It was defined differently, generally having more to do with ethnic origin than physical differences, but it existed. E.g., the word "barbarian" comes from an ancient Greek slur meaning "person who doesn't speak Greek". The concept was so pervasive that the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire had a Bureau of Barbarians [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Barbarians] as late as a thousand years ago.Evil Alpaca said:My only issue is with your statement about racism being an integral part of human history since the beginning. That's not really true since to be a racist, a person needs to feel as if they belong to a larger race of people than just their surrounding environment. The ancient Greeks weren't racist because they did not see themselves belonging to a superior race. An Athenian would see himself superior to his fellow Greeks and Greeks superior to Persians, Romans,or any other Mediterranean race. The concept of belonging to member of a "race" didn't come along much later until the Enlightenment when the scope of the world view had broadened.
You don't, but the early examples of this trope in fiction--Haggard and Burroughs, as Bob mentioned--were inspired by the finding of real lost cities in Africa in the late 1800s. Later writers moved the concept to other parts of the world. South America became a popular location after 1911, when the Incan city of Machu Picchu was rediscovered.lralowicz said:Two things... Amm... Movie Bob?
1. I actually don't associate Lost City with Africa... More with South America... And I do know those cites were build by native people who lost their knowledge over time. Or were wiped out by more aggressive neighbours (or conquistadors...)
That's true, but how many of those countries invented adventure fiction based on lost cities found in Africa, and if so, were they as internationally influential on later writers as the early British and later American writers in that respect? If there's a French or Dutch writer who inspired the creation of Indiana Jones, it's news to me.lralowicz said:2. Isn't a bit racist (ok not racist... Equivalent of racism for nation - it's not nationalism either...) to use British as stereotype of stupid blind colonist? There were more countries sticking their noses to Africa than GB. It's like using Russians for baddies in almost every modern war game... Even upth years after end of cold war... (Vanquish... I'm looking at you)
Ninja'd!DarkSpectre said:Its like the dark ages in Europe. If an outsider, like from China, saw the wooden shacks and huts of the people then these huge amazing ruins like Rome or Athens. They'd have to question what happened. Of course the answer would be from the barbarians that the sort invaded destroyed and killed the Romans without asking them how to make all that fancy stuff. A minor oversight yes.