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The [[Chlouvānem|Chlouvānem language]], as one of [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]]'s earliest attested languages in writing and, having been kept in use both as a liturgical language and as a lingua franca until the present day, has an enormous and evergrowing amount of literature written in it. Today, in the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Chlouvānem Inquisition]], literature (''naihā'') is considered of prime importance, as a cultural product as well as a popular diversion. | The [[Chlouvānem|Chlouvānem language]], as one of [[Verse:Calémere|Calémere]]'s earliest attested languages in writing and, having been kept in use both as a liturgical language and as a lingua franca until the present day, has an enormous and evergrowing amount of literature written in it. Today, in the [[Verse:Chlouvānem Inquisition|Chlouvānem Inquisition]], literature (''naihā'') is considered of prime importance, as one of the most important ways to understand and talk about social issues, as a cultural product, as well as a popular diversion. | ||
{{Chlouvānem sidebar}} | {{Chlouvānem sidebar}} | ||
==Archaic and Early Chlouvānem== | ==Archaic and Early Chlouvānem== | ||
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The Lileṃsasarum's language is the Chlouvānem of about 1950 to 1800 years ago, and is especially important as the main basis for what is today called Classical Chlouvānem (''chlǣvānumi lallapårṣire dhāḍa''), which is, in turn, the basis for today's Standard Chlouvānem<ref>Classical Chlouvānem and Standard Chlouvānem are practically equal, with the only differences being minor syntactical and morphological elements which are obsolete in the modern standard, so that Chlouvānem people don't even make the distinction between them.</ref> as used as lingua franca in the Inquisition and in the Eastern Bloc. Lexically, it is notable – given the mostly non-Lahob origin of the tales – as it includes many terms taken from pre-Chlouvānem languages such as Laiputaši, Tamukāyi, Old Kāṃradeši, and others, including various hapax eirimena or otherwise extremely uncommon words. The fact this is used as the basis for Classical and, in turn, contemporary Standard Chlouvānem, further makes it lexically divergent from the other Lahob languages, as most Chlouvānem nominal roots (and a fair share of verbal ones) are non-Lahob in origin. | The Lileṃsasarum's language is the Chlouvānem of about 1950 to 1800 years ago, and is especially important as the main basis for what is today called Classical Chlouvānem (''chlǣvānumi lallapårṣire dhāḍa''), which is, in turn, the basis for today's Standard Chlouvānem<ref>Classical Chlouvānem and Standard Chlouvānem are practically equal, with the only differences being minor syntactical and morphological elements which are obsolete in the modern standard, so that Chlouvānem people don't even make the distinction between them.</ref> as used as lingua franca in the Inquisition and in the Eastern Bloc. Lexically, it is notable – given the mostly non-Lahob origin of the tales – as it includes many terms taken from pre-Chlouvānem languages such as Laiputaši, Tamukāyi, Old Kāṃradeši, and others, including various hapax eirimena or otherwise extremely uncommon words. The fact this is used as the basis for Classical and, in turn, contemporary Standard Chlouvānem, further makes it lexically divergent from the other Lahob languages, as most Chlouvānem nominal roots (and a fair share of verbal ones) are non-Lahob in origin. | ||
The non-religious nature of the Lileṃsasarum is reflected in its content, which is mostly truly fantastic, containing references to magical elements – like, for example, men made of metal, whose name, ''aikaɂānam'' (pl. ''aikaɂānāk'') was in modern times readopted as a Chlouvānem word for "robot" – and has a wide range of settings, with "forest" and "coastal" settings being prevalent in legends thought to be of non-Ur-Chlouvānem origins, and Lahob legends mentioning more often plains, mountains, snows, and arid areas – types of habitats that the Ur-Chlouvānem had surely, even if indirect, knowledge of. Almost no place is explicitely recognizable in the real world, with the single commonly accepted<ref>Some critics have, through centuries, made a list of places in the story that correspond to real ones, but these aren't widely accepted.</ref> exception of mount | The non-religious nature of the Lileṃsasarum is reflected in its content, which is mostly truly fantastic, containing references to magical elements – like, for example, men made of metal, whose name, ''aikaɂānam'' (pl. ''aikaɂānāk'') was in modern times readopted as a Chlouvānem word for "robot" – and has a wide range of settings, with "forest" and "coastal" settings being prevalent in legends thought to be of non-Ur-Chlouvānem origins, and Lahob legends mentioning more often plains, mountains, snows, and arid areas – types of habitats that the Ur-Chlouvānem had surely, even if indirect, knowledge of. Almost no place is explicitely recognizable in the real world, with the single commonly accepted<ref>Some critics have, through centuries, made a list of places in the story that correspond to real ones, but these aren't widely accepted.</ref> exception of mount Nyuvkaiṭah, it being the only mountain in the Chlouvānem South high enough to have permanent snow at its top. A few legends of Ur-Chlouvānem origin contained in the Lileṃsasarum do still have, more than three thousand years after the Proto-Lahob linguistic unity broke up, very close parallels in the folklore of other Lahob-speaking peoples.<br/> | ||
