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

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

I agree! I really like that article and often think about it, especially during discussions such as this. And in regards to getting your BA: it's amazing how liberating education can be. I think it does a lot to empower people. Which relates to the "poor in literature" thing. Most of the time the characters, although at times uneducated, are usually intelligent. Unfortunately, those in Real Life who suffer from poverty are often UNeducated, which I truly believe contributes a whole lot to the problem of poverty in general. This has been proven with other things, such as the education of women in developing countries: we see lower instances of unplanned pregnancy and STDs when women are given more control over their bodies. In the same way, when people feel they are in control of themselves and CAN work towards changing their position in life, solutions can arise.

Sadly, in many places education is not accessible.

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

Of course, being uneducated should not be equated with being intelligent. Many people who have had a poor (as in, bad) education, or who have never graduated from school, or who have had some form of non-traditional education, are quite intelligent. We also know, now, that there are many different kinds of intelligence, social intelligence being one that has recently received a fair amount of attention.

Yet, it may also be fair to say that the poor have a disproportionate number of unintelligent people. If you aren't smart, it's going to be harder to get or make use of an education, and harder to get and keep a job. Also, lead poisoning, poor nutrition before and after birth, genetics, and physical abuse can all be factors.

Despite all this, some extraordinary people raised in impoverished circumstances manage to find ways to bring themselves out of poverty. It bothers me, though, when people point to their success and suggest that this means that all it takes is willpower and a strong work ethic to get oneself out of poverty. No. I don't believe this, any more than I believe that I will be the next Warren Buffet.

[superfoo.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

[lidocafe.livejournal.com]

I have to agree about the willpower and so forth. I had a rocky youth and was a teen mom and so on and so on, and I certainly have worked hard to move past that, but I was lucky enough to be doing it in an institutionally supportive setting. Without the taxpayers' money . . .

And the different kinds of intelligence point is also interesting. Social and emotional intelligence are crucial to people's "success" too, and these can be radically affected by mental illness, drugs, abuse, and so forth. Lots of people on the streets or grasping for their bit of welfare have huge difficulties dealing with other people and that will inevitably make it almost impossible to play the game.