"Fantasy in Asia is as natural as mermaids swimming and fairies flying. That is to say, the mythology of Asia lends itself organically to the world of fantasy. Long before Tolkien invented a hobbit, a monkey king jumped its way through the pages of one of the four classic novels of China, Journey to the West, while Scheherazade wove her thousand and one tales to her Persian king in the Arabian Nights. Classic Asian tales have spawned a vast array of stories, books and movies that weave in fantastic elements that are quintessentially eastern. To hear of Aladdin and his magic lamp, is to be swept away into a world of djinns and sorcerers that somehow has been garbled up and translated to a western audience as a frenetic blue genie voiced by Robin Williams in a Disney movie, or immortalized by Barbara Eden in the classic TV hit I Dream of Jeanie. Meanwhile the Monkey King is a superstar in China who has never successfully made the transition outside of Asia."
Curious to read more? Go here and read what Ellen Oh has to say on this thoughtful and thought-provoking topic over on The Enchanted Inkpot.
What are your thoughts?
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Monday, April 6, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Introducing THE ENCHANTED INKPOT
I'm excited to announce the launch of a new group blog in which I'm involved entitled THE ENCHANTED INKPOT. This blog was started by a group of writers on the blueboards with the focus on MG and YA fantasy novels. About half the founding members are published, the other half are pre-pubbed.
We will be doing author interviews, topics of the week such as 'Fantasy in Asia', 'Write What you Know' and 'The Wise Old Man: Characters and Cliche's' in addition to question & answers, book club, contests & giveaways.
We welcome all readers, writers and fans of MG and YA fantasy to visit and participate in conversations about the books we love.
I hope you go visit the site and join in:
http://community.livejournal.com/enchantedinkpot/
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