Some tales do include Yunyalīlti themes, mainly reflections, but those are universally considered later additions in order to justify some behaviours of characters: almost all tales likely precede the lifetime of the Chlamiṣvatrā. | Some tales do include Yunyalīlti themes, mainly reflections, but those are universally considered later additions in order to justify some behaviours of characters: almost all tales likely precede the lifetime of the Chlamiṣvatrā. | ||
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==The Classical Era== | ==The Classical Era== | ||
'''Classical Era''' (in Chlouvānem ''lallapårṣire avyāṣa'') is the name given to the period of time, roughly lasting from 4750 to 5000 (i.e. 1670 to 1420 years ago), characterized historically by a level of very high relative prosperity and consolidation and expansion of the Chlouvānem lands (in the Near East, up to the western borders of the Plain, and across the Southern rainforests). Literature of the Classical Era was linguistically characterized by the use of a uniform koiné language across the whole Yunyalīlti religious world: Classical Chlouvānem, mostly based on the earlier major works such as the Lileṃsasarum and most of the Holy Books. The importance of using a common language was greater than ever, as the vernaculars of the various areas had started to diverge, and some Yunyalīlti areas didn't even speak a Chlouvānem language at all.<br/>The only major difference between pre-Classical and Classical Chlouvānem is in the lexicon, as Classical Chlouvānem includes a far greater share of Lällshag loanwords than earlier forms of the languages do. | '''Classical Era''' (in Chlouvānem ''lallapårṣire avyāṣa'') is the name given to the period of time, roughly lasting from 4750 to 5000 (i.e. 1670 to 1420 years ago), characterized historically by a level of very high relative prosperity and consolidation and expansion of the Chlouvānem lands (in the Near East, up to the western borders of the Plain, and across the Southern rainforests). During the Classical Era, the Lällshag civilization ultimately vanished and was absorbed by the Chlouvānem, and the focus of power became a number of independent realms (''sūmārghuṭai''), mostly in the Plain. These realms originally had a Chlouvānemized élite ruling over a mostly non-Chlouvānem population; during the Classical Era, the intermixing of ethnicities that formed the Chlouvānem one expanded to include most of these populations, however their languages became important substrata for the future local vernaculars, and most notably their cultures left marks on regional identities that still characterize those areas today.<br/>The Inquisition during this era deeply influenced the religious matters of the Yunyalīlti world and was therefore an important body, but its sovereignty as a temporal power was only established halfway through the era, in 4826, with the foundation of the city of [[Verse:Chlouvānem_Inquisition/Līlasuṃghāṇa|Līlasuṃghāṇa]] on the shores of Lake Lūlunīkam, meant to be the political seat of the Inquisition. | ||
Literature of the Classical Era was linguistically characterized by the use of a uniform koiné language across the whole Yunyalīlti religious world: Classical Chlouvānem, mostly based on the earlier major works such as the Lileṃsasarum and most of the Holy Books. The importance of using a common language was greater than ever, as the vernaculars of the various areas had started to diverge, and some Yunyalīlti areas didn't even speak a Chlouvānem language at all. Some of the Classical era realms in the Plain occasionally wrote literature in their local languages (none of them related to Chlouvānem), such as Barṇāṣumi, Namaikehi ( bothfrom the upper course of the Lāmberah), and Vādhugarṣi (from an area along the middle Nīmbaṇḍhāra, more or less on the border between present-day Vādhātāraṣa and Raharjaiṭa. However, the vast majority of literature was written in Chlouvānem.<br/>The only major difference between pre-Classical and Classical Chlouvānem is in the lexicon, as Classical Chlouvānem includes a far greater share of Lällshag loanwords than earlier forms of the languages do; Lällshag remained influential also after the fall of its civilization, occupying a middle ground between Chlouvānem and the local languages of the various realms. | |||
Classical literature shows the development of Chlouvānem poetry from a spoken to a written genre, perhaps exactly because of the drift of the local varieties; while attested poetry from earlier times is sparse and often less precise, during the Classical Era various poems were written, helping codify the earliest Chlouvānem metres.<br/>Classical poems are often very long works, written in a mix of poetry and prose, with half-mythical and half-devotional subjects. Mythical subjects are sometimes taken from the Lileṃsasarum, but most commonly they are new in attested history and their use in these poems formed a new corpus of legends that survives in traditional culture up to the present day. Most likely, these subjects weren't just adopted by legends of the people in newly-Chlouvānemized areas, but were written in those exact cultural areas: it is widely accepted, for example, that the ''Yūrdhanehas'' (the Story of Yūrdham) was written by a certain Uruṣāvam, an ethnic Namaikehi, that is, from the central-northern part of the Plain, the mid- and upper Lāmberah valley, an area that was barely even known by the pre-Classical Chlouvānem but was rapidly Chlouvānemized in the space of a few centuries. | Classical literature shows the development of Chlouvānem poetry from a spoken to a written genre, perhaps exactly because of the drift of the local varieties; while attested poetry from earlier times is sparse and often less precise, during the Classical Era various poems were written, helping codify the earliest Chlouvānem metres.