When Fantasy Meets Africa

The roaring success of the recent Black Panther film is another sign that fantasy worlds are changing. The fictional African country of Wakanda as portrayed in Marvel comic books has been isolated and stagnant, a common problem with "Othering" of non-white cultures. The plot of the film addresses its isolationist past and in doing so, blazes a trail for other fantasy universes in how they portray African-like nations.

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The roaring success of the recent Black Panther film is another sign that fantasy worlds are changing. The fictional African country of Wakanda as portrayed in Marvel comic books has been isolated and stagnant, a common problem with "Othering" of non-white cultures. The plot of the film addresses its isolationist past and in doing so, blazes a trail for other fantasy universes in how they portray African-like nations.

[h=3]Marvel Deals With its "Other"[/h]Othering is a process in which other cultures are viewed through a biased lens of exoticism and isolationism. These cultures are not integrated into the world but are rather static, often amalgamating a region's various cultures into one homogeneous mass. The culture may be portrayed as never having advanced beyond what defines it as exotic.

Any world creation will likely be influence by the beliefs of the time, and many fantasy worlds -- Marvel's superhero universe included -- paint different cultures with broad strokes for white audiences as a form of shorthand. This is how we got Wakanda as a technologically-advanced culture that never fully engaged with the horrors of war that have rocked the world at large. As Nate Jones puts it:

It refuses to trade with other nations, though as one line in the movie makes clear, Wakandans are still able to consume American memes. As we see in a Western television broadcast in the movie, Wakanda is able to get away with this by masquerading as an impoverished third-world country, and since the country’s leadership refuses to take international aid, the rest of the world doesn’t ask too many questions.


The plot of Black Panther addresses this isolationism -- a byproduct of "othering" Wakanda as a a fictional nation in Africa -- head on, and makes it clear that the Marvel Cinematic Universe plans to integrate Wakanda into its narrative like any other nation. It's a bold choice that will likely change the static nature of Wakanda forever. Role-playing games face a similar dilemma.
[h=3]RPGs and Africa[/h]There hasn't been a great track record in nuanced representation of African nations in tabletop role-playing games. G.A. Barber uses Rifts Africa by Palladium as an example:

...with a decided lack of POC in the art, and the entire continent serves as a place for non-Africans to adventure in. There are 67 interior pictures in Rifts Africa, of which 54 depict non-Africans or landscape, and 13 depict Africans. The first picture with Africans in it has them acting as porters for a white game hunter. Four of the pictures (just under 25% of the pictures depicting Africans) depict Africans as monsters. None of the pictures show Africans using modern or futuristic technology or weapons, none of them are of Africans fighting monsters or “looking cool”. In a single book, ostensibly about Africa, only 19% of the pictures show Africans (omission), and the few depictions of them make it clear they are there as set dressing and nothing more (stereotypes and limited roles).


Dungeons & Dragons
has slowly, steadily, been addressing this issue. Fifth Edition has made efforts to be more inclusive, and that reflects in the diversity of character art. The lead image for the human race in the Player's Handbook is of a black woman. And yet, D&D still struggles with its broad strokes representation of African nations, as the controversy over the depiction of Chult demonstrates in Tomb of Annihilation:

Its point of inspiration is a campaign setting that, for years, has been written off as tone-deaf. The new adventure draws on D&D co-creator Gary Gygax’s adventure Tomb of Horrors and combines that with source material detailing Chult, a jungle peninsula first conceived of in a 1992 novel called The Ring of Winter, in which an adventurer travels to Chult’s dinosaur-filled wilderness seeking the eponymous artifact...The canonical Chultan peninsula finally congealed in a 1993 campaign setting as a dinosaur-infested jungle where heat wiped out even the strongest adventurers and insects carried fatal diseases. Reptilian races and undead skeletons dominate the land and humans live in tribal clusters and clans. Its major city, Mezro, “rivals some of the most ‘civilized’ population centers in Faerun,” the setting reads. Slavery is mentioned about 40 times. In D&D’s 3rd edition, it’s written that Chultan priest-kings worship “strange deities” in the city of Mezro. In D&D’s 4th edition, Chult is located on what’s called the “Savage Coast.” It’s said there that the city of Port Nyanzaru is controlled by foreign traders who often must defend against pirates. Mezro has collapsed. It just sank into the abyss. What remains is this: “Human civilization is virtually nonexistent here, though an Amnian colony and a port sponsored by Baldur’s Gate cling to the northern coasts, and a few tribes—some noble savages, others depraved cannibals—roam the interior.”


