> > Joan Slonczewski in "A Door Into Ocean" has an interesting resolution for
> > dealing with infractions of the society's mores: "unspeaking"
>
> Didn't they undergo regular "self-criticism" sessions like those of the
> Chinese marxist revolution, where they criticised themselves and each
> other?
[ I don't think anything in here is really a spoiler... ]
Kind of. In _A Door Into Ocean_, the Sharers each take a self-name as
they become fully-adult members of society. The self-name is supposed
to be chosen from one's faults. One then tries to outlive the name.
For example, a person who perceives herself to be selfish might choose
"Selfish One". Of course, a number of potential questions are not
directly answered (I have my own answers, but I shan't foist them upon
you all ;-): Who decides when one has outlived her name? What is
done (if anything) for people who choose not to outlive their names?
What if one chooses not to take a self-name?
For a person to take part in a "Gathering" (a governing body that makes
all decisions by consensus), she must have taken a self-name.
Anyway, I find this model of society fascinating--I just wonder how
workable it really is.
-allen
--
Allen Briggs - end killing - briggs@macbsd.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu May 25 2000 - 19:06:33 PDT