<br/>Classical poems are often very long works, written in a mix of poetry and prose, with half-mythical and half-devotional subjects. Mythical subjects are sometimes taken from the Lileṃsasarum, but most commonly they are new in attested history and their use in these poems formed a new corpus of legends that survives in traditional culture up to the present day. Most likely, these subjects weren't just adopted by legends of the people in newly-Chlouvānemized areas, but were written in those exact cultural areas: it is widely accepted, for example, that the ''Yūrdhanehas'' (the Story of Yūrdham) was written by a certain Uruṣāvam, an ethnic Namaikehi, that is, from the central-northern part of the Plain, the mid- and upper Lāmberah valley, an area that was barely even known by the pre-Classical Chlouvānem but was rapidly Chlouvānemized in the space of a few centuries. | ||
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The natural climax of the Exploration Age came between 5900～5950 when the Chlouvānem and the Western world finally met and started stable contacts – before then, only vague knowledge and very long travel caravans through mountains, seas, and deserts were needed: circumnavigating Védren was a longer distance, but overall travel time was shorter and it was also safer. | The natural climax of the Exploration Age came between 5900～5950 when the Chlouvānem and the Western world finally met and started stable contacts – before then, only vague knowledge and very long travel caravans through mountains, seas, and deserts were needed: circumnavigating Védren was a longer distance, but overall travel time was shorter and it was also safer. | ||
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 (''talša''<ref>The novel was originally called '' | 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 (''talša''<ref>The novel was originally called ''yacvāni nehas'' "Western story"; it took about two centuries for the term ''talša'' – 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 main development in distinguishing novels from earlier types of literature, both in the Chlouvānem space and in the West, was the novel's declared impulse towards fiction, establishing a clear divide between fictional and historiographic texts that was essentially lacking before. | The main development in distinguishing novels from earlier types of literature, both in the Chlouvānem space and in the West, was the novel's declared impulse towards fiction, establishing a clear divide between fictional and historiographic texts that was essentially lacking before. It should be noted, though, that this impulse did not undermine the role of literature as a prime method of analyzing and reflecting on society, a role which is still a characteristic of the contemporary Chlouvānem world. | ||
Themes peculiar to early Chlouvānem novels are directly influenced by their era: Chlouvānem-Western contacts and the exploration of the whole planet (further important dates are the Chlouvānem arrival on Ceránento (''Vṛtāyas'') in 5914 and the first complete circumnavigation of Calémere (actually the first overall, not just for the Chlouvānem) completed in 5926. This, and the intimate experience brought forward by the new genre, led early novels to be characteristically optimist and marked by beauty-worshipping (''ñæñuchlinabraustaranah''). | Themes peculiar to early Chlouvānem novels are directly influenced by their era: Chlouvānem-Western contacts and the exploration of the whole planet (further important dates are the Chlouvānem arrival on Ceránento (''Vṛtāyas'') in 5914 and the first complete circumnavigation of Calémere (actually the first overall, not just for the Chlouvānem) completed in 5926. This, and the intimate experience brought forward by the new genre, led early novels to be characteristically optimist and marked by beauty-worshipping (''ñæñuchlinabraustaranah''). | ||
The work usually considered the first Chlouvānem novel is ''Nimahullē ga Jahībāšin'' (Colonel Nimahullē) by Hælahaikāvi Saṃhajhaidī ''Lajñē'', 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/> | The work usually considered the first Chlouvānem novel is ''Nimahullē ga Jahībāšin'' (Colonel Nimahullē) by Hælahaikāvi Saṃhajhaidī ''Lajñē'', 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 ''Lajñē'' 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, ''itfeɣɣats | This novel, however, does show the important Western influence on the genre's development: Hælahaikāvi Saṃhajhaidī ''Lajñē'' 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, ''itfeɣɣats Akseḥr'' (the Isles of Akseḥr<ref>Akseḥr [akˈsɛχr] is the early modern Auralian name for the area nowadays known as Âkošâkik, 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 Hålvaram 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 | 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 Hålvaram 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 Līnajaiṭa and Maišikota) the borders of the Chlouvānem world around 5950 would remain substantially stable for the next 300 years. | ||
==Archaist literature== | ==Archaist literature== | ||
