posted
Okay, I know I'm new here (and very new to OSC), but I can't figure out why OSC uses Russian a lot (or so it seems to me)--In Enchantment (the first OSC I read) and in the Homecoming series. I'm just curious (mostly because I have a deep love for the Russian language and people). Thanks for the insights I'm sure you all have!
Posts: 1 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I'm not sure if there is that much Russian stuff in the Homecoming books. I guess the main thing would be the nicknames. Both the way they are pronounced and the excessive usage of them. Were there patronymic titles also? I forget. Though with the marriage arrangements on Basilica that could get way confusing.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
He was blackmailed by one of the members here at Hatrack, who helped with the translation and made it into the credits. Or was that the other way around -- he had decided on the Russian stuff and got an offer of help from a Hatracker, who he then acknowledged in the book. I can't remember now.
As to why he did it -- there is simply no figuring the man out. Ya nyeh znayou. But he has said before that it's perhaps unrealistic to assume everything in the far future will be based on the U.S., so we see in his works Brazil and India and China and Japan and Russia and many other cultures continuing not only to exist but to thrive in his futures. Or maybe he feels guilty about I Put My Blue Genes On and makes up for it by having Russia produce good guys? Nah, doubt it....
posted
the language of Harmony was off of Rusian, you find that out in earthborn. I find it interesting how in the ender and shadow series OSC makes it seem like rusians are a bunch of thugs who no one really likes.
Posts: 11 | Registered: Jun 2003
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They are. That's not always a bad thing. Takes thugs to get things done. But I will say this, the Russian thugs are some of the most loyal, trustworthy thugs around.
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If my memory serves me correctly (which it often doesn't) Enchantment is actually a retelling of a Russian fairytale. ie: the use of Russian in the book.
Posts: 277 | Registered: Apr 2003
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posted
He was actually on a Russian kick when he started the Homecoming series, listening to Russian-teaching audiocassettes in the car, studying Russian books, etc. Card is never satisfied until he knows everything there is to know, so he's constantly finding new and seemingly-random things to study. And the things he learns typically end up in his next book.
Enchantment is Russian because the initial idea submitted to his production company was set in the Ukraine, and he liked that angle. It made the story unique, since Americans typically know nothing about authentic Russian folklore.
Posts: 2048 | Registered: Jul 2000
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posted
Don't forget JLcke that when Ender's Game was written (early 80's), a Russian/American friendship barely existed. So it was only natural to make the commies the thugs of the world and so it continued throughout the series.
Posts: 10 | Registered: Jun 2003
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