SO, as a bit of a "precursor" allow me to say that on our way back from Montana we stopped off in Leavenworth, Washington for a couple nights. This was my first trip to "the Ultimate Holiday Town USA" and it was pretty trippy.
See, Leavenworth was established in 1906 (as the souvenir t-shirts proudly recount), but the small logging town went into a long economic decline after Great Northern Railway relocated its headquarters to nearby Wenatchee in the '20s. Located on Highway 2 (the road that cuts through Stevens Pass in the Cascades) the town would probably have appeared to be a nice little vacation getaway for folks seeking outdoor recreation...say fishing the Skykomish or hiking. But the building of Stevens Pass Ski Resort in the 1930s, the presence of Lake Chelan for boating and water sports, and the sheer number of similar small towns in rural Washington probably contributed to Leavenworth being nothing more than a wide spot in the road for road-trippers heading out of the more populous King County. I'm guessing.
So it was that in the 1960s, a pair of "Seattle business men" who had bought a roadside cafe and was looking at a way to increase the tourist traffic to the area, hit on the idea of developing Leavenworth as a "theme town," a recreation of a Bavarian village with buildings featuring architecture out of 1800s Germany, shops selling lederhosen and Alpine hats, and menus filled with schnitzel, beer, and brats. The wikipedia entry says they were inspired by Solvang, California who sport a Danish-themed town, whose town has been a tourist draw since the late 1940s, pulling a million visitors per year. As Leavenworth draws twice that number annually, I think it's fair to say they've succeeded in becoming the tourist attraction they want to be.
For me, I have mixed feeling about it. Yes, it's cute (and I am, of course, a fan of beer and brats), but it feels excessive. Worse, much of it feels, not just artificial, but a touch insincere. My kids' first reaction was "it looks like Disneyland" (they've never yet been to Disneyland), and why not? Mad King Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle is the model for Disneyland's iconic palace, and it's located in the heart of the region (and time era) that Leavenworth seeks to model.
And that's the thing: I've been to Bavaria. I've been to Neuschwanstein and Munich and Rothenburg. And while, yes, there's a lot of beer and schnitzel and sausage to be had, there's much more than that. There are plenty of buildings that don't have the cutesy architecture and faux gothic signage going on. I mean, even the local hospital looks like some sort of Alpine chateaux!
The thing about Solvang is that it was a Danish community that originally settled it. And it was Danish immigrants and their descendants that, after WWII, tried to recreate some of the architecture and sculpture they'd seen in the fatherland while fighting in Europe. When the Danish Prince Frederick visited Solvang as part of his US tour in 1939 it was to see the Danish people living there...the "theme town" hadn't yet become a "thing," though I'm sure there were Danish traditions being kept alive in Solvang just as the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle keeps alive parts of the community's Norwegian and Swedish heritage (you can buy lutefisk at the right time of year, they have a seafood festival to commemorate Norwegian Constitution Day, for example).
Leavenworth, on the other hand, has no particular German heritage, and certainly no connection to Bavaria. They could have chosen to style themselves after an English village or a province of China or some town in Mexico or whatever. It's cultural appropriation, I guess...though since the culture being appropriated doesn't belong to a minority or historically oppressed people, I suppose there's no real stink to be raised about it. Probably there's some enterprising business folks in Berlin considering how to transform some small community into a theme town based on the "American West" with cowboys and Indians and saloons and whatnot.
[oh, wait...there already is (thank you, internet): Pullman City Harz is an American "wild west" town in Northern Germany. Awesome...especially as it appears to be named after Pullman, Washington (Go Cougs!). If I ever get back to Germany, maybe I'll give it a visit]
Anyway, despite my queasiness over the blatant commercialism...and a certain amount of bloatedness that comes from two days of sauerkraut and maibok....the place IS cute and a very nice place to visit. Yeah, it's goofy/weird but at least I can get a German-ish meal at a restaurant that will serve my kids, too (such is not the case with the best German-style pubs in Seattle), AND a big ol' stein of HBH. Most of the locals are engaged in the tourist industry, and most of the working folks I saw were younger than me, or not much older. I'd guess they've never known their town as anything other than what it is, and while they share a similar strained-weariness all tourist-industry folks have towards their clientele, they still approach their theme with a certain amount of gusto. When I spoke of "insincerity," I wasn't talking about the people, more the choices made in executing the "theme" (I can forgive a hotel called The Edelweiss but "Mozart's Steakhouse" is a bit tougher for my Austrian heritage to swallow).
