Hi, I'm writing a story that will be involving figures from various mythologies and religions. They are akin to dream figures, so they aren't the actual figures themselves, just people's interpretations of them. While not outright antagonists, some will have to be battled against. Lately I've been seeing a lot of things about cultural appropriation, and I'm worried that by taking these figures and making them characters to be battled, I'll be insulting that culture. How do I avoid this?
Okay, so prepare for some shameless personal stories: I’mcurrently ghost writing a novelization of the Orpheus legend. One thing I’velearned from this is that the Greeks loved them some fanfic. It starts out as, “It’sraining! I wonder if the gods of upset! Here’s a cool story about that…” andthen “Neat! This is a cool story! I can make it cooler!” And then you have asecond-hand canon. Most old myths were created before writing was common; peoplewould share the story verbally and add their own unique twists to engage their audiences.
With the Orpheus legend in particular, the ending fluctuates between “he commits suicide out of grief” to “he’s soupset that he suddenly becomes gay, and his refusal to have an orgy with abunch of hot chicks leads to said chicks to cutting him into tiny pieces and throwing himin a river.”
Quite a gap, you see; because somewhere throughout thepassing of the tale, someone decided to add their own twist. So there’s no real“wrong” telling, there’s just the preferred telling; which is just popular, notnecessarily the “best.” What does this mean for you? Two things.
- You really can’t screw it up: really, you can’t.Many people for many centuries have taken it in several directions; you can’ttake it to an any weirder place.
- You’re not doing anything different from anyoneelse: the legend exists because someone thought it was cool and decided toretell it with their own twist. You’re basically continuing the trend that haslasted for centuries; pretty sweet, huh?
I understand that offending other cultures can be adangerous thing. Try to research these legends thoroughly to understand thecommon understanding of the original myths, and what the cultures value inthem. Be well-educated. However, at the end of the day, it’s your writing andit’s basically several century-old fanfic.
For example, let’s say you’re writing about Apollo; legends have shownhim as benevolent, kind, sexist, freaky, compassionate, and badass. You reallycan’t counter those legends any more than they’ve countered themselves. So rollwith it! Get creative! Try your own things. Focus on making a great story, nota great myth-retelling.
Thanks for the question, and happy writing!