Tomb of Annihilation
works hard to create a more comprehensive African culture in Chult, but it may suffer from not enough nuance:

While many players I talked to enjoyed how the history and political structures of Chult were expanded in Tomb of Annihilation (and enjoyed the adventure’s plot generally), they were still unimpressed by its execution. Its setting is an amalgamation of African cultures, a trope frequent in 20th century media that flattens the dimensionality of human experiences on the continent, which contains hundreds of ethnic groups. There are nods to West African voodoo, Southern African click-based Khoisan languages, East African attire (like Kenyan kofia hats) and the jungle climate of Central Africa. Its fantasy setting dissolves “Africa” into an all-in-one cultural stew that comes off as a little detached, sources I interviewed said.


Is it possible to depict a more nuanced fantasy Africa? Nyambe: African Adventures for 3.5 D&D, by Christopher Dolunt, offers some hope:

My motivation for creating Nyambe was simple. Africa was a major part of the Earth that has little or no representation in fantasy literature, let alone RPGs. When it does appear, it usually follows the pulp fiction model: steaming jungles, bloodthirsty cannibals, and dark gods long forgotten by the civilized races. Of course, historical Africa was nothing like that, so my goal for Nyambe was to create a fantasy version of Africa based on the actual history and mythology of Africa, rather than previous fantasy depictions. So, I went about taking snippets of history or myth, and twisting them, adding fantasy elements or changing specifics to make them fit into an OGL world.

[h=3]Now What?[/h]Wizards of the Coast made considerable strides in increasing D&D's diverse representation and transitioning Chult from conquered land to fantasy nation, but there's still work to do. As more people of color play D&D, the game will need to change to accommodate its players' diverse views. With Black Panther leading the way, here's hoping future game designers will take note.

Mike "Talien" Tresca is a freelance game columnist, author, communicator, and a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to http://amazon.com. You can follow him at Patreon.
 

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Michael Tresca

Michael Tresca

Gradine

🏳️‍⚧️ (she/her) 🇵🇸
I'm used to it now... whenever Africa gets brought up int the context of D&D and/or fantasy ttrpg's on here, it's inevitable... It tends to make me more likely to avoid these types of conversations in general on EnWorld.

What's sad is, I've had better conversations about it here than basically anywhere else online. If there are more enlightened corners of the nerd internet, I've yet to stumble across them.
 

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Imaro

Legend
Black Americans are culturally vibrant, politically relevant, and increasingly financially mobile.

There will inevitably be great roleplaying adventures, inspired by black Americans.

Personally, what I find most interesting about black Americans is the church culture. (I am talking mainly about black communities in the South. I was shocked at how different black communities are in the North, such as in Boston.)

In church, the entire black community unites as one, in a black egalitarian unity. The mayor sits next to the janitor, who sits next to the teacher, who sits next to the banker. There are no ‘seats’ of privileged status. The church functions like the brain of the body of the community, in a spiritual mindfulness.

This structure comes directly from Africa, albeit it is a blend of various cultures in Africa. When the US abolished slavery, white Americans were destroyed financially by the Civil War. Newly free African Americans suddenly formed autonomous and prosperous towns. Later laws and historical forces often harmed these successful black communities. But they did happen, and created a matrix for an authentically African culture to develop and evolve within the United States.

