Bringing Literature To Life--Through Violence! [Tuesday, Second Period]

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Cindy was leaning on the desk when the class arrived, stirring a cup of coffee. More coffee and pastries were set off to the side for the class to partake if they were so inclined. “Morning class,” she greeted. “And welcome to those of you who are new. I’m Professor Cindy Perrault and this is Bringing Literature to Life--Through Violence.”

Max was standing at a loose sort of attention off to the side just a bit. Jeans and a slightly rumpled white button-down shirt were dressy enough for class, right? He grinned. "I'm Antillar Maximus. For this course you can call me Centurion." His grin broadened. "I suspect you can guess which part of the class is my forte."

Cindy raised an amused eyebrow at him, but didn’t argue. Not everyone needed to know about her weapon specialties, so Max’s statement could stand. “So, the way this class will work is pretty simple. The Centurion and I will be trading off classes; your classes with me will cover some famous battles in literature and then, in your classes with him, you’ll get to experience the way the actual battles and weaponry work.”

Hey, Max knew she could kick his butt, but that wasn’t part of her cover. And if he could help her build that up, he was happy to. “We’ll be doing some pretty physical stuff, so wear something you can move in. And let me know if there’s anything we should know about your physical condition.”

He grinned. “One of the things we’re hoping you can do is put together the two segments of these classes in your head. Understand how the reality of combat and the way it’s used in literature line up with each other. And how they don’t.”

“And we’ll get into all of that next week,” Cindy finished. “This week is for introductions and heaven forbid we skip tradition.”

Max nodded in agreement. “Yes. We’re very traditional in here, after all.”

Cindy snorted. “Damn right we are. So--introductions. First the basics: name, class, and where you’re from. Then the good stuff--tell us about how war is waged back home. Are armed clashed generally small battles, where everyone can see one another’s faces? Massive armies? Fleets of ships or tanks or what-have you? What kind of weapons are used? Or is warfare shunned entirely, and all problems are solved through diplomacy? Whatever you feel like sharing is fine.”

“At the same time, we want you to tell us a bit about how war is treated in stories. Is it a glorious example of individual prowess? Is it a warning against the horrors that people can inflict on one another? Are wars presented as glorious nationalistic narratives, or as a way of highlighting the evils of warmongering? Let’s all get a feel for how we think and talk about war.”

Comments

History is Written by the Victors

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

How does your culture talk about war? How is it presented in literature and the media?

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

This was a little easier. "It's messy and you walk in the mud and you get shot in the head or maybe the spine, or maybe you starve or get dysentery, and it's noble but pointless and did you see meta for Passchendaele (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Passchendaele_%28film%29)? Totally depressing. Right, so, I'm going to go with: War sucks. Peace out."

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"I haven't seen that one," Cindy said, making a mental note to check it out. "Do you think most modern depictions of warfare take that tone? Noble and pointless?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[regretiz4suckas.livejournal.com]

This was more general than reality, so less intimidating for Kenzi. "If they're claiming to be realistic, yeah. If they're not, they're just First Person Shooter movies coming soon to a video game near you. Except sometimes with extra zombies." Someone loved Call of Duty.

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Before the end of World War I and the beginning of the Modernist movement, most books would never have written about the darker side of war," Cindy said, before giving it some thought and adding, "Well, a bit after the American Civil War, too. Do you think we're heading for a more truthful approach to the depictions of warfare, or something else?"

Welcome to an academic class with Cindy, Kenzi.

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[hurtingzeebo]

"I don't really know much about literature," Sam said, "but there's this game, World of Warlords, that my friend's brother's all into, and war in that is a bunch of running around in weird dresses, and fighting battles by throwing magic and singing at each other."

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy cracked a smile at that. "We'll probably avoid video games, but if we're ever strapped for a good class topic..."

Why not? Video games were this generation's narrative. It counted, at least in Cindy's book.

"Do you have any ideas why that game is so popular?" she asked Sam. "Why so many people would shell out money to play it?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[hurtingzeebo]

"'Cause they're huge dorks?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Why would dorks be interested in a war game?" Cindy asked, not at all put off by the answer.