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While some exoticist novels, particularly the earliest ones, had their sources in actual peoples with actual traditions, and some writers had been travellers and explorers themselves, or had listened to the narrations of explorers' own memories, most exoticist novels are for the most part a tale of fantasy, often drawing from legendary places and having the plot revolve around these mythical lands. Today, there are two main importances attributed to exoticism: its common nature of speculative fiction that paved the way for the later (Trembling Years-onwards) fantasy novels as opposed to traditional fairytales, and, perhaps most importantly, its use of a simpler linguistic style as a result of the exoticism vs. new archaism debate (see below). | While some exoticist novels, particularly the earliest ones, had their sources in actual peoples with actual traditions, and some writers had been travellers and explorers themselves, or had listened to the narrations of explorers' own memories, most exoticist novels are for the most part a tale of fantasy, often drawing from legendary places and having the plot revolve around these mythical lands. Today, there are two main importances attributed to exoticism: its common nature of speculative fiction that paved the way for the later (Trembling Years-onwards) fantasy novels as opposed to traditional fairytales, and, perhaps most importantly, its use of a simpler linguistic style as a result of the exoticism vs. new archaism debate (see below). | ||
Some exoticist writers merged the theme of voyages and discoveries with a theme of glorification of the power of the Chlouvānem states. One of the most interesting writers from this period, Lūṣyāvi Dasukapūri ''Lælicham'', from Ehaliħombu in the Southern Far East, is most remembered for a cycle of three "epic novels" which glorified the power of the city, which had led the explorations to Queáten and Púríton, but had in the meantime lost importance after the governor of Naiṣambella had declared independence from it, taking away most of the metropolitan territory of the realm. Dasukapūri's epic cycle of the Discoveries in the East, formed by the three novels ''Sæsmoe'' (the Mission), ''Jeldoe'' (the Deed), and ''Daṇḍa'' (the Staff)<ref>Staffs (''daṇḍai'') are traditional Chlouvānem symbols of power, akin to crowns.</ref>, aside from the patriotism that is an evident theme in the novels, with multiple attacks and criticism towards the Naiṣambelli, accused of rewriting history, consitutes one of the finest example of use of exoticist themes without resorting to the conservative linguistic stances of new archaism, with a quite modern usage of language despite the epic nature, and markedly Daihāgajñi, with words and word usages taken or influenced by the local vernaculars, especially urban Ehaliħombuyi, and words adapted from the local non-Chlouvānem languages. | |||
===Counter-exoticism and social criticism=== | ===Counter-exoticism and social criticism=== | ||
As a counter-movement to exoticism, some writers, especially from the Near East, held on to archaism creating a current that came to be defined as '''new archaism''' (''lališire sārvanædani'') or '''Illūkahism''' (''illūkąanædani'', from the novel ''Illūkąas'' by Lūṣyāvi Lūtankhāryærās ''Khālbayān'', one of the first examples of new archaism). New archaism is distinguished from earlier archaism first of all by a lesser reliance on ancestral legends and themes, which had been, according to the main new archaist writers, overused, using documented historical events from the ages of Chlouvānem expansion instead, and also by a stricter, more polished writing style than either the historical novels of first-wave archaism or exoticist travel novels. With the dispute between exoticism and new archaism, language first became a serious talking point. While since the introduction of the novel genre to Chlouvānem literature linguistic complexity had been progressively limited in favour of comprehension - with nevertheless interesting attempts at depicting different sociolects, as for example did first-wave archaist writer Lañemulkāvi Bīyalga ''Lūṣya'', especially in her novel ''Vælvapoga'' (Cloudy Village), published in 6047 - new archaists favoured a writing style with Classical vocabulary and less linear syntax. Non-Chlouvānem terms, i.e. those taken from other languages of the Chlouvānem territories, were reduced to the minimum (mostly in character- and place names, all markedly Near Eastern due to the origin of most new archaist writers and the regions they set their stories in). | As a counter-movement to exoticism, some writers, especially from the Near East, held on to archaism creating a current that came to be defined as '''new archaism''' (''lališire sārvanædani'') or '''Illūkahism''' (''illūkąanædani'', from the novel ''Illūkąas'' by Lūṣyāvi Lūtankhāryærās ''Khālbayān'', one of the first examples of new archaism). New archaism is distinguished from earlier archaism first of all by a lesser reliance on ancestral legends and themes, which had been, according to the main new archaist writers, overused, using documented historical events from the ages of Chlouvānem expansion instead, and also by a stricter, more polished writing style than either the historical novels of first-wave archaism or exoticist travel novels. With the dispute between exoticism and new archaism, language first became a serious talking point. While since the introduction of the novel genre to Chlouvānem literature linguistic complexity had been progressively limited in favour of comprehension - with nevertheless interesting attempts at depicting different sociolects, as for example did first-wave archaist writer Lañemulkāvi Bīyalga ''Lūṣya'', especially in her novel ''Vælvapoga'' (Cloudy Village), published in 6047 - new archaists favoured a writing style with Classical vocabulary and less linear syntax. Non-Chlouvānem terms, i.e. those taken from other languages of the Chlouvānem territories, were reduced to the minimum (mostly in character- and place names, all markedly Near Eastern due to the origin of most new archaist writers and the regions they set their stories in). | ||
