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(disregard this)
Edited by NoUsername
Per the actual Deconstruction page:
Write up separate entries for Genre Deconstruction and Deconstructed Trope.
I don't think Black-and-White Morality is so intertwined with High Fantasy to the point that you cannot separate the two. For the former, focus on the opposing viewpoints and factions. For the latter, focus on the setting.
Edited by Synchronicity
yeah, i realized that immediately after sending that post. i keep forgetting deconstruction and deconstructed trope are separated. but yeah if you think it's appropriate, separate entries for Genre Deconstruction and Deconstructed Trope would be fine. you could also use Graying Morality if the work starts with a clear black-and-white position but slowly shifts toward grey-and-gray
I maybe should have been more clear earlier but I had a hard time to put it into words.
But the work in question actually seems to target the very concept of Black-and-White Morality within High Fantasy itself. Basically, everyone is forced into either good or evil from birth by what is basically a divine decree. Anyone can tell someone else's moral alignment with just a glance. Any shade of gray is treated as straight up Blue-and-Orange Morality by the cast. The concepts of Face–Heel Turn and Heel–Face Turn are treated as myths and even has it's own name. And at the heart of it all is a huge Forever War with neither side ever being able to reconcile.
The idea of black and white is so ingrained that one character who has the ability to mask their true alignment has to be careful around their own allies lest they strike her down, and that's before getting into how merely masking as the other side affects them mentally. (No corruption or anything, just pure disgust and self-hatred) The story even opens with a pregnant woman committing suicide as she knows that she carries an evil child.
But most importantly, a reader will notice something right away. The Good guys are without virtue while the evil ones are without malice. They do what they do cause that is what they are supposed to do. The story makes it clear that for a world driven by Black-and-White Morality to work, true free will cannot exist as no one chooses to be good or evil. This also means that Nature Versus Nurture is frequently played with.
Not sure if it is just this work that takes this approach and that's what's confusing me or what. But thanks for the help regardless. I'll see what I can do to try and word it more properly.
Edited by matteste
that's a very well-done write up for your description! i would say that feels more leaning toward deconstructing Black-and-White Morality as a whole rather than just its application to the high fantasy genre, so Deconstructed Trope would be my choice over Genre Deconstruction, but if there's aspects to the setting that specifically comment upon the trappings of High Fantasy beyond just the black and white morality, it'd be fine to put it there, too
Ah, ok. Thanks then.
Now just to figure out how to compress all this into something presentable.
A work I am currently engaged in is now clear to be a pretty thorough deconstruction.
My main problem is that I am having issue pinning down on whether it is just a trope or a whole genre that's being deconstructed here. The reason I am asking this is cause the trope being targeted is Black-and-White Morality and it takes place in the High Fantasy genre. The problem is of course that those two are pretty intertwined and the line between where the genre ends and the trope start are pretty blurry.