tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360553244712647465.post374688756040724194..comments2022-03-24T03:52:53.760+01:00Comments on The Otherlander's Blog: Clark Ashton Smith: another master of Cosmic Horror from Lovecraft’s circleUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360553244712647465.post-30708330173948313972017-01-09T15:15:59.743+01:002017-01-09T15:15:59.743+01:00Okay, continuing that, Victor LaValle seems to be ...Okay, continuing that, Victor LaValle seems to be a good example of a Lovecraft fan noticing the inherent racism of Lovecraft's fiction and engaging with it in interesting ways (interview here: http://www.npr.org/2016/02/29/468558238/the-ballad-of-black-tom-offers-a-tribute-and-critique-of-lovecraft). Among other things, he mentions Lovecraft's obvious "fear of everything"; that might be key to why Lovecraft's racism might be terribly off-putting, but at the same time feels like an invitation to use the tools of Cosmic Horror itself to deconstruct it. Lovecraft basically casts himself not in the role of the superior, but of the - in a cosmic sense - inferior white male, a creature that, due to its adherence to the norms of civilization, actually has least part in the terrible cosmic truths. Also, Cosmic Horror provides a kind of negative universalism (the cosmos is equally indifferent to all of us ...).<br />Also interesting in this context: Ezra Claverie (http://www.shadowoutofprovidence.com/)<br />and<br />Harlem Unbound<br />(https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1881168175/harlem-unbound-a-cthulhu-roleplaying-game-sourcebo)<br />and (another RPG)<br />Lovecraftesque:<br />(http://blackarmada.com/lovecraftesque/).<br /><br />What I'm getting at is that I don't perceive much of a split between Lovecraft fans who either deny HPL's racism or (even worse) embrace it on the one hand and those who condemn him for his racism on the other; but instead mostly a lot of anti-racist Lovecraft fans who engage with HPL in a subversive way.Swanosaurushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05623647202310934314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360553244712647465.post-72878180075161200912017-01-08T21:30:11.937+01:002017-01-08T21:30:11.937+01:00Footnote on Lovecraft:
I'm not quite sure that...Footnote on Lovecraft:<br />I'm not quite sure that I would agree that Lovecraft's racism polarizes the community. It seems to be a rare case of not only most Lovecraft fans admitting and criticizing the inherent racism of lots of his fiction, but also finding ways to make Lovecraft highly productive for a critique of racism. In an essay in German, I argued that Lovecraft is in a way so honest about his racist fears of miscegenation that a story like "The Shadow over Innsmouth" very nearly reads like an unintentional self-critique. These days, you'll find dozens of authors who are deeply involved with Lovecraft's concept of cosmic horror and are certainly fans, but who treat him to an anti-racist deconstruction at the same time. I'll list a few examples tomorrow, too late at night right now ...Swanosaurushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05623647202310934314noreply@blogger.com