Post on 06-May-2023
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Brigitte Le Juez
Olga Springer
Colm Kearns – 11211829
An Exploration of the Ideologically Progressive Potential of
the Fantasy Genre: The Subversion of Orientalism in Terry
Pratchett’s ‘City Watch’ Novels
A dissertation submitted to Dublin City University in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the degree of MA in Comparative Literature
Word Count: 12,972
School of Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies
August 21st 2012
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'I hereby certify that this material, which I now submit for assessment on the programme of study leading to the award of MA in Comparative Literature, is entirely my own work and has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that such work has been cited and acknowledged within the text of my work'.
Signed: _________________ Date: _________________
(Candidate)
Date: ___________________
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Table of Contents
Introduction 6
Chapter 1 11
Critical Review
Chapter 2 28
Jingo, Orientals and Hetero-Images
Chapter 3 43
The City Watch Trilogy, Heroes and Auto-Images
Conclusion 57
Bibliography 60
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Abstract
Colm Kearns - An Exploration of the Ideologically Progressive Potential of the
Fantasy Genre: The Subversion of Orientalism in Terry Pratchett’s ‘City
Watch’ Novels
This dissertation examines a number of novels by contemporary British author Terry
Pratchett with a view to arguing that the fantasy genre can produce ideologically
progressive texts. Arguments regarding the ideological potential of the genre are
examined with regard to this. Specifically, this dissertation contends that the novels
can be read as a subversion of Orientalist ideology. The relationship between the
fantasy genre and Orientalism is discussed. Cultural processes which support
Orientalism, such as the concept of myth and cultural stereotyping in general, are
also explored. Orientalism is argued to operate in a binary of exotic, occasionally
demonised Oriental hetero-image and idealised Western auto-image. This
dissertation asserts that the novels examined manage to subvert both sides of this
binary. Ultimately, it contends that the novels transcend the perceived limits of their
genre to subvert Orientalism and demonstrate fantasy’s ideological potential.
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank Dr Brigitte Le Juez, not only for the help and
support she has offered me as my Dissertation Supervisor, but also, as coordinator of
the Comparative Literature program, for an enjoyable and enlightening year.
Similarly, I would like to thank all of my classmates and lecturers, as well as the
students in the other SALIS MA courses, for the many interesting discussions and
enjoyable times we shared throughout the year. In particular, I am very grateful to
Laura Dooley for proof reading my Dissertation.
I would also like to thank my classmates and lecturers from my undergraduate
degree at IADT, without whom my participation in an MA course, let alone
completion of the Dissertation, would have been impossible.
Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family who provided me with support
and diversion from the task of writing the Dissertation when it threatened to
overwhelm me. Particular thanks is due to my dog, Milly, a beast of unsound mind
and limitless affection.
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Introduction
Broadly, this work will aim to explore Orientalism in fantasy. Specifically, it will
focus on four novels by bestselling fantasy author, Terry Pratchett, in an attempt to
argue that these texts function as subversion of Orientalist ideology. The novels
examined are Jingo (1997), Guards! Guards! (1989), Men At Arms (1993) and Feet
Of Clay (1996). In exploring how these texts undermine Orientalism, this work will
attempt to illustrate how fantasy texts can undermine reductive ideologies and, thus,
be deemed progressive. The subversion of Orientalist ideology in the core texts will
serve as an exploration of how fantasy texts can refute insidious ideologies which the
genre has previously propagated. In essence, this dissertation will advocate
Pratchett’s work as an example of progressive fantasy which illustrates the
ideological potential of the genre.
It is important to elaborate briefly on the meaning of the terms ‘progressive’ and
‘reductive’ within this work. Progressive ideology refers to any ideological stance
which admits its own subjectivity, and in so doing, advocates diversity, both cultural
and intellectual. Progressive texts refrain from homogenising entire cultures or
societies and encourage a more nuanced and open-minded approach to cultural or
social encounters. Reductive ideology attempts to limit perception of events. It
reduces cultures to stereotypes and ignores or conceals contextual influences. It
prescribes a narrow view of events and circumstances. It advocates homogeneity
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through claims to the objectivity of its own standpoint, which thus disavow any
alternative view.
