When I think of turtles in popular culture, I think of the Lion turtle from Avatar or the recurrent depiction of the “Kappa” in various anime like Inuyasha. This blog seemed like the perfect opportunity to look into where these depictions may have originated.
According to Wiki fandom, the creators of Avatar got inspiration from the “World Turtle '' folk stories from Chinese and Native American Cultures. World turtles were extremely large turtles that held the world on its back. In some Native American cultures, it was believed that earthquakes were the result of the turtle moving.
In the two pictures above the first is the lion turtle from Avatar and the second one is of the Native American turtle island. They are similar to each other in form and function for the most part, except that the Lion turtle can also speak and grant powers. This depiction is a positive one, it associates turtles with resilience, generosity, protectiveness, and great power. This positive characterization could be beneficial to helping with turtle conservation. The general public would want to save something they think is beneficial to the world, they do not really care about saving organisms they despise. For example, I have not seen public outcry against the efforts to permanently eradicate mosquitoes.
This is why the representation of the Kappa could pose a threat to turtles if it was widely believed. In Inuyasha, the Kappa is described as strong, trustworthy, healers. I always thought they were the good guys so it was a little surprising to read about the original Kappa folklore. Originally the Kappa was some kind of demonic turtle man that ate people and/or stole their souls. This depiction could be damaging, it could encourage people to wipe out turtles so they cannot eat you or steal your soul.
Links:
https://avatar.fandom.com/wiki/Lion_turtle
https://www.cracked.com/article_33043_meet-the-kappa-the-mythological-turtleman-who-steals-souls-from-butts.html
2 comments:
Fascinating. I was not familiar with either the Avatar turtle or Kappa.
I find the Native American folklore surrounding turtles so interesting. I like to touch on this in presentations since it gives some historical and cultural context. I adore the fact that in so many Indigenous cultures, they see the turtle as a symbol of life and Earth, which goes to their integral part in every ecosystem they inhabit. Unfortunately, we know that turtles are often not respected by Western society... which is reflected in policy, sometimes in conservation, and even just by how people intentionally hit them with their cars. Thanks for sharing this!
Post a Comment