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wiseheartAs some of you might remember, I've done an awful lot of research for my Ninth Doctor/Tosh story, Travellers' Tales, which can be found on FF.Net and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
otherworlds_lib. *hint, hint*
Tis particular episode takes place in 12th century Japan, of which I've never known a thing before - well, save from a short mentioning in Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series at the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
Anyway, I was doing the sort of internet research when you start with one keyword on Google and then walk from link to link in Wikipedia. What I found was very interesting - in many ways, but I only want to talk about the so-called in-canon writing.
Because, you see, fanfiction isn't such a new thing as we might think (especially the self-proclaimed Canon Police in various fandoms). Minamoto Yoshitsune, the famous tragic samurai hero and warlord of the 12th century, had a lot of fans in the last 900 years. There are stories and tales and plays and whatnot telling about his life or episodes from it - and they usually contradict each other.
Interestingly enough, you don't see any outrage in, say, the kabuki theatre, during a performance of the play "Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees" (which title, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with the actual plot of the play, but that's another matter entirely). People, who've probably grown up with the Heike monogatari, which describes in loving detail how the Taira generals drowned themselves dramatically and heroically, don't seem to have a problem with the same generals popping up in Yoshitsune's story, which gives a very weak explanation for their presence.
Apparently, for Eastern people, it's more important for the heroes to behave the way they supposed to, as well as the actual message of the play than such pesky details as the return of dead people. In our time, at the time of the big and ugly fandom wars, the Canon Police would have shredded the author of the play for violating canon. Japanese people who've been watching the play for centuries, don't seem to have a problem with canon violation. They simply enjoy seeing their favourite tragic hero acting the way he's supposed to.
It's a similar problem as the Western interpretation of the Bible. The parapbles of Jesus and the prophets are just that: parables. Oriental people know that and deal with them accordingly. Only the Western mind feels the need to pick them apart, try to find some "rational" explanation behind them, test them for historic accurence and the likes. And that's how the message gets lost and we have a shitload of idiotic rules that cripple our lives.
Yes, I know that the comparison is a little far-fetched. I find it amusing nonetheless.
otherworlds_lib. *hint, hint*Tis particular episode takes place in 12th century Japan, of which I've never known a thing before - well, save from a short mentioning in Carl Sagan's "Cosmos" series at the Battle of Dan-no-ura.
Anyway, I was doing the sort of internet research when you start with one keyword on Google and then walk from link to link in Wikipedia. What I found was very interesting - in many ways, but I only want to talk about the so-called in-canon writing.
Because, you see, fanfiction isn't such a new thing as we might think (especially the self-proclaimed Canon Police in various fandoms). Minamoto Yoshitsune, the famous tragic samurai hero and warlord of the 12th century, had a lot of fans in the last 900 years. There are stories and tales and plays and whatnot telling about his life or episodes from it - and they usually contradict each other.
Interestingly enough, you don't see any outrage in, say, the kabuki theatre, during a performance of the play "Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees" (which title, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with the actual plot of the play, but that's another matter entirely). People, who've probably grown up with the Heike monogatari, which describes in loving detail how the Taira generals drowned themselves dramatically and heroically, don't seem to have a problem with the same generals popping up in Yoshitsune's story, which gives a very weak explanation for their presence.
Apparently, for Eastern people, it's more important for the heroes to behave the way they supposed to, as well as the actual message of the play than such pesky details as the return of dead people. In our time, at the time of the big and ugly fandom wars, the Canon Police would have shredded the author of the play for violating canon. Japanese people who've been watching the play for centuries, don't seem to have a problem with canon violation. They simply enjoy seeing their favourite tragic hero acting the way he's supposed to.
It's a similar problem as the Western interpretation of the Bible. The parapbles of Jesus and the prophets are just that: parables. Oriental people know that and deal with them accordingly. Only the Western mind feels the need to pick them apart, try to find some "rational" explanation behind them, test them for historic accurence and the likes. And that's how the message gets lost and we have a shitload of idiotic rules that cripple our lives.
Yes, I know that the comparison is a little far-fetched. I find it amusing nonetheless.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-30 01:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-30 01:49 pm (UTC)Speaking of the unreliability of research: for example, one otherwise very thorough Wikipedia entry names Shizuka Gozen, Yoshitsune's mistress, his wife and the daughter of a Taira general. Another source, perhaps more reliable, names the daughter of the Taira general Kyo no Kimi. The Wiki entry calls Shizuka a shirabayoshi dancer and a prostitute, which, were she truly the daughter of a Taira minister, and considered worth giving as a wife to a victorious foe, she most likely wouldn't be.
Besides, as I understand it, shirabayoshi dancers, while often mistresses of high-ranking men, were not prostitutes. Prostitutes wouldn't be invited by the Emperor himself to dance in the court as part of a ceremony praying for rain.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-30 02:24 pm (UTC)Just do whatever works for your story!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-10-30 02:57 pm (UTC)