Here we go... another "expert" on African American culture... funnily enough for many blacks in America, especially younger generations, the church is regarded as one of the driving forces behind the justification of slavery as well as the loss of traditional African belief systems... but yeah, the fact that a janitor and a mayor can sit together in black churches totally makes up for that. :erm:

And no... white Americans were not destroyed financially by the Civil War or by the abolition of slavery... this statement is just absurd. Now I know you must be trolling.
 

Imaro

Legend
What's sad is, I've had better conversations about it here than basically anywhere else online. If there are more enlightened corners of the nerd internet, I've yet to stumble across them.

Oh, don't get me wrong the conversation usually starts out good (and there are quite a few posters of various ethnicity on here I wouldn't mind grabbing a beer with and talking more in depth about it)... but the ending is usually the same and that grows more disappointing each time.
 

Derren

Hero
Black Americans are culturally vibrant, politically relevant, and increasingly financially mobile.

There will inevitably be great roleplaying adventures, inspired by black Americans.

That raises the question if black Americans are actually looking for authentic African settings or just for a romanticised version of it, the same way the European middle ages is romanticised in core D&D? And if that is the case does it really matter who writes those settings when they have nothing to do with real world history in the first place?
Wakanda from Black Panther kinda fits that. A romanticised idea of "what would have happened without colonization", coupled with various ancient African imagery.

Because lets be honest, while there might be some fragmented and by now twisted remains, culturally African Americans of today are not all that close to modern or historic Africans. The same way the average "white" RPG gamer is not really interested in the setting representing the real historic medieval Europe.
 

Yaarel

🇮🇱He-Mage
Here we go... another "expert" on African American culture... funnily enough for many blacks in America, especially younger generations, the church is regarded as one of the driving forces behind the justification of slavery as well as the loss of traditional African belief systems... but yeah, the fact that a janitor and a mayor can sit together in black churches totally makes up for that. :erm:

And no... white Americans were not destroyed financially by the Civil War or by the abolition of slavery... this statement is just absurd. Now I know you must be trolling.

Your post suggests the South was wealthy after the Civil War, conveying a profound ignorance about US history.

The abolishment of slavery wiped out the Southern, agricultural, slave-based economy.

Southern whites became profoundly poor.

Only by recent times, say the presidency of Clinton, have southern states generally recovered economically from the financial devastation of the Civil War.
 

Staccat0

First Post
That raises the question if black Americans are actually looking for authentic African settings or just for a romanticised version of it, the same way the European middle ages is romanticised in core D&D? And if that is the case does it really matter who writes those settings when they have nothing to do with real world history in the first place?
Wakanda from Black Panther kinda fits that. A romanticised idea of "what would have happened without colonization", coupled with various ancient African imagery.

Because lets be honest, while there might be some fragmented and by now twisted remains, culturally African Americans of today are not all that close to modern or historic Africans. The same way the average "white" RPG gamer is not really interested in the setting representing the real historic medieval Europe.

Not necessarily a direct reply. Just a jumping off point.

Africa is composed mostly of countries and borders decided by colonists with very little regard for the cultures and peoples who were already there. It would be nearly impossible for most African Americans to trace their lineage back to whatever culture they hailed from the way I can know my family is mostly from Germany.

Our relationship to our past is so fundamentally different that I don't think most people with skin like mine will ever be able to really fully empathize with that experience. It's maybe not worthwhile to compare those experiences 1:1.

We may want a romanticized blend of European culture for any number of reasons, but I don't know if that should really weigh on the conversation of who writes these things. Really, it's the least we can do to just get out of the way and let black artists explore their own culture.

I think BP is notable in that a mega-corporation had a structure and a canvas, but were willing to let Ryan Coogler and co tell their own story. Same thing with Atlanta on FX. Clearly that has resonated and paid off financially.

I think an RPG supplement would work best much the same way. Hire some great artists and let them explore the subject within the strict confines of what the market has come to recognize. Having white people guess at that product will just be inherently less interesting, because we have our all have own cultures and experiences and can bring different things to the table.

