Sandra Miesel presents a comprehensive list of motives for extra-solar colonization:
adventure
profit
advancement
social and political experimentation
preservation of cultural heritage
She adds that the cultural motivation was paramount in the cases of:
Russo-Mongol Altai
African Nyanza
Slavic Dennitza
I think that, in the case of Nyanza, Miesel goes beyond what Anderson's texts tell us but nevertheless, in this context, her extrapolation is legitimate as when she discusses alien influences on humanity:
"These exotic stimuli sparked the creative energies of Technic civilization to new peaks of excellence because they broadened the range of options available to each individual." (p. 238)
In "How To Ethnic In One Easy Lesson," the Festival of Man is a reaction against alien influences. Later, in The People of the Wind, human beings on Avalon are strongly influenced by their fellow colonists from Ythri to such an extent that many young people join choths and adopt an entirely Ythrian lifestyle.
9 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I agree with Miesel, albeit it would have been more plausible to have seen Orthodox Christianity as the faith followed by, say, the Tebtengri Shamanate on Altai.
And the "Christian variant" as the faith of most Nyanzans seem to be the only time in the entire Technic series where Protestants are even alluded to!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
If indeed that is what "variant" means.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Well, to Catholics, Protestants are variant forms of Christianity.
Ad astra! Sean
If I recall correctly, weren't the "aquatic" societ(ies) of Nyanza of East African ancestry, while the "terrestrial" society of Nyanza was largely "white" South African? Or is that mistaken?
Been a while since I read that one.
That is basically it although I don't think that the whites were South African, specifically.
Kaor, Dave!
"The Game of Glory" makes no particular mention of which parts of Terra the mostly black ancestors of the Nyanzans came from. In Flandry's time recent immigrants, the "pinkies," came from a planet called Deutschwelt, possibly a world settled by Germans.
I've sometimes thought the Bahamas would be a good location for a filmed version of "The Game of Glory."
Ad astra! Sean
Sean - "Nyanza" suggests East Africans; it's the Bantu/Swahili word for "lake" ...
The whites on Nyanza are "Germans", from a world settled by ethnic Germans.
Note that the Nyanzans include a number of individuals with Afrikaans names, suggesting that the original migration included South Africans.
Selective forces on Nyanza have pushed towards darker skins.
Kaor, Dave and Mr. Stirling!
Dave: Noted, but "The Game of Glory" still made no particular mention of where from Terra those mostly black settlers came from.
Mr. Stirling: Selective forces stimulated by the hot, bright sun of Nyanza.
Ad astra! Sean
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