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"We don't have wars," Sov said. "So we don't talk about them. I mean, there are lots of stories of struggles between nations and cities and tribes, but we don't just go and kill each other like that. What's the point?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"What do your stories focus on, then?" Cindy asked with interest. "What kind of struggles are depicted and how are they usually resolved?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[child-of-rer.livejournal.com]

"Oh, it's all about who is allied with who, and then someone does something wrong and loses shifgrethor and no one trusts them anymore," Sov said. "And then it might just go worse from there and the more they struggle to get back what they lost, the further they sink." They paused. "Of course, there are songs about raiding cattle." But those were, you know, not quite as serious.

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Shifgrethor?" Cindy asked. "Is that like...honor? Losing honor?"

She thought for a moment. "So your stories focus more on the personal aspect of fighting? What are some things people might do to lose shifgrethor? Or gain it back?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[wheeler-360.livejournal.com]

"Kenzi's right that a lot of our stuff is depressing," Marshall agreed, "but we're kind of into humour, as well? There's this one Canadian musical group," he explained, "that has a song about the war of 1812 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7jlFZhprU4) that talks about how we, like, burned the White House down. Twice. So I guess it depends on the war, or something?"


[Mmm, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie. Although Marshall's probably one of those people who think it's the Arrogant Worms.]

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Why do you think that is?" Cindy asked. "Why are some wars presented as dark and gritty, while others as fodder for humor?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[wheeler-360.livejournal.com]

Marshall stopped to consider that. "You know, I'm not even sure it is about which war it is," he corrected himself. "Which probably makes the answer more complicated, right? I mean, I guess it depends on who's talking about it. Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie* is kind of a comedy musical group in general, so anything they talk about is going to be made into a joke?" Way to sound certain there, Marshall. "And they make it a song about Canadian superiority over the US. Because we're on top, y'know? But someone else would be talking about the war itself, and maybe looking at it in terms of individual people who are affected by it? Which is going to be darker, right?"


[*... yeah, I couldn't even bring myself to type it with the wrong band name.]

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy nodded, enjoying Marshall kind of talk his way through it. "Can you think why some people might consider it one way, and someone else consider it another?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"A lot of the time it's simple as word of mouth," Kate said. "My father taught me about ancient wars, and a lot of that was from old scriptures, but-- If you want to know about a war today, it'll be from someone telling you to avoid downtown, because the Breakers are kicking off against the PAD."

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Gang violence?" Cindy asked. "And how are those old stories framed? Glory? Something to avoid? Something to learn from?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[withasword.livejournal.com]

"That depends who you hear it from," Kate answered, twitching a shrug. "I ran with the Breakers for months. Hear it from one of them, it's encouraged to get involved. It's their fight."

"Hear it from my guardian, and he'd tell me to stay out of it. I don't rely on them now, it's not my problem."

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"How do the Breakers frame their fight against the PAD?" she asked. "Are they defending their territory, or standing up against dangerous rivals, or is the other gang too weak to hold onto its territory?"

It was all about framing, really. The same events, explained from different viewpoints.

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[godofxbox]

"I...might be the wrong person to talk to?" Alex said slowly. "My dad is...okay, my dad is the god of war, so what I was taught is probably not the usual for my culture." Almost certainly. "But I was always sort of taught that war is good and necessary and glorious." And that the rules of engagement, tactics, and things like making sure you had enough bullets were for wimps. Oh, Dad.

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

After a few semesters here at Fandom, even the normally unflappable Cindy occasionally had to stop and blink for a few seconds at that.

"Of which pantheon?" Cindy asked. "Or which world, if not this one?"

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[godofxbox]

"Greek," Alex admitted. "He's Ares. I'm...well, I'm Phobos. I mean I used to be just Alexander, but the first Phobos died and I sort of accidentally got turned into a god, so now I'm Phobos." Congrats, Cindy, you've got the Greek god of fear in your class.

Alex hesitated for a moment after that admission, then plowed ahead. "Okay, the thing about my dad is, and I think it's actually relevant to the question? He's the god of bloody war. Strategy, tactics, the rules of engagement, that's not his thing. That's his sister's thing. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but what I'm trying to say is...my dad isn't always on the right side. But that doesn't make him good or bad. He's above good or bad. He just is. And my dad is War, so...yeah. That probably didn't make any sense after all."

Re: History is Written by the Victors

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

Squall shrugged. "How does anyone talk about war?" he asked. "Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, but mostly it just is. The soldiers do their jobs as well as they can, that's all."