With regard to the central analysis of the core texts of this dissertation, the precise
nature of the texts’ subversion of Orientalism varies. Jingo, one of the texts
examined, functions as a direct satire of Orientalist stereotypes of the Arab world,
while the other three texts feature slightly more oblique refutations of some of the
less progressive conventions of Western heroism. Regarded together, the analysis of
these texts will illustrate how thoroughly and imaginatively Pratchett utilises fantasy
to undermine Orientalist ideology. The specific elements of Orientalist discourse
which Pratchett subverts will be expanded upon within Chapters 2 and 3, but first it
is necessary to outline the theoretical framework and structure of this dissertation.
This study will examine Orientalism as a binary, with attention paid both to its
discursive construction of the Oriental and its symbiotic relationship with the West’s
conception of itself. The dualistic nature of Orientalism as an ideology was
elaborated on by Edward Said when he first addressed the concept in 1978. Said
argued that Orientalism was structured on a binary which lionised the West and
demonised the Orient. He posited that the main objective of his study was to probe
the effects of this ideological division of cultural perceptions.1 This work will
progress from this notion, namely, that Orientalism does not solely concern how the
West constructs the East, but also how the West constructs itself.
1 Edward Said, Orientalism (London: Penguin, 1995), p. 43.
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The field of imagology will therefore be a significant concern of this work.
Imagology is the study of national stereotypes, encompassing not only how a nation
is regarded internationally, but also how nations’ construct perceptions of themselves.
The binary constructed between a culture’s idealised view of itself and the negative
view of outsiders will be expounded upon using imagological tools. Imagology can
be viewed as a field of study which encapsulates Orientalism: the construction and
propagation of discourses which reduce perceptions of cultures to apparently
inherent stereotypical traits. This latter point, this notion of inherent traits, is
particularly pertinent to this work. Said wrote that the tendency to perceive Western
superiority over the Orient as a “scientific truth” is “at the centre of Orientalist
theory”.2 This work will be concerned with this notion of perceived “truth”; how it is
constructed and how Pratchett’s novels undermine it.
This notion of “truth” will be explored with reference to Roland Barthes’ writings on
myth. Barthes work is concerned with examining how ideology can be concealed
and rendered apparently natural or universal, rather than subjective or contextual. It
is on the insidious strength of myth that Orientalism flourishes. Myth transforms
Orientalist discourse into an apparently objective assessment of the Orient and the
West; apparently objective and, therefore, all the more difficult to dispute.
The relationship of myth and the fantasy genre will be another key aspect of this
dissertation. The definition of the term ‘fantasy’ will be expounded on in Chapter 1,
but in brief the term, as it is used in this work, refers to a genre which veers from the
2 Said, p. 46.
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realistic without resorting to rationalising. Fantasy presents concepts which are
strikingly different from the reader’s experience of reality, but nonetheless function
within the fictional reality of the text. Thus, fantasy is itself a variant of the
mythologizing discussed by Barthes, it presents the supernatural as natural, just as
myth renders the subjective seemingly objective. Fantasy’s history of mythologizing
and purveying Orientalist discourse will be explored within this work with a view to
questioning the progressive potential of the genre.
Chapter 1 will attempt to establish a thorough theoretical framework with which the
core texts can be assessed in the following chapters. It will expand on the concepts
mentioned within this introduction, detailing how they relate to each other and how
they function within the fantasy genre. A brief history of Orientalism within that
genre will be provided to help demonstrate the significance of Pratchett’s rejection of
Orientalist ideology. The purpose of this chapter will be to outline how Orientalism
functions through its symbiotic discourses on the Orient and the West, how it
flourishes through mythologizing these discourses, and how they have been
furthered by fantasy texts.
Chapter 2 will examine Jingo in detail, exploring the text’s awareness and rejection
of Orientalist tropes. It will aim to demonstrate the extent of Jingo’s Orientalist satire,
detailing how the text undermines and subverts the various negative connotations
attached to Arabs. The manner in which the text addresses the anxiety of characters
who are aware of Orientalism, but fear becoming complicit in it, will also be
examined. The relationship between the text’s ideological intent and its generic
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conventions will be another significant aspect of this chapter. It will argue that Jingo
manages to transcend the perceived limitations of its genre and employ fantasy
elements in a manner which supports its critique of Orientalism.