*ahem* The POINT being, that Leavenworth is a fun place, and one I wouldn't mind returning to...maybe not for Oktoberfest, but definitely for a long weekend in summer or around the winter holiday season. And while I doubt I'll ever pick up a pair of lederhosen, I'd probably buy a beer stein if I found one that suited my taste (or lack thereof)...and I wouldn't feel too bad about it.
All of which, I realize, appears to have ZERO to do with gaming. But as I consider using real-world geography, history, and peoples to build a campaign setting, these issue of cultural appropriation looms in my mind. I'm not so much worried that I'd be giving offense to someone, so much as I worry I'd be perpetrating bad, false, or tasteless stereotypes in the name of "fun." How much is "appropriate appropriation" and how much is excessive? What amount of authenticity is acceptable and what constitutes "too little?" What amount is respectful to the cultures in question? Maybe these are silly, academic considerations (especially considering I'm not even running a game at the moment), but they are things I think about.
More on this later, along with some ideas I've had on possible approaches to my "problematic" campaign setting.
Loved Rothenburg.
ReplyDeleteGermans I knew were obsessed with Cowboys & Indians and didn't understand my love of castles. Of course they grew up in the shadow of castles and I had reservations and ghost towns within a short days drive.
How much is appropriate appropriation? What is the expiry time on intellectual property? 75 years after death of its creator? You are asking who owns what and until when. Cries of 'Cultural appropriation' are just a lie when we live in a world with an intellectual property expiry date.
ReplyDeleteThe ignorance of this comment is rooted in bad political discourse. Cultural appropriation is a thing that happens when a nation (or culture) holds power over another, especially in terms of its historical relationships, and appropriates the "weaker" nation's culture (usually turning it into a stereotype and almost always misrepresenting it in a significant manner).
DeleteThat is to say: Americans stealing cultural elements from China or Japan might be at risk of appropriation (in this negative sense); while the reverse is less likely to be the case.
Also in other words: it's complicated.
There's nothing complicated about it. You can "appropriate culture." You can get annoyed at someone doing something YOU VIEW as "stealing". But nothing was stolen. And YOU are the one with the problem.
DeleteOften asking most people of that culture, they have zero problems with it.
A free exchange of ideas is good. It always has been. D&D was founded on that.
Hey, Mozart's use of a seraded knife was legendary!
ReplyDeleteI spoke with a D&D player from Stavanger while I was last running my online game, who made it very clear that my efforts at the town and the area were very much NOT on point ... and not happily. I stewed about it for awhile, before realizing that his Stavanger was absolutely not the Stavanger of the 17th century, either.
The version of "culture" perpetrated by anyone alive today would have as much veracity to ancestors 300 years dead as Leavenworth has to the real Germany. We cheerfully butcher the parts of our past that don't fit our present sensibilities without so much as a shrug, while getting up on our high horse about whose right it is to "correctly" observe the ritualistic culture of our forefathers. It's all political bogus and falderal. Go ahead and make up any world you like; the spirits won't hate you as much as they hate what the real world is doing to their belief systems.
Yeah, the recent brouhaha about the Nike/Betsy Ross Flag/KKK thing has made me reconsider a lot of my stance on this. I'll probably post about it later so everyone can hate on me.
DeleteLending culture to others is colonialism
ReplyDeleteBorrowing from other cultures is appropriation
Sound like Europeans and their descendants should take back three-field farming and everything subsequent from the rest of the world. Eh?
Since I'm working on a fantasy Wild West game at the moment, I'm having similar thoughts. Part of me is thinking that logically, we need to accept the past warts and all, and realize that in a game, we're playing in a romanticized version of the past.
ReplyDeleteBut the displacement and genocide of the Native Americans is a big part of the history of the era I'm emulating. I don't want to seem like I'm condoning it, and don't want to seem like I'm whitewashing it by ignoring it.
