If you go back in American history, you quickly run into at-scale activities which are now viewed as evil, or painfully decisive - wiping out the natives, mass importation of slaves, etc.
People generally read fantasy to escape the miseries of their current-day worlds.
I'd assume that fantasy authors understand this. And pretty-much know how not to become a lightning rod.
>L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is probably the most enduringly influential work of American subcreation
Does Douthat answer his own question here? Or is there a sense in which Oz doesn't fulfill his requirements for "great" American fantasy?
If you go back in American history, you quickly run into at-scale activities which are now viewed as evil, or painfully decisive - wiping out the natives, mass importation of slaves, etc.
People generally read fantasy to escape the miseries of their current-day worlds.
I'd assume that fantasy authors understand this. And pretty-much know how not to become a lightning rod.