The third chapter of this dissertation will act as something of a companion piece to
the second. It will explore how Guards! Guards!, Men at Arms and Feet of Clay,
three novels which precede Jingo’s Orientalism satire, can be read as a subversion of
the West’s idealised image of itself. This chapter will outline how figures such as
monarchs and heroes are discursively constructed as reflecting and advocating a
culture’s ideal values. It will outline how these figures are used to mythologise these
values, and how the three texts examined highlight and critique this process of
mythologizing. Likewise, it will focus on how the texts illustrate the negative
consequences of defining a culture’s values through a single figure. Like Chapter 2,
it will pay attention to how the texts utilise key elements of the fantasy genre to
bolster their ideological arguments.
Ultimately, this dissertation is concerned with the achievement of the core texts in
refuting reductive ideology through a genre so often used to further it. It will detail
the construction of an ideology which relies on narrow-minded binary oppositions in
order to underline the importance of refuting such a belief system. It will outline how
this discourse has been bolstered by mythologizing and reproduced so often in an
effort to highlight the significance of texts which reject and undermine it. The
achievement of the core texts in subverting this insidious ideology will act as a
demonstration of the fantasy genre’s potential to champion progressive ideology
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Chapter 1: Critical Review
As previously mentioned in the Introduction, this chapter will outline the context in
which Terry Pratchett’s work will be explored in the succeeding chapters. Namely, it
will expand on the concept of fantasy literature, and explore the genre’s ideological
potential. This latter point will be examined with reference to Roland Barthes’
Mythologies, detailing how fantasy can depict situations and circumstances in which
ideology is naturalised within the fictional milieu of the text. The concepts of
imagology and Orientalism will then be illustrated to develop a framework from
which to address the traditionally problematic depiction of the Orient in the fantasy
genre. The counterpoint to the exotic, homogenised, and largely negative portrayal of
the Orient and its inhabitants will be outlined; the idealised western hero, whose
logical and honourable nature is depicted in stark contrast to the decadent and
volatile Oriental. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to illustrate the problematic binary
in which depictions of the Orient in fantasy so often operate, and outline the
significance and prevalence of this situation.
It is necessary to define the term ‘fantasy’, in terms of how it will be referred to in
this work. ‘Fantasy’ refers to a genre of literary and audio-visual mediums,
characterised by the presence of ‘fantastic’ elements. It is a genre which emerged
from the tradition of fairy tales and has subsequently been influenced by, and
adapted, elements of ancient mythology and religion. In her essay ‘On the Origins of
Modern Fantasy’, Michelle Eilers defines fantasy as “a post-Enlightenment prose
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fiction genre composed of narratives in which an extranatural power plays a
fundamental role and that aims to create an illusion of reality”.3 Allowing for Eilers’
definition to cater for film, in addition to prose, renders it applicable to this work. It
is a genre whose distinguishing features are those which distance it from our
experience of reality – magic, fantastic or mythical creatures, incredible natural
occurrences – but that nonetheless attempts to create a certain degree of
verisimilitude in terms of narrative structure. The plot often follows a linear
chronology and despite the disparities between the fantasy world and reality, the
consequences of actions are always understandable and often realistic, within the
milieu established by the text. Succinctly, the fantasy genre presents the impossible
as if it were possible by depicting fantastic elements in a coherent narrative.
Fredric Jameson speculates as to the ideological potential of the genre in his essay
Radical Fantasy. Jameson argues that fantasy’s ability to purvey radical, rather than
reductive, ideology is hindered by its reliance on “a mythology of good and evil”,
which he claims is “incompatible with history.”4 He claims that, by operating under
such a simplistic binary, the genre cannot adequately address or critique
contemporary social and cultural relations. His attitude with regards to what
constitutes a radical work is primarily a Marxist one but, broadly, his essay sets itself
in opposition to the propagation of reductive ideology. He advocates texts which
question reductive ideology and challenge dominant perceptions, a standard he feels
fantasy has largely failed to reach. He asserts that the pre-modern, medieval settings
so prevalent in fantasy, render it largely ahistorical. Its setting becomes universalised