Will that make a good product for me? Would the average gamer buy it? I dunno.

If something is good and does the work (I think it's easy for people who are less literate in the cinematic language to overlook how much effort BP puts into putting the right lenses on white people's eyes and experiences) then I believe that it will find an audience, but I can't speak to the size of that audience.

Having Mike Mearls and Kieth Baker or whoever inherently make it less interesting to me as a piece of art, and I think generally less appealing to POC. The mechanics might end up being sound but they won't take the creative risks or detours that would be inherent to someone exploring their own history. It seems safer but I think would just be guaranteeing that you get something bland rather than something that feels fresh.
 
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Gradine

🏳️‍⚧️ (she/her) 🇵🇸
Having Mike Mearls and Kieth Baker or whoever inherently make it less interesting to me as a piece of art, and I think generally less appealing to POC. The mechanics might end up being sound but they won't take the creative risks or detours that would be inherent to someone exploring their own history. It seems safer but I think would just be guaranteeing that you get something bland rather than something that feels fresh.

I find it interesting that you call out Keith Baker specifically, when I consider Eberron to one of the most subversive D&D products out there with regards to social justice issues. Subverting the typical "always evil" races thing was, I think, a pretty big risk that wasn't really done in established settings before and exponentially increases the storytelling potential of the setting, particularly with regards to prejudice and bias. What they did with Goblinoids and especially Orcs was, I think, truly revolutionary for the time.

Don't get me wrong, I want to see even more diverse works from more diverse writers within D&D, but I'd always considered Baker one of the better guys in that regard.

Edit: I re-read your post and I think I completely misread the point you were trying to make, and I completely agree with you. Just wanted to leave in my own Eberron-fanboy two cents :)
 

Imaro

Legend
Your post suggests the South was wealthy after the Civil War, conveying a profound ignorance about US history.

The abolishment of slavery wiped out the Southern, agricultural, slave-based economy.

Southern whites became profoundly poor.

Only by recent times, say the presidency of Clinton, have southern states generally recovered economically from the financial devastation of the Civil War.

It is much more nuanced than the simplistic statement that "white Americans were destroyed financially" While true that some wealth was destroyed (how could it not be you just lost a free labor force and the foundation of the southern economy)...the fact is that the emancipation of slaves actually created a situation in the south where the white entrenched elite lost their stranglehold on the majority of southern wealth and those with moderate wealth actually had greater opportunities to increase their wealth...
 
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Derren

Hero
Not necessarily a direct reply. Just a jumping off point.

Africa is composed mostly of countries and borders decided by colonists with very little regard for the cultures and peoples who were already there. It would be nearly impossible for most African Americans to trace their lineage back to whatever culture they hailed from the way I can know my family is mostly from Germany.

That makes for an interesting comparison as "Germany" is a rather modern concept too, created at the end of the 19th century when Africa had already been mostly colonized. Before that the country now known as Germany (and some additional parts lost in the world wars) were a loose coalition of tiny kingdoms, some which also had their borders set by outside invaders like Napoleon. So saying that your ancestors are from Germany is about as accurate than saying your ancestors are from modern day Nigeria.
 

Gradine

🏳️‍⚧️ (she/her) 🇵🇸
It is much more nuanced than the simplistic statement that "white Americans were destroyed financially" While true that some wealth was destroyed (how could it not be you just lost a free labor force and the foundation of the southern economy)...the fact is that the emancipation of slaves actually created a situation in the south where the white entrenched elite lost their stranglehold on the majority of southern wealth and those with moderate wealth actually had greater opportunities to increase their wealth...

Hahaha holy crap, what is this white supremacist nonsense you're responding to? "Those poor southern whites based their entire economic structure around the legal ability to own, buy, sell, rape, torture, and murder other human beings, and then got told they couldn't do that anymore, where's the sympathy for theeeeeeeem."
 

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