Chlouvānem/Literature: Difference between revisions

Literarily, the meeting of the two largest civilization spheres of the planet had an enormous importance in developing exoticism in both areas, but in the Chlouvānem sphere the Western contact brought forward a real revolution of literature: the birth of the novel (''talьša''<ref>The novel was originally called ''kerultugi nehas'' "Western story"; it took about two centuries for the term ''talьša'' – an erudite reborrowing of Lällshag ''tallshia'' "story, narrative, tale" – to gain acceptance as the term for it.</ref>). The Chlouvānem novel is the first literary genre predominantly or exclusively in prose since the time of the Holy Books and the Early Classical frame stories, and Chlouvānem literary studies define it as, unlike any other genre before, being intimate narrative, primarily meant to be read rather than recited, sung, or performed.

The work usually considered the first Chlouvānem novel is ''Nimahullē ga Jahībāšin'' (Colonel Nimahullē) by Hælahaikāvi Saṃhajhaidī ''Ladьnē'', first printed in 5961. The novel was specifically centered on the eponymous character, a ship captain on an expedition in the Eastern Islands (whether it's the Far Eastern Chlouvānem islands, Queáten, or both of them, is unclear), the various adventurous encounters, as well as her reflections on what she sees during the journey; also revolutionary was the novel's ending, with Colonel Nimahullē talking about her wish of keeping travelling and, as the very last image, the ship setting sail again, leaving it all without a real, definite conclusion; other authors, in fact, did borrow the character and write "sequels" to this novel.<br/>

This novel, however, does show the important Western influence on the genre's development: Hælahaikāvi Saṃhajhaidī ''Ladьnē'' had travelled to the West on an expedition and had learnt [[Auralian]], at that time the most important Western trade language; modern critics are unanimous in believing that she based various parts of Nimahullē ga Jahībāšin on an early Western novel, ''Karâxis pidoï'' (the Isles of Karâx<ref>Karâx is the early modern Auralian name for the area nowadays known as Hārazīm, a country in far western Márusúturon, just south of Evandor.</ref>), itself one of the earliest novels of Auralian literature. It is not as obvious as, for example, early Chlouvānem theater had adapted Skyrdegan works, but quite a few encounters in the Saṃhajhaidī's book are very similar, both in plot and writing, to the Auralian novel's ones. There are, however, various differences, as the psychological dimension, markedly present in the Chlouvānem novel, is almost completely missing from the Auralian source.

Historically, the dawn of Chlouvānem-Western contact coincided with a practical end of Chlouvānem (Yunyalīlti) expansion in Márusúturon. The Chlouvānem had been settling in the Hålvaren plateau and in the Dabuke lands to the west, starting a long Chlouvānemization process, especially in the latter area, but except for marginal settlements in parts of the Northeast (modern-day Līnajotia and Maišikota) the borders of the Chlouvānem world around 5950 would remain substantially stable for the next 300 years.