Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 18:01:26 -0700
From: Michael Andre-Driussi 
Subject: (urth) explain yourself

Hartshorn wrote:
>But it is obvious.
>
>The fact that the Ascians can speak *only* in the phrases known as Correct
>Thought matches the fact that Orwell's inhabitants of Oceana will one day
>speak **only** in Newspeak.
>
>But there is no real-life correspondence to this: the Koreans may have
>chanted Maoist slogans, but they were not **forbidden** to use other words
>or phrases.
>
>Only in Orwell's 1984 (and arguably in some SF books written since then)
>does this concept of total linguistic replacement arise.
>
>I agree, however, that the style of the quotes is very close to Maoism

Hartshorn and I seem to be on the same wavelength, fwiw.

I, too, agree that the style is close to Maoism.  I don't know if I've been
published saying that (I almost certainly talked about it online -- maybe
Jeff Wilson remembers better than I do), but in studying the very question
regarding Ascia I've had an authentic little red book for about ten years
now.

I looked at it fairly closely.  If I'd have found something like "x:the
Just Man as Theseus:Tale of the Boy Named Frog," believe me, I would have
been delighted, my efforts would have borne fruit, and I would have
published the finding.

I never said that the little red book had nothing to do with Ascian
Approved Texts.  I can further elaborate and say that, imho, based upon my
own labor comparing the texts, there is actually less there than appears on
first or third blush, but even so I would never eliminate it from the
palette.

=mantis=


Sirius Fiction
booklets on Gene Wolfe, John Crowley
29 copies of "Snake's-hands" until OP!
http://www.siriusfiction.com/



--