New archaism as a whole was not extremely successful, as it was always considered an elitist style, and its mostly conservative linguistic stances did not survive long - later writers, at most, began to experiment with different sociolects in the same story rather than sticking with a formal, polished, but often anachronistic one, as was the new archaist style (which however would become quite popular for novels set in the Classical era). Among the most notable works of new archaism, aside from ''Illūkąas'', worth mentioning are ''Dūryageiras'' (Distant Gate), also by Lūṣyāvi Lūtankhāryærās ''Khālbayān''; ''Āldaryasaṃrasta'' (The War of Āldarya) by Ṣastirāvi Kolakanāri ''Dulmaidana'' (cousin of later Great Inquisitor Dānyāvi Kolakanāri ''Naryejūram'', among the first reformists of the Industrial era); ''Ikla'' by Vælvāvi Bhāramim ''Vælvah''; and ''Subhrūṣaṃšaṇṭrūmi | New archaism as a whole was not extremely successful, as it was always considered an elitist style, and its mostly conservative linguistic stances did not survive long - later writers, at most, began to experiment with different sociolects in the same story rather than sticking with a formal, polished, but often anachronistic one, as was the new archaist style (which however would become quite popular for novels set in the Classical era). Among the most notable works of new archaism, aside from ''Illūkąas'', worth mentioning are ''Dūryageiras'' (Distant Gate), also by Lūṣyāvi Lūtankhāryærās ''Khālbayān''; ''Āldaryasaṃrasta'' (The War of Āldarya) by Ṣastirāvi Kolakanāri ''Dulmaidana'' (cousin of later Great Inquisitor Dānyāvi Kolakanāri ''Naryejūram'', among the first reformists of the Industrial era); ''Ikla'' by Vælvāvi Bhāramim ''Vælvah''; and ''Subhrūṣaṃšaṇṭrūmi vyātai'' (Heroes of the Fields of Subhrūṣama) by Mæmihomāvi Ṣpruttairās ''Dalaigin''. However, a major talking point in contemporary discussion of new archaist novels is their high level of historical attention and plausibility: many new archaist writers were archaeologists or historians themselves, and even while most of those novels are centered on fictional characters, a detailed research on actual historical events that happened in the time and place of the novels' settings is common to the whole current. Some novels, such as the previously mentioned ''Āldaryasaṃrasta'', may even be considered novelized historical chronicles. | ||
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The period of time from about 6225 to 6291 and from then to the Nāɂahilūmi era is known as the Consolidation Era (''nalmālei avyāṣa'') after its most salient historical event: the Consolidation (''nalmālya'') of 6291, that is, the forming of the Inquisition as a single sovereign country from the myriad of independent states in the Chlouvānem world<ref>Some of these states remained independent for some time afterwards. The Kingdom (today diocese) of Hulitilmāka, for example, didn't join the Inquisition until 6312, 21 years after the Consolidation.</ref>. Literature of the period strongly reflects this thinking and is the first to actually proclaim a form of Chlouvānem nationalism. It is difficult to talk about "nationalism" in such a large and culturally complex context, but the definition that arose was the one of the cultural space of Yunyalīlti religion united by the Chlouvānem language as a Dachsprache – excluding therefore the Yunyalīlti but less Chlouvānemized areas of Qualdomailor, Brono, and southern Greater Skyrdagor.<br/>Meanwhile, during this time period, the Chlouvānem world started growing again, as today's Northwest was conquered from the Western powers that had set up colonies therein; by doing so, Chlouvānem countries also established sovereignty over much of the virtually uninhabited desert areas of the Northwest, that would prove, later in history, to be extremely rich minerary lands. A similar faith of Chlouvānem conquest was followed by the Kāyīchah islands off the coast of eastern Védren, that had been settled first (except for the easternmost ones, settled by Chlouvānem from Lūlunimarta) by Cerian settlers, mostly with Védrenian slaves. | The period of time from about 6225 to 6291 and from then to the Nāɂahilūmi era is known as the Consolidation Era (''nalmālei avyāṣa'') after its most salient historical event: the Consolidation (''nalmālya'') of 6291, that is, the forming of the Inquisition as a single sovereign country from the myriad of independent states in the Chlouvānem world<ref>Some of these states remained independent for some time afterwards. The Kingdom (today diocese) of Hulitilmāka, for example, didn't join the Inquisition until 6312, 21 years after the Consolidation.</ref>. Literature of the period strongly reflects this thinking and is the first to actually proclaim a form of Chlouvānem nationalism. It is difficult to talk about "nationalism" in such a large and culturally complex context, but the definition that arose was the one of the cultural space of Yunyalīlti religion united by the Chlouvānem language as a Dachsprache – excluding therefore the Yunyalīlti but less Chlouvānemized areas of Qualdomailor, Brono, and southern Greater Skyrdagor.<br/>Meanwhile, during this time period, the Chlouvānem world started growing again, as today's Northwest was conquered from the Western powers that had set up colonies therein; by doing so, Chlouvānem countries also established sovereignty over much of the virtually uninhabited desert areas of the Northwest, that would prove, later in history, to be extremely rich minerary lands. A similar faith of Chlouvānem conquest was followed by the Kāyīchah islands off the coast of eastern Védren, that had been settled first (except for the easternmost ones, settled by Chlouvānem from Lūlunimarta) by Cerian settlers, mostly with Védrenian slaves. | ||
