Скачать или смотреть 3 Reasons Why Latinx Characters Are Underrepresented in Fantasy

When I began my channel, I wanted to focus my analysis of fantasy and young adult literature through issues that affected my life the most; I thought they would be the ones I could write most authentically about. I chose gender and sexuality, mental illness, and Latinx issues because of my personal identity and history.

But while I was easily able to find books to talk about through the lens of gender/sexuality and mental illness, it was harder to come up with topics surrounding Latinx representation in young adult and fantasy. I've been thinking about why that is, and I've realized a few things about the fantasy genre as a whole and about my own reading habits.

The truth is, while stats are improving, there are still very few fantasy books and stories being published about Latinx characters. The fantasy genre, particularly young adult fantasy, is (slowly) becoming much more diverse. Last week, I talked about Children of Blood and Bone by Nigerian-American author Tomi Adeyemi, which, after receiving one of the biggest advances in publishing history and landing a movie deal before even being published, has become incredibly popular. Fantasy novels by authors like Natasha Ngan, Julie C. Dao, and Julie Kagawa have found success, while Sabaa Tahir, Hafsah Faizal, and Nafiza Azad have also written well-received fantasy novels. But almost no fantasy novels by Latinx authors or starring Latinx characters have entered my radar.

I don't mean to discount the amazing gains other marginalized authors have made in the fantasy genre of late or to suggest in any way that the work there is done—Black, Asian, and other authors and characters of color still need more representation in the fantasy genre. But it got me thinking about the lack of Latinx representation in fantasy and why it has yet to gain that kind of momentum in English-language literature.

So here are three reasons why Latinx characters are underrepresented in fantasy literature.

THINGS I REFERENCED IN THE VIDEO:

Race: The Original Sin of the Fantasy Genre https://www.publicmedievalist.com/rac...

(Comic) What White Americans Misunderstand About Mixed-Race Latinx Identity https://thenib.com/mixed-race-latinx-...

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