOTALLY (Character) from (Novel)!" I'm not sure if sympathizing with outcasts and underdogs because you liked the fictional version of them is "good", but in any case, whatever gets people thinking. Literature is supposed to tell a great truth or explore perceptions and challenge widely held opinions.

Sadly, to the average person, if they were to actually look at the homeless/poverty problem in it's entirety, it would be overwhelming and heartbreaking.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

A great example of the "runaway" theme turned on it's head is Garth Nix's Shade's Children. It deftly discusses issues not only of trauma, death, and those pesky coming-of-age hormones, but also explores TONS of other issues in a disturbing way. It's one of my favorite books, with "heroes" who are a far cry from perfect, indeed a far cry from adults, and there is very little romanticising - I suppose that's kind of an oxymoron considering it's sf, and has a romantic element to it. Although written for young adults, there are scenes in that book that will stay with me forever.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

That's fascinating to me, as it's a real life phenomenon, and a recognizable mark of trauma. Usually heroes have the "physical" markings to distinguish them as totally awesome, but the fading of hair marks something all together more sinister, and in Real Life often makes people uncomfortable. I say this because I knew a boy who had a shock of white hair, and I always wondered what caused it, but it was one of those "taboo" things to ask. I was also talking about X-Men in another comment, and the character of Rogue has a shock of white hair due to trauma.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

Oh, I just thought of another awesome book that explores this vein - your adults vs children readership reminded me of it.

The Ender's Game companion, Ender's Shadow portrays an extremely dark and violent underworld of homeless children in the beginning, and the idea of violence and war being played out by children is a disturbing theme throughout. What's the most horrific part of it is the childrens' awareness of the acts they are committing. It is highly effective when adult levels of experience are projected onto children characters. I would say that this aspect of the book really challenged the "outsiders rule" tradition. However, a few characters merely transitioned from the "disturbing violent street kid" outsider to the "highly intelligent military kid" outsider. Which was equally as disturbing, if minimally more awesome.

Sadly, the "Bean" thread of the Ender story ended up getting butchered near the final books, as Orson Scott Card made Bean turn into a giant, whiny, egotistical, boring wiener.