Consolidation Era literature is thought to be of a lesser quality overall when compared to the great novelists of the Trembling Years, but it had, nonetheless, some milestone works. Perhaps the most commonly mentioned is '' | Consolidation Era literature is thought to be of a lesser quality overall when compared to the great novelists of the Trembling Years, but it had, nonetheless, some milestone works. Perhaps the most commonly mentioned is ''Guvęryē væloe'' (the Forbidden Gift) by male writer Hānimausāvi Gajrīn ''Klætspragis'' from Pāriṇavārṭha diocese (Central Plain), mostly a semi-autobiographical personal resistance story, highlighting the ever existant gender discrimination common at the time, which became a banner in the movement for gender equality particularly active the years just preceding and following the Consolidation – while full equality was still far away, there were some huge steps towards gender equality in those years, albeit they'd later be cancelled during the Nāɂahilūmi Era. | ||
Other important works of the era were all less socially critical, talking about Chlouvānem culture instead, with a revival of archaist-era Legendary Books, this time extended to the whole territory of the to-be-Inquisition (something which brought to newer life many themes that were once common in Toyubeshian fairytales), and it was from these collections of legends that took inspiration one of the greatest playwrights of the era, Dalaiganāvi Lækhnitaisa ''Chališiroe''. She was the leading personality of a newer, more hybrid theatrical style, using more Western-style monologues, as well as unconventional uses of music, with real sung arias (an influence of Western opera; this wasn't a complete novelty in Chlouvānem theater, but it had been more of a one-in-a-kind feature) and instrumental drones, as in Chlouvānem classical music, very often accompanying the recited sequences. Musical composers working with her, such as Hælahaikāvi Gudūra ''Daṃdhigulan'', proved to be significant for the later development of ambient music.<br/>Plays by Dalaiganāvi Lækhnitaisa ''Chališiroe'' are very commonly represented today in Chlouvānem-style theaters both in the Inquisition and abroad; some of her most famous works include the "epic comedies" ''Hånya ga prālṣaṃkamikyāyē | Other important works of the era were all less socially critical, talking about Chlouvānem culture instead, with a revival of archaist-era Legendary Books, this time extended to the whole territory of the to-be-Inquisition (something which brought to newer life many themes that were once common in Toyubeshian fairytales), and it was from these collections of legends that took inspiration one of the greatest playwrights of the era, Dalaiganāvi Lækhnitaisa ''Chališiroe''. She was the leading personality of a newer, more hybrid theatrical style, using more Western-style monologues, as well as unconventional uses of music, with real sung arias (an influence of Western opera; this wasn't a complete novelty in Chlouvānem theater, but it had been more of a one-in-a-kind feature) and instrumental drones, as in Chlouvānem classical music, very often accompanying the recited sequences. Musical composers working with her, such as Hælahaikāvi Gudūra ''Daṃdhigulan'', proved to be significant for the later development of ambient music.<br/>Plays by Dalaiganāvi Lækhnitaisa ''Chališiroe'' are very commonly represented today in Chlouvānem-style theaters both in the Inquisition and abroad; some of her most famous works include the "epic comedies" ''Hånya ga prālṣaṃkamikyāyē vyāta'' (Hånya, the Hero Coated in Prālṣam Flowers<ref>The ''prālṣam'' tree is a common tropical tree not unlike the [[w:Ceiba speciosa|silk floss tree]]. The hero's name is furthermore a talking name, as it means "toucan".</ref>) and ''Pądire širēmi'' (the Missing Chair), and the epic tales ''Oyune vyāta'' (Hero in the Mirror), ''Māmei lalāruṇa'' (Twelve Lalāruṇai<ref>A domestic, mountable, giant lizard, having in Chlouvānem society a role much like horses in ours.</ref>), and ''Ṣāṭe vrāṣmas no'' (Swords and Smoke). | ||
==The Nāɂahilūmi Era== | ==The Nāɂahilūmi Era== | ||
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Literarily, the book's themes proved the key towards a merger of the two currents of socialist realism and agrarianism into the style nowadays called "individual-friendly socialist realism", with a radical shift of focus from the works of society to the components of that society that built all of those works. Late in the Kaiṣamā period, the strictly socialist element faded away, with a general rediscovery of folk roots and a taste for pure, unpretentious ars narrandi, that led to the contemporary successful style called "fairytale realism" (''yaldidhusmanædani'').<br/>Another, more politically active topic of Kaiṣamā-era literature had a more epic matter, focussing on the expansion of the communist world in the countries undergoing decolonization from Western powers, particularly in eastern Védren. | Literarily, the book's themes proved the key towards a merger of the two currents of socialist realism and agrarianism into the style nowadays called "individual-friendly socialist realism", with a radical shift of focus from the works of society to the components of that society that built all of those works. Late in the Kaiṣamā period, the strictly socialist element faded away, with a general rediscovery of folk roots and a taste for pure, unpretentious ars narrandi, that led to the contemporary successful style called "fairytale realism" (''yaldidhusmanædani'').<br/>Another, more politically active topic of Kaiṣamā-era literature had a more epic matter, focussing on the expansion of the communist world in the countries undergoing decolonization from Western powers, particularly in eastern Védren. | ||