It's that tricky place. I don't want to be needlessly offensive. But at the same time, we play RPGs in plenty of settings based on eras of history where people did horrible things to each other.
Sometimes, I think we just worry about it too much. But then other times, I think that being able to say "just don't worry about it" is the essence of my white privilege. And I want to do better than that.
So in my case, I sent my draft to my friend who has N.A. heritage and I'm waiting on his opinion. I'll figure it out from there.
*This* is EXACTLY one of the things I want to talk about in my next post. I'd be interested in your friend's opinion.
DeleteI hate to point this out, Dennis, and I do so in the spirit of a positive message, but your "white privilege" is in having the privilege to choose how you look at the issue.
DeleteVery good point, Alexis.
DeleteYou will only offend me if you do it directly which I doubt you will.
ReplyDeleteI think anyone that would be offended by your efforts would be offended anyway independently of location and heritage.
In truth, I'm eager to see what you have in your sleeve. :)
Reminds me of reading up on Sweden Hills - a little town over in Japan (or rather, a little off-branch of a larger town) that's a recreation of a traditional Swedish village, mixed with a few bits of Japanese culture tossed in by the locals. I'd be interesting if someone ever put together a database on all of those.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of what is the "right amount" of cultural sensitivity, I think you actually already nailed it with this: not "perpetrating bad, false, or tasteless stereotypes". And perhaps, depending on the players, a little taste - bone jewelry might be a real thing, for example, but is one of those things which has a connotation to westerners that would lead me to not emphasizing it at a game table.
Something else to point out: Most people don't know much about history, even their own history. Even less of those are the ones who tend to be the most vocal. When you do your research on the topic, take notes, and record it, you're helping bring things out that most people will not be aware of. When you compile it, put it into terms for a game, and give footnotes, you have a chance to correct a lot of misconceptions. It's almost certain that no matter how much effort you put in, some things are going to be a little off. But when you put in that initial work, even if you slip up, you're making an active effort to fight against ignorance on the topic. In the future, other people with new information might take that project and run with it, helping to expand and make it more "real". Missteps happen, yes, and are perhaps unavoidable, but there's ultimately more good than harm. If correcting five misconceptions leads to one being reinforced, it's better than that all six continued to float about.
@ Rosen:
DeleteThank you. I will try to keep these thoughts in mind. Really.
Fuck everyone, do what is fun to you. The offended people will always be offended with what you do, no matter how its done. Think about what is your endgame: making the game you want or making a commercial game. Once you choose follow the path. Is cool not to appease everyone, but not appeasing oneself with one's hobby makes no sense at all
ReplyDeleteThis approach is how we get shit like Arrows of Indra . . .
DeleteNow, now, now. First realize much of AoI was taken directly from MAR Barker, who happens to have done a lot of serious study of non-Western cultures...
DeleteAh, me. Friend of mine was recently denounced for "playing a brown person" in my Tekumel campaign, because despite being from Puerto Rico, she "looked too white".
DeleteIf you want to publish just dont say you're white and its ok. Nobody has to know!!!! sign it as Jairo Benitez
ReplyDeleteIf you will look to your right, ladies and gentlemen, you'll see the common racistidon in the process of expurgating reality, an everyday sight here online and yet never ceasing to disarticulate itself of any signs of humanity or kindness. Don't look too long folks, there is a danger of sympathetic regurgitation in those not trained to manage their bile. Moving on ...
DeleteInsert "standing ovation.gif"
Delete@ Anonima:
DeleteEven if I wanted to go down that particular road, I think it’s pretty common knowledge around my “fan base” (such as it is) that I’m about as white-bread American as they come.
*sigh*. So white...
Please find a longer response to this post here ~ though the bottom line is: while it's an interesting topic, I don't know that it really matters when designing a world for a game, since most of our games are of a private affair.
ReplyDelete@ Ozy:
DeleteWhile that is certainly true, it’s always possible that I (being me) might publish my work some day. Also, I feel a certain degree of responsibility as to how I present things at the table. Finally, as I write my various notes here on Ye Old Blog (where others might enjoy or...happily...steal my work), I feel a need to at least be considerate of those who might someday read my stuff.