Re: The Lojban Kalevala Project

[cbmvax!uunet!viikki21.helsinki.fi!VILVA]

> Date:       Wed, 19 Aug 1992 09:36:48 BST
> From:       Ivan A Derzhanski <iad@COGSCI.ED.AC.UK>

> >  Date:        Wed, 19 Aug 1992 18:20:18 +1000
> >  From: nsn@AU.OZ.MU.EE.MULLIAN
> >
> >  the unsympathetic outsider would find our scampering for any hint
> >  of cultural imagery self-conscious and flimsy,
>
> True.  Whoever wants to write a story with Chinese, (Hindu) Indians,
> or Arabs among the characters had better be _very_ familiar with the
> corresponding cultures.  I wouldn't venture anything of the sort, and
> therefore make the following
>
>   _Counterproposal_.  Don't specify any national identity or cultural
> background for the characters.  Make them representatives of an
> abstract, undetermined, or fictitious nation.  In this case they might
> be Lojbanis by birth, for example.
>
> Otherwise you risk to end up with a story that no Arab (say) would
> find plausible.

> >  Do we go for equal ratios of men and women?
>
> I say yes.  (Don't make them husbands and wives, though.)
>
> >  Do we have any minorities
> >  or "deviations" in the personas, or keep them mainstream?
>
> Assume, for the purpose of the game, that everyone's skin is the same
>colour.

As a quick first comment I support these opinions. It's better to make
these 'background' characters as neutral as possible so that the
writers don't get into unnecessary problems. The characters and the
storytellers/observers in the actual stories are another matter.
A visitor dropping into the cafe isn't observing the 'common' world
when in the cafe. His story or the story he is listening to while in
the cafe may describe various ethnic/national/linguistic groups but
the narrator's relationship to the cafe ought to reflect his
relationship to the Lojbanic culture. He may be a fullblown lojbo or
still have one foot in his original culture which will affect the way
he describes the settings, the balance between superficial and
essential details. Maybe even the male/female dichotomy is
superfluous in this context. I don't think it's even quite necessary
to have absolutely the same cafe in every story. The essential point
is to have a cafe where people meet, a cafe which is an essential
part of the culture, like a tavern of old or a student cafe. With a
single cafe it will take an inordinate amount of work to keep the
details coherent. A writer may, of course, pick a cafe somebody else
has created, but I think we may set unnecessary restrictions if we
require that everybody loiters in the same place. The cafe isn't the
story but it may affect the atmosphere -- the same story told in
different settings may come out quite differently.

    Veijo
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 Veijo Vilva       vilva@viikki21.helsinki.fi