====Chlouvānem fantasy: the Mervés cycle==== | |||
One of the most peculiar and important writers of the Kaiṣamā is undoubtedly Lajñyāvi Ṛcñahaidī ''Kalyahīṃsa'' (6310-6391), half Chlouvānem-half Skyrdegan native of Hålša, the largest city and main cultural centre of the Hålvaram plateau and the Chlouvānem North. She was the first major contemporary Chlouvānem author whose works spread through the grey market, gaining a cult following across the Kaiṣamā.<br/> | |||
Ṛcñahaidī’s work has since been canonized as the prime example of high fantasy in Chlouvānem literature, writing many short stories and a few novels (mostly in Chlouvānem, but one novel and some short stories are in Skyrdagor, and she also wrote a frame story in the Hålši vernacular) all<ref>In her whole production, one of the most prolific in the history of Chlouvānem literature, only six short stories and two non-fiction books (both about her native city, Hålša: one about the cultural scene in the city in the early Kaiṣamā, another about urban slang in the vernacular in the same period) are not set in her conworld.</ref> set in a conworld, ''Mervés'' {{IPA|[ˈmɛrweːʃ]}}, set in an early modern age with clear aesthetic influences from the Imperial Age of Skyrdagor and characterized - a first in Chlouvānem literature - by a number of conlangs, the most important and developed one being Hrákenic (endonym ''hrákna'' {{IPA|[ˈʁaːkʰnɑ]}}, in Chl. ''harākhenyumi dhāḍa''), the language of the Hrákin, an anthropomorfic reptilian race<ref>While speculative, the biology of this reptilian race has been described by Ṛcñahaidī with copious scientifically plausible details; it should be noted that the author, later in her life, named among her greatest influences her maternal uncle, Hamilǣṣṇyāvi Ṛcñahaidī ''Lāyašāgin'', a biologist at the Ecumenical School of Hålša.</ref> dominant on Mervés. After finishing school in a monastery in Mārmalūdven, Ṛcñahaidī became the first major figure of the Kaiṣamā to live following the Yunyalīlta but never siding with the power of the Inquisition. Hers was not a rebellion or an attack against it, but she lived her life mostly ignoring the Inquisition instead, choosing an "anarchical" and almost nomadic way of life, joining the Kaušitaših legion (which she worked with as a volunteer, devoted to her own monastic-derived interpretation of the Yunyalīlti faith) and living mostly in legion-owned ''ulañšāme'' throughout her life, most prominently in her native Hålša but also - especially later in her life - in other cities of the North, including Iŋelsŏnd (a city in Fathan, at the time part of the Inquisition), Måmatempuñīh, and finally Myszelkjar in Gorjan (also part of the Inquisition until 6372), where she spent the last fifteen years of her life. | |||
Completely casting the Kaiṣamā's ideology away from her work, Ṛcñahaidī's Mervés cycle shows a maniacal detail towards the conworlding aspect, which she defined as her main artistic goal, creating a representation of humanity by creating a recreation of it. But the early modern society of Mervés also had allegories of the contemporary world, with various short stories presenting the point of view of poor people, outcasts, people living at the fringe of society - and in some way, the whole epic cycle seems to be narrated from that point of view. It is not hard to see across Ṛcñahaidī's work a reflection of her beliefs that led her to live the anarchical life she lived: in her work, true honesty and moral integrity are in the outcasts, in those who do not recognize any god-given power over them. Especially in the early part of her work, written in the early part of the Kaiṣamā (before the ''Lila lili vi'' "revolution"), Ṛcñahaidī's anarchism was less directed to being against the formal power, challenging the informal power instead; that is, social norms and morals, by detailing sexual life of the Hrákin and other races of Mervés; actually, not that much more sexually libertine than the Chlouvānem, but not hypocritical about it. The fight against hypocrisy is perhaps a key factor in Ṛcñahaidī's creation of Mervés, and in her whole worldview - she had six children with no known father and never got married, something unthinkable for Chlouvānem society of her time. | |||
