XPost: alt.books.cs-lewis, rec.arts.books.tolkien
From: kts@socrates.Berkeley.EDU
In article <1176346580.772391.13260@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>,
wrote:
>Seems to me that the Calormenes are clearly intended to be fictional.
>They are pagans (clearly unlike the Muslems, and I am quite certain
>Lewis understands the difference). Their culture seems inspired by
>(1) Babylonian, (2) Persian, (3) perhaps Muslim, and (perhaps most
>importantly) (4) the modern secular West.
I'd say (1), (2), of course; (3) if there's anything specifically
Muslim, as opposed to Arab, I don't know what it is; and (4) not at all
importantly. Unless you're thinking of _The Last Battle_ where the Ape
and the Tarkaan seem to have a program of industrialization and cutting
down forests for profit. But that bit feels rather forced into the
story to me. It's like, industrialization is Evil; Calormen is Evil;
therefore they're the same. I'm not convinced.
>... Hence, Lewis is suggesting to his
>target audience (English children) that they live in enemy territory,
>and if they would seek out a more wholesome environment, community,
>and value system, they must undertake similar spiritual journeys, and
>make similar sacrifices, to that of Aravis, Shasta, Hwin and Bree.
Yes, undoubtedly, "journey out of enemy territory" is a valid reading.
But this reading doesn't require Calormen=England. Quite the opposite,
Lewis is constantly pointing out how exotic the setting is to the
reader. What do we see in Calormen?
-- Most obviously, slavery, which to an English child would be obviously
horrible *and* obviously could only happen long ago and far away. An
extreme divide between rich and poor, with fanciful luxuries for the rich:
like baths of asses' milk, which the reader probably never heard of before.
Noblemen have strange status symbols, like dyeing their beards.
Certainly no mass-produced consumer products marketed to the proles.
-- An absolute dictatorship where the king has the cook killed if he
doesn't like his dinner, and people are forced to pretend they think
he's going to live forever. Also, the story doesn't say explicitly,
but he's unlikely to have 18 sons without a big harem. Exotic again.
-- Fathers forcing their daughters to marry at a young age -- something
that is explained explicitly, *because* it's different from what the
reader is used to.
-- Flowery, elaborate, formal language with many circumlocutions, much
different from Shasta's "normal" speech (and must have been tremendous
fun to write!). And noble youths are trained in storytelling, which is
specifically contrasted with English schools: "people wanted to hear
the stories, but nobody wants to read the essays".
>The identification of Calormene with modern England was introduced as
>early as VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, where Eustace, the rotten child
>of "Modern" "Up-To-Date" Parents, and a champion of their "Modern" "Up-
>To-Date" values, rages about how backward and barbaric the Narnians
>are. In one of the diary scribblings he has favorable things to say
>about Calormen, which (to his mind) seems the least backward of all
>these nations. The reason why is obvious: Calormene is most like
>modern Britain.
Wellll, they are said to have more trade and wealth than Narnia, which
is what Eustace approves, but at that point they're mainly
characterized by *slavery*, and by elaborate formal language. Even
Eustace of the beginning of the book wouldn't actually enjoy Calormen,
he's just rooting for them because they're against Narnia and so is
he.
In short, Calormen is a fairy-tale land, which is morally inferior to
Narnia in different ways than England is. England is represented by
England, in the beginning/end bits of _Dawn Treader_ and _The Silver
Chair_.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
|