3 Michelle Eilers, ‘On the Origins of Modern Fantasy’, Extrapolation, 4, 41, 2000, p.317.
4 Fredric Jameson, ‘Radical Fantasy,’ Historical Materialism, 4, Vol. 10, 2002, p. 274.
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and, thus, it cannot depict the historical conditions and progressions which shape
social and cultural relations. Ultimately, Jameson views fantasy as “a celebration of
human creative power and freedom which becomes idealistic only by virtue of the
omission of precisely those material and historical constraints.”5
However, he
concludes by asserting that, although fantasy is necessarily ahistorical, its
uninhibited exercise of imagination can potentially express radical ideology:
Whether such fantasy can be any more politically radicalising than any other cultural
forms (or indeed than literature and culture generally) is not only a question of the
immediate situation, it is also one of consciousness-raising as well – or in other
words an awareness of the possibilities and potentialities of the form itself.6
Jameson’s argument that fantasy’s radical potential lies in self-awareness serves as a
significant counterpoint to the assertions of Joshua David Bellin. In his book,
Framing Monsters: Fantasy Films and Social Alienation, Bellin argues that fantasy
films “play a vital role in circulating and validating pernicious cultural beliefs
embedded in specific social settings.”7 Although Bellin’s book focuses on fantasy
films, the criticisms he expresses could potentially be applied to texts in other
mediums. His arguments are based on the genre’s seemingly ahistorical nature, as
outlined above by Jameson; he claims that this endows fantasy texts with a quality of
apparent ideological neutrality which renders the ideological content all the more
potent. Under this guise of neutrality, ideology can be conveyed without the viewer
or reader becoming aware of its presence, and they are therefore unlikely to directly
challenge or dispute it. Bellin writes that texts “associated with otherworldliness,
innocence or spectacle, are denied a historical genesis or function”, and asserts that
5 Jameson, p. 278.
6 Ibid., p. 280.
7 Joshua David Bellin, Framing Monsters: Fantasy Film and Social Alienation (Southern Illinois
Press, 2005), p. 3.
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this perceived otherworldly innocence “is fundamental to [the texts’] social power”.8
Bellin concludes his book with the assertion that fantasy films are unlikely to
function as purveyors of radical, or even progressive ideology while society itself
remains unjust. Thus, Bellin seems to eliminate the possibility that society and its
artistic output operate in a symbiotic relationship, that both influence one another.
Instead, he views fantasy films as merely reproducing and propagating the dominant
ideology of their contemporary society. Examples he cites include King Kong (1933),
which he claims “manifests the threat of black male sexual predation”, but escapes
critical scrutiny for its racism as “critics emphasize the racial angle’s ephemeral
nature in contrast to the film’s universal […] significance.”9 Likewise, he claims the
trilogy of Sinbad films featuring the work of animator Ray Harryhausen, serve to
support contemporary US foreign policy with regard to the Middle East.10
While Bellin’s view contrasts with Jameson’s, who argues for the possibility of
radical or progressive fantasy texts, it is notable that both share similar views with
regard to fantasy’s potential to purvey reductive ideology. Jameson’s assertion that
the ahistorical contexts of fantasy texts preclude a possible critique of contemporary
society is echoed by Bellin’s claim that fantasy’s perceived lack of historicity
naturalises its ideological content. Likewise, the prevalent good-evil binary which
Jameson laments, functions to make the text’s depiction of morality appear neutral
and essential. This in itself is only possible, if that morality is based on the society
from which the book emerged, and thus, does not jar with the reader’s sensibilities.
Significantly, Jameson argues that heightened awareness of fantasy’s possibilities
8 Bellin, p. 5.
9 Ibid., p. 22.
10 Ibid., p 71-105.
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may lead to the emergence of more radical ideological content in the genre. He cites
Ursula Le Guin’s depiction of magic as an example of this consciousness of
fantasy’s potentials. He claims that in Le Guin’s work “the very nature of magic
itself becomes a whole literary programme for representation” and functions “as a
kind of figurative mapping of the active and productive subjectivity”.11
Le Guin,
according to Jameson, uses fantasy conventions to interrogate readers’ perceptions
rather than bolster them. This interrogative, questioning approach could potentially
decrease the possibility of a text’s ideological content being regarded as natural or
neutral. Both Bellin and Jameson view fantasy’s potential to naturalise its ideology
as the genre’s most significant feature. They lament fantasy’s propensity to conceal
its ideological content and, thus, render it unlikely to be challenged by the reader or
viewer.