The main reason of Ṛcñahaidī's importance lies, however, not in the intrinsic nature of her work, but in the impact the Mervés cycle had on Chlouvānem (and the Kaiṣamā's) society. The conworlding lore, the conlanging, the sense of straightforward escapism and freedom made her works popular grey market reads already in the early part of the Kaiṣamā, works that nearly everyone traded, read, and knew, providing idioms to the slang of the then-Chlouvānem youth that persist in some sociolects of today's languages of the Inquisition, and most importantly inspiring other artists - for some as simple inspiration (Lānūṣurah acknowledged that she had started reading Ṛcñahaidī's works approximately at the time she was gathering ideas for ''Lila lili vi''), while the conworld itself lent plenty of lore that other artists used and set their works within, or made derivative works of, especially in music and theatre. "Fantasy music" is a whole subcultural phaenomenon (with some of the ideals of ''ṣmola'' and musical themes heavily inspired by ''kerachomā'') aesthetically and thematically inspired predominantly by the Mervés cycle; even more representative of how far her popularity went is how the Bhārmāligūyi theatre in Līṭhalyinām even wrote and represented an experimental pièce based on Ṛcñahaidī's novel ''Varūkthami gaimah'' (The Bow of Varúktˤa), part of the Mervés cycle, in 6368, a decade before the fall of the Kaiṣamā and fourteen years before the first official publication of any fiction work by Ṛcñahaidī<ref>Her book about the urban slang in the vernacular of Hålša was first published in 6366, shortly after she wrote it.</ref>. | |||
===''Læjāktoma'' (comics)=== | ===''Læjāktoma'' (comics)=== | ||
It was in the early Kaiṣamā era that the art of comics became widespread in the whole Union. The whole tradition of comics in the Inquisition (and in most other countries of the former Kaiṣamā), nowadays extremely pervasive in popular culture, was a Skyrdegan import: the countries of Greater Skyrdagor had already been writing comics for more than fifty years in their own style, mostly independent from the tradition that had arisen in the West. As such, even the term for comics used in Chlouvānem (''læjāktoma''), as well as those in other languages of the Union, are derived from Skyrdagor ''lezsahta komg'' {{IPA|[ɮɛʒɑxta kɔm]}}, literally "drawn word".<br/>As expected, early Kaiṣamā comic artists were from Gorjan – an ethnically and culturally Skyrdegan country that had been annexed to the Inquisition – but the spread was so fast that in a few years' time comic artists were found in all parts of the Union. | It was in the early Kaiṣamā era that the art of comics became widespread in the whole Union. The whole tradition of comics in the Inquisition (and in most other countries of the former Kaiṣamā), nowadays extremely pervasive in popular culture, was a Skyrdegan import: the countries of Greater Skyrdagor had already been writing comics for more than fifty years in their own style, mostly independent from the tradition that had arisen in the West. As such, even the term for comics used in Chlouvānem (''læjāktoma''), as well as those in other languages of the Union, are derived from Skyrdagor ''lezsahta komg'' {{IPA|[ɮɛʒɑxta kɔm]}}, literally "drawn word".<br/>As expected, early Kaiṣamā comic artists were from Gorjan – an ethnically and culturally Skyrdegan country that had been annexed to the Inquisition – but the spread was so fast that in a few years' time comic artists were found in all parts of the Union. | ||
''Læjāktoma'' from the Kaiṣamā countries have, however, developed their own characteristics, setting it apart at least as a sub-genre, not only in the linguistic sense, from Skyrdegan ''lezsahta komg''. While Skyrdegan comics and, especially, their characters are already less realistic than those of Western comics, realism is even less aimed for in Kaiṣamā comics: proportions of features, especially facial features, are purposely unreal, sometimes with satyrical effect, as with the tiny or even apparently non existant mouths being used by some artists as a symbol of the "burden of censorship" in the Union. It is, in fact, the existence of censorship that has contributed to draw Kaiṣamā comics away from realism, as the less realistic the characters and the situations were, the less they could be questioned from the authorities, even if they contained subtle satyrical messages or social denunciations. | ''Læjāktoma'' from the Kaiṣamā countries have, however, developed their own characteristics, setting it apart at least as a sub-genre, not only in the linguistic sense, from Skyrdegan ''lezsahta komg''. While Skyrdegan comics and, especially, their characters are already less realistic than those of Western comics, realism is even less aimed for in Kaiṣamā comics: proportions of features, especially facial features, are purposely unreal, sometimes with satyrical effect, as with the tiny or even apparently non existant mouths being used by some artists as a symbol of the "burden of censorship" in the Union. It is, in fact, the existence of censorship that has contributed to draw Kaiṣamā comics away from realism (and, to some extent, is also responsible for the same reasons of the fairytale elements in many currents of contemporary Chlouvānem literature), as the less realistic the characters and the situations were, the less they could be questioned from the authorities, even if they contained subtle satyrical messages or social denunciations. | ||
Note, however, that a good majority of ''læjāktoma'' was – and still is in the present-day Inquisition – independently published and sold in a "grey market" area: as with most literature, since the late Kaiṣamā era there has been a general thaw of censorship and even such publications are de facto tolerated with barely any level of censorship, except for works containing the most explicitely subversive and/or heretic messages. | Note, however, that a good majority of ''læjāktoma'' was – and still is in the present-day Inquisition – independently published and sold in a "grey market" area: as with most literature, since the late Kaiṣamā era there has been a general thaw of censorship and even such publications are de facto tolerated with barely any level of censorship, except for works containing the most explicitely subversive and/or heretic messages. | ||