#also white people really loooove writing about colonialism and imperialism while refusing to engage with any decolonial literature

[dustteller]

Now that I am mostly over the Absolutely Feral stage of my Radiant Emperor Obsession and can think again, I want to do a proper write up on how the series handles colonialism. I need to get my sources together and make it all pretty and stuff, but the gist of it is this.

I actually really respect SPC for not making it A Thing. Like, the colonialism is an inherent part of the serting, and a lot of important moments hinge around it, but there's also a pretty clear refusal by the author to turn it into A Statement. I think they do a really good job of walking the fine line between aknowledging it and making it clear that its an important part of the setting, without turning the book into a political thesis on Why Bad Actually.

I think a lot of fantasy authors that frankly have no business making their books into political science treatises try to be super philosophical about it, and inevitably have almost all their points ring flat bc the main character almost always ends up perpetuating the system they spent the whole book critiquing. The classic example being, of course, "We've destroyed The Evil Empire! We will now replace it with The Good Empire, which is functionally identical to The Evil Empire except Good bc our Main Character is in charge! This will totally change the systemic issues we've spent the last three million words exploring! How? Don't worry about it, absolute power only corrupts you if you're A Bad Person!" (atla. atla i am looking at you. my love for you does not mean I am letting you off the hook.)

The Radiant Emperor books interact with and aknowledge the colonialism. The empire canonically falls at least in part because of one guy's willfull ignorance of the differences between his culture and that of two of the people he loves the most, because his culture supercedes theirs to the point where he does not even consider the posibility of this difference truly existing as a real-life power imbalance. And still, these books are not about that! That is not the main theme! It is important. It is handled pretty well, it is aknowledged, and it is not The Point. I really appreciate that more understated approach that SPC takes, because ironically by refusing to partake in dramatic philosophical grandstanding the media often ends up making way better and more nuanced points, because then their point actually fits into the story they are trying to tell.

#white men really read three of the foundational texts of political science #none of which are from the last century and a half mind you #and immediately decide they're qualified to wax poetic about how politics should work actually #also white people really loooove writing about colonialism and imperialism while refusing to engage with any decolonial literature #you read The Prince and Hobbes' Leviathan huh. so did all polisci undergraduates. you are neither smart nor special<3 #like seriously at least read some of W.E.B. Du Bois. its the most basic accessible uncontroversial decolonial literature out there #it wont kill u i promise <3 try venerating a black man even half as hard as u do basic white men it'll change your life for the better. #by making you more interesting at the very least #ok ok i got derrailed there #thank you SPC! I appreciate you! please write more! #i promise the actual write up will be. less ranty. #my thoughts #the radiant emperor