The crucial difference between naturalising ideology and merely purveying it is
addressed by Roland Barthes in his Mythologies. Barthes describes the process of
mythologizing, of rendering a text’s ideological content apparently neutral and
essential. He argues that myth depoliticises texts; it “purifies them, it makes them
innocent, it gives them a natural and eternal justification, it gives them a clarity
which is not that of an explanation but that of a statement of fact.”12
Thus, myth at
once disguises and emphasises a text’s ideology, rendering it an inarguable fact
rather than a debatable opinion. The purveyance of mythologised ideology is
therefore a significantly insidious process. Notably, given Jameson and Bellin’s
arguments regarding fantasy’s seemingly ahistorical nature, Barthes asserts that
11
Jameson, p. 279. 12
Roland Barthes, Mythologies (New York: Noonday Press, 1972), p. 143.
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“myth is constituted by the loss of the historical quality of things”.13
This historical
quality provides the context from which the text emerged, and thus, the
contemporary socio-cultural factors which shaped its ideology. With regard to this, it
is evident that the largely ahistorical fantasy genre seems especially suited to
mythologizing the ideology of its texts.
National stereotypes, as outlined in the field of imagology, represent a significant
example of mythologised ideology. Stereotypes function to homogenise the group
they purport to represent; they reduce the perception of them to a relatively small
collection of distinct characteristics. In Imagology: The Cultural Construction and
Literary Representation of National Characters, Manfred Beller argues that
stereotypes arise from our tendency to form selective, rigid perceptions of groups,
and thrive on our unwillingness to acknowledge the subjectivity of these perceptions.
He writes; “Our images of foreign countries, peoples and cultures mainly derive
from selective value judgements (which are in turn derived from selective
observation)”.14
He describes these stereotypes as hetero-images. These selective
representations are strengthened and propagated through reproduction in literary and
artistic mediums; “Once textually codified, the partial representation will represent
the whole.”15
This process is a form of mythologizing; subjective ideology is
perceived as objective truth through textual representation. Beller is anxious to
convey the significance of these stereotypes, asserting that “Stereotyped
13
Barthes, p. 142. 14
Manfred Beller, ‘Introduction’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary
Representation of National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Manfred Beller and Joep Leerssen,
(Rodopi, 2007), p. 5. 15
Ibid., p. 5.
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representations are the seedbed of prejudices”.16
The proliferation of these
mythologised subjective perceptions is thus, not merely insidious, but also reductive.
It limits perception of events and cultures and so, undermines the potential for
understanding or even tolerance.
In addition to exploring the stereotypes constructed of foreign cultures and peoples,
imagology also aims to examine how we construct an image of ourselves and our
own culture; our auto-image. It examines the self-other binary, from the context of
specific cultural encounters, as Beller outlines “selective perception results from
suppressed tension between self-image and the image of the other.”17
The perception
of the self-image, or auto-image, can vary significantly depending on context or even
individual author, but this work is mainly concerned with the idealised auto-image.
The auto-image, the national self-perception, is supported by its contrast with the
hetero-image: “self-valorization highlighted by representing other peoples
negatively.”18
Thus, in these circumstances, both auto-image and hetero-image
function within a symbiotic relationship, the perceived negative traits of the latter are
employed to emphasise the imagined strengths of the former. Just as the stereotyped
hetero-image is mythologised; rendered constant and irrefutable, so too is the auto-
image. The perceived positives of the self, and the self’s culture, are constructed as
inherent and inevitable by the same texts which further prejudiced perceptions of
foreign cultures. Within this chapter it will be demonstrated how the fantasy texts
which exoticise or demonise the Orient, also function to valorise the West.
16
Manfred Beller, ‘Introduction’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary
Representation of National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p. 5. 17
Ibid., p. 4. 18
Ibid., p. 6.
18
Peter Hoppenbrauwers describes how the medieval era saw the mythologisation of
the idealised auto-image become reinforced by religion. The rulers of many
European nations claimed that their nation alone represented “God’s chosen people”,
and they reiterated that claim by adopting quasi-religious titles for themselves.19
This
link with the apparently eternal truths of Christianity further endowed the supposed
values of the auto-image with a veneer of truth and naturalness. Accordingly, it was
necessary to denigrate the religions of the cultures which occupied the role of the
hetero-image. The views and practises of these religions which differed from
Christianity, were used to support the perceived cultural gulf between the auto-
images and hetero-images. Within the context of conflicts between European nations,
this manifested itself in efforts to dispute the authenticity of the opposing nation’s
practise of Christianity. In this manner, their claims to the seemingly inherent
positive traits of Christianity were undermined. