Egyptomania - Cultural Appropriation?

[VillainousIndustries]

Hi everyone,

I want to preface this by stating I absolutely adore Ancient Egyptian mythos, symbology, and iconography.

While most people are thinking about the Roman Empire, I'm constantly thinking about Ancient Egyptian theism. Hell, I even want to get the Egyptian demon Apopis tattooed on me at some point. (Also the name of my favorite DnD character I play).

I am not a history buff, nor am I Egyptian. However, I know that there can be a lot of problems that can arise from using ideas based on a REAL culture, especially Egypt.

The term Egyptomania has been coined with the definition that western civilization has romanticized Egyptian culture, and thus have hurt modern Egyptian people, and have manufactured, mass produced, and disturbed their heritage.

I'm considering a future project to create an Ancient Egyptian-themed deck, but I want to make sure I'm respectful of cultural considerations. Even if all the artwork is original and doesn't depict famous figures or deities from known Egyptian history, would such a project still be seen as cultural appropriation?

I believe it's crucial to be sensitive to these concerns and get the perspective of this community. While my intentions are not to misrepresent or exploit the culture, I understand that there may be a fine line between appreciation and appropriation. I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights on this matter. How can we ensure that such a project is respectful and culturally sensitive?

Thanks for reading!

Love yall!

[GandalfPC]

Avoiding stereotypes, and from your description “romanticizing” if that is what you wish to do, might be handled by bringing historically accurate views of everyday life into play

[Honeybee]

I agree with Gandalf - do some research (it should be a labour of love going on how you feel about Egypt) and use the facts supported by impeccable historians. Such an undertaking could only be considered respectful

[VillainousIndustries]

What if I were to create a world, with it's own deities, symbology, iconography, etc that is heavily inspired by Ancient Egypt, Ala the Shurima region from League of Legends?

[GandalfPC]

I would see how an Egyptian feels about it, if you can dig one up to ask…

[rousselle]

As a person who writes in the SF&F genre, I see this question/issue come up quite a lot. It amazes me how many uptight, middle-class white folks can all get their garments in a bind over how appropriate it is to either represent or not represent this culture or that culture in various contexts. I tip my hat to PlayTheVillain for attempting to be sensitive to this issue, and I call bullshit on the nattering nabobs of negativism who dare to speak on behalf of the people on whose behalf they take offense.

GandalfPC calls it right: survey a few Egyptians and/or Egyptian-Canadians and see how they feel about it. While you're at it, sample a few historians, too. If you don't know any personally, I'm sure there's a subforum on Reddit or the like where you can find such folks and ask for their thoughts. (Just use a different pseudonym and put on your flame-retardant suit before you post.)

One of my writing mentors is a fantastic and highly-regarded Caribbean-Canadian, and she had stressed to those of us who took a writing workshop with her some years ago that YES, you should go there, you should incorporate the characters (and I infer, by extension, the cultures) of other peoples. Just do so with respect. Properly done, this can and will lend depth to your art.

[Harvonsgard]

The term Egyptomania has been coined with the definition that western civilization has romanticized Egyptian culture, and thus have hurt modern Egyptian people, and have manufactured, mass produced, and disturbed their heritage.

This is why I love the internet. You barely come across this entertaining bullshit afk. I wonder how disturbed the Egyptian heritage was when they took stones from the pyramids to build the city wall in Kairo and mosques with it.

[hsbc]

You barely come across this entertaining bullshit afk.

Egyptomania very much is and was a real thing

[Harvonsgard]

I never claimed that there never is or was a commercialisation of Egyptian or any ancient and/or recent alive culture. The entertaining thing for me is that this culture is dead, past, gone. Egypt is now a dominantly muslim country that has nothing to do with the culture from 5000-2000 years ago - except for their own commercialisation via tourism. So this part:

... and thus have hurt modern Egyptian people, and have manufactured, mass produced, and disturbed their heritage.

So this stays very much entertaining bullshit for me. That would be the equivalent of me being butthurt when ancient german tribes like Goths or Alemanns and/or mediaval knights are depicted historicaly incorrect and/or being commercialised.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm all about the freedom of everyone being butthurt for whatever reason they choose to be but in reverse I grant myself the freedom of laughing out loud.