Crossed + One Hundred #9: "First Last"

[superboyprime]

'Through the eyes of one remarkable woman – a fan of ancient sci-fi (or “wishful fictions”, as she calls them) – we’re introduced to a world where the Crossed are almost non-existent (evil, after all, is just as good at destroying itself as it is at razing anything else). In this hand-to-mouth existence, the scattered “settles” of what was once Tennessee are facing a quiet cultural decision: to learn the lessons of the past, or to take their New Eden for granted.' - Si Spurrier

Comments

[baihu]

Am I suppose to be able to understand the Crossed-raised more than the civilized people? Gah, future-speak!

[rainspirit]

It's probably easier to acclimate to when you're not reading only a third of the issue each and every time.

...probably... >_>

[q99]

- – a fan of ancient sci-fi (or “wishful fictions”, as she calls them) -

One of my problems with the future speak- Terminology is changed even when it is based *directly* off of written stuff.

Heck, the commonness of writing should have slowed down the rate of lingual change way more than this.

Slang should be very common, but other bits of the language should be unchanged.

Skulling being common? Sure, makes sense.

Game of chest? Chess is *written down* in a million sources.

[wizardru]

I don't mind the slang nearly so much as the straight-up scale of it. Basic English structure has been massively tossed out and I'm not really sure why. I get that the infrastructure collapsed, but they clearly still have access to old tech and to written materials. The language should not have changed more than from Shakespeare's time to ours. The lingual tradition would have generally survived stronger than this.

I get what they're going for, but I think they oversell it a bit.

[bruinsfan]

I don't know, I can see a multi-generation run/fight for survival creating more of an interruption in schooling and consistency of language than we've had in 400 years of gradual societal development with frequent communication and travel outside small communities. Think about, for example, tumblrspeak if there *weren't* a larger society to reinforce vernacular English on the kids using it.

[q99]

Keep in mind, though, that this speak is apparently fairly wide spread.

A lot of these communities would also have been fairly isolated from each other but need to communicate with other similar ones, so a place that shifts too much would be brought back by need to trade and talk with others (groups that break off tend to have *less* mobile language, colonies usually have older forms than their base country).

Also keep in mind that they'd be using our books with our grammar. Every scholar here has to know how we do stuff.

They toss in some slang that has no reason to develop just for more slang- chest for chess.

[laughing_tree]

While I agree that the level of linguistic drift is unrealistic, it should be pointed out that the people of this world, as far as I can tell, did *not* have significant access to older writings for most of the past 100 years. That's a fairly new development, now that they're in the "rebuilding civilization" stage. The main character's job, as archivist, is specifically to explore the world to collect such things.

Likewise with the existence of communities and communication between them, which is at least relatively recent as far as developments go.

[q99]

... how?

Even if they just had random ones from log cabins and such, they'd have books. And writing as a skill would not have been lost, their parents and their parents parents would all write.

I mean, yes, there'd be tons of lost specific knowledge, but there'd always be *some* books around.

[laughing_tree]

Not no access to books. No significant access.

And I think you're underestimating the difficulty of even rudimentary language arts education when you're on the constant run on a planet overloaded with Crossed, as it would have been in earlier times, and you barely have any books to pass around or writing utensils. Sure, depending on where you're holing up, you could pick stuff up from a nearby abandoned home or whatever, but each time you do, you're putting yourself at risk, so is it really worth it?

[q99]

You don't need significant access, just some will provide a stabilizing effect, and most houses in the country have books.

And reading is so useful, and the fact that survives are pretty much by definition those who did a good job at avoiding the crossed, that while illiteracy would certainly rise, you'd still have some.

[laughing_tree]

Like I said, each time you go to one of those houses, you'd be putting yourself at risk. That might be necessary for essentials like food. For reading material, less so. And with so little reading material, the drive to learn to read diminishes, as will how much time those who can read will ever actually spend time reading.

Anyway, like I said earlier, I agree that the level of linguistic drift is unrealistic. I just wanted to clarify the nature of this world, to clarify that what we're seeing in the pages is a relatively recent stage for humanity, one proceeded by a long time of much greater desperation and scarcity, when every day was a fight for survival.

[q99]

I'm thinking, we still have written signs everywhere. When you go scavenging for food, you'll run into books just by chance. Etc..

[q99]

That's what I'm talking about too, the lingual shifts are too huge, especially with writing and recording not vanishing.