It's always struck me as rather unfair that for a book to be worthy of academic study and analysis it has to be at least half a century old, if not a full century, written by either a radical female or a rather dull male. Don't get me wrong, the classics are all very well and good if you enjoy reading period drama - which on the whole - I don't. It is unfortunate that classic stories such as "The Time Machine" are so unfairly discarded because they are not dealing directly with the "real world". Sure Jane Austen presents a wonderful critique of society, particular the role of women and marriage, but this is not the only way to critique or evaluate our world.
As the Time Machine demonstrates science fiction literature can be an extremely effective medium for us to reflect upon where we are going, where we've come from, and exactly how much destruction we will cause or have caused in the process. Even "A Christmas Carol" generally remains unfortunately unobserved due to its supernatural content.
If such classic books can be so easily ignored despite incredible social commentary, what hope have modern day books, such as "His Dark Materials" or even, though not QUITE contemporary; "Lord of The Rings"?
It is as such that I turn to my main point of discussion. The Discworld Series of books by the good Mr Terry Pratchett are a remarkable set of fantasy stories that hold up a mirror to our own universe. But alas, due to it's fantastical nature of wizards, elves and magic, it is unlikely to be given serious attention by the academic world, or even those who flee or scoff at the first mention of a goblin.
The particular issue I'd like to bring forth (though I'm sure later in this thread others can be explored), is that of sexuality and dwarfs. Discworld readers will be familiar with the fact that the Discworld dwarf genders are indistinguishable and at some point during dwarf courting, a subtle investigation into the gender of one's partner must be made in order to avoid embaressment. Female dwarfs are expected to act just as "manly" (if such a term could be attributed to a dwarf without causing them severe insult) as the male gender of the species. Any reference to the act that the dwarf in fact lacks a penis is sevrely frowned upon.
But what interests me most is taken from I believe "The Fifth Elephant" in which Commander Sam Vimes and his wife attend a Dwarf opera, a story about two dwarfs in love. Vimes asks his wife which one is the male, at which point the reply is "They're both dwarfs Sam". In otherwords, it doesn't matter. For all Vimes is to know, they could in fact, be the same Gender. Though Pratchett never specifically states in his books anything about same gender dwarf pairs, it could then be interpreted that for Dwarfs gender only has any relevance if one atually wants to start a family.
Is this to imply that amongst dwarfs acts of a sexual nature are NOT gender determined as is the social convention of humans? Indeed one could possibly compare the dwarf culture to the ancient greek culture in which homosexuality was encouraged due to the strong bonds of friendship it could create, with hetrosexuality remaining with the core purpose of offspring and families...
So, I put forward a discussion, what can we interpret regarding sexuality and dwarfs in Discworld? Is Mr Pratchett making an interesting observation about human sexuality and the shedding of social restaint when it comes to pleasure? Or is this all just a silly interpretation of a fantasy book...?
As the Time Machine demonstrates science fiction literature can be an extremely effective medium for us to reflect upon where we are going, where we've come from, and exactly how much destruction we will cause or have caused in the process. Even "A Christmas Carol" generally remains unfortunately unobserved due to its supernatural content.
If such classic books can be so easily ignored despite incredible social commentary, what hope have modern day books, such as "His Dark Materials" or even, though not QUITE contemporary; "Lord of The Rings"?
It is as such that I turn to my main point of discussion. The Discworld Series of books by the good Mr Terry Pratchett are a remarkable set of fantasy stories that hold up a mirror to our own universe. But alas, due to it's fantastical nature of wizards, elves and magic, it is unlikely to be given serious attention by the academic world, or even those who flee or scoff at the first mention of a goblin.
The particular issue I'd like to bring forth (though I'm sure later in this thread others can be explored), is that of sexuality and dwarfs. Discworld readers will be familiar with the fact that the Discworld dwarf genders are indistinguishable and at some point during dwarf courting, a subtle investigation into the gender of one's partner must be made in order to avoid embaressment. Female dwarfs are expected to act just as "manly" (if such a term could be attributed to a dwarf without causing them severe insult) as the male gender of the species. Any reference to the act that the dwarf in fact lacks a penis is sevrely frowned upon.
But what interests me most is taken from I believe "The Fifth Elephant" in which Commander Sam Vimes and his wife attend a Dwarf opera, a story about two dwarfs in love. Vimes asks his wife which one is the male, at which point the reply is "They're both dwarfs Sam". In otherwords, it doesn't matter. For all Vimes is to know, they could in fact, be the same Gender. Though Pratchett never specifically states in his books anything about same gender dwarf pairs, it could then be interpreted that for Dwarfs gender only has any relevance if one atually wants to start a family.
Is this to imply that amongst dwarfs acts of a sexual nature are NOT gender determined as is the social convention of humans? Indeed one could possibly compare the dwarf culture to the ancient greek culture in which homosexuality was encouraged due to the strong bonds of friendship it could create, with hetrosexuality remaining with the core purpose of offspring and families...
So, I put forward a discussion, what can we interpret regarding sexuality and dwarfs in Discworld? Is Mr Pratchett making an interesting observation about human sexuality and the shedding of social restaint when it comes to pleasure? Or is this all just a silly interpretation of a fantasy book...?
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