Chapter XXIV is a battle and escape narrative that I summarized before. See here. The main part of XXV is a first person plural discussion:
"...if we compare the peaceful lion with the wild boar..." (p. 591)
- of the team's conclusions about Dathyna, later confirmed by xenological studies.
The discussion refers to lions, boars, rhinoceroses and Cape buffalo. (For a combox discussion of Cape buffalo, see here.) It also identifies the fundamental social units for different species:
Shenn, an extended household under an absolute patriarchy;
human, tribe;
Cynthian, matrilineal clan;
Wodenite, migratory band.
So what is the fundamental unit for Merseians or Ythrians?
Fictional dialogues do not often reflect the chaotic nature of many real life conversations. In this chapter, Falkayn says that normally he would suggest a party but unfortunately - Van Rijn, thinking that he is agreeing, interrupts and sets out to discuss business before pleasure. Falkayn, not understanding, has to ask him what he means. Falkayn had been going to say that, not knowing that van Rijn would join them, he and Chee Lan had not stocked any extra alcoholic beverages...
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
As for humans, I would argue for the "tribe," comprising people descended from common ancestors, being basic for Merseians. With the "vachs" of the Wilwidh Ocean being examples of that. Merseians also had nation not organized into vachs.
For Ythrians, that would be mated couples organized into "choths" of very different kinds.
Ad astra! Sean
With humans, I'd say it's more a matter of a grouping of mated pairs and their children with others of the same line of descent out to about second cousins, say about 150-200 individuals in all (which is the limit of people you can really recognize as individuals).
Everything bigger than this is sort of psychological extention of this "small clan".
Humans can be taught to extend the "family feeling" to larger and larger units.
But the bigger (and more unlike you) the unit, the more fragile it is and the more breakdown to the instinctual "default" is likely to happen.
Means of solidifying larger units have improved over time -- things like universal schooling which spreads a common set of origin-narratives, for example. They don't have to be "true" in any objective sense, they just have to be -there-.
This is the purpose of things like pledging allegiance to the flag in the morning at school.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
And things like a common faith helped to enlarge that "family feeling." And pledging allegiance to the US Flag had analogs in other nations, such as loyalty to a long reigning dynasty. Such as the loyalty the French came to have for the Capetians, ruling in France from 987 to the Revolution in 1792.
Ad astra! Sean
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