Brand Robins what bothers me as normal fantasy is that what is normal and acceptable is defined by an hegemon.

In this case like in many others what’s normal is what’s normal in America. Because I understand most of you are. So you share a culture that is shaped by the cultural artifacts available to you. So you do have a normal fantasy. I consumed Homer, Calvino, Ariosto and Boiardo in school because it was mandatory. They are also hella dope. So that’s for me “normal” fantasy.

The issue is that America is also hegemonic. So your normal becomes everybody’s normal. Some are for good reason: by sheer volume 1% of everything is awesome, and 1% of normal America fantasy is awesome, and gets translated. But 1% of Italian also gets translated. But less, because it’s less. And because by being less there’s also less economic incentives in doing it.

Also there are worse reasons in which hegemons push their culture, but let’s keep to somewhat unblamable ones for now.

At any rates, my cultural normal is now deviant. Because of cultural hegemony.

(Related: Americans complaining that Japan uses swastikas on map to indicate Buddhist temples because “Nazis ruined swastikas for everybody”. Including the one on the flag of my region, Lombardy)