Racism in Age of Conan
Florian Eckhardt has written an intresting insight into the racial undertones of Robert E. Howard’s Conan titles.
And that’s the rub. In my opinion, Howard’s supposed racism was actually a very clever literary device, less racist than a literary example of cultural archetyping. In essence, in creating Hyboria, Howard wanted a large fictional canvas upon which he could indulge his love for history and historical drama without having to be burdened with the responsibility of rigid historical accuracy.
and the goes on futher to say:
The Age of Conan developers have been understandably defensive about Howard’s perceived racism, and that’s certainly a wise business move: it simply isn’t worth starting a controversy about, especially when — with a few small alterations — they can take advantage of the breathtaking richness, the lavish viscerality and the epic scope of the Hyborian Age without alienating any focal groups.
Overall its a very intresting insight into some of the controversy surrounding this much anticipated MMO.
Souce: Destructoid
Popularity: 45% [?]
Hear hear…well said
Rob was a blue collar sci-fi writer from early in the last century, there was palpable rascism in his works, but it only mirrored the times he lived in as well as the times of barley remembered history. Imagine walking around ancient Rome, can you think of not encountering racial hatred at every corner? Conan is probalbly the most egalitarian character as any that could come out of Howard’s times. Howard speaking through Conan often lambasted and poked fun at the petty hates of “civilized” men. I actually hope they keep some of the rascism in the game just to show the folly of such behaviors. It can be easily and tastefully done, if at least to simply teach the retards of today a thing or two.