From: Chris Pearce (cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu)
Date: Mon 20 Sep 1993 - 13:57:53 EEST
Glorantha is a world sharply divorced from modern-day culture. As a player,
it is mind-bogglingly difficult to achieve the correct cultural perspective.
The cultural descriptions presented in the Player's Guide to Genertela are helpful, but in a culturally diverse area such as the Zola Fel river valley, those descriptions are hardly sufficient.
In the modern world, several boundaries prevent cultural blending. I have no experience in anthropolgy, but I can make reasonable guesses at a few.
Geographical isolation helps preserve cultures. Primitive cultures still exist in the Amazon rain forest and in Africa. (As a side note, those PBS specials that describe primitive culture have become *much* more interesting since I've begun playing in Glorantha.) The Australian aboriginal culture probably would rank as a primitive culture, except that I don't know how assimilated into Australian urbanite culture that culture has become. The remoteness of the Amazon and African tribes from centers of civilization seems to be one reason their culture is still intact.
Language helps preserve cultures. I *can* talk reasonably intelligently about this subject. When two cultures interact at length (usually because one has conquered the other), a pidgin language can develop. (I will find out specifically under what conditions such a language will develop and contribute this data in a follow up posting.)
This pidgin language is usually extremely simple--it contains only the more basic parts of speech from the parent languages. Function words and complex inflections disappear. It doubtless loses some of the expressibility of either parent language.
When two languages have been in contact for a generation, then exciting things start to happen, because the *kids* start to use the pidgin language. At that point, the language becomes a creole language. Creoles are really full-fledged languages that pick up their own unique characteristics and offer full expressibility.
Religion helps preserve cultures.
Finally, politics and political boundaries help preserve cultures.
A key here seems to be isolation. Geography, language, and political boundaries serve to hamper communication between different cultures because they hamper interaction between peoples of those different cultures.
Another key seems to be caution and conservatism on the part of a culture's decision makers. Culturally, both nomadic and primitive cultures of Glorantha consider the more advanced cultures as having chosen a dangerously weak method of group survival. By rigorously maintaining the traditional methods of accomplishing the tasks of survival, the also help preserve their culture.
Pavis is the most unusual case, since it combines some many different cultures--Pelorian expatriates, Pavis residents, Praxian nomads, Zola Fel riverfolk. The Genertela handbook describes these cultures as *radically* different. It seems to be a potentially explosive combination of different religious and worldviews. (What keeps horse-hating Praxian nomads from running rampant through town slaughtering horses, for instance?)
So what's happening at the borders of these cultures? And what is the
upshot to Gloranthan players?
--
Chris Pearce -- cpearce@nemesis.acs.unt.edu
How do you say delicious? How do you say delovely? How do you say delectable, define? How do you say - deGORgeous? How do you say dewith-it? How do you say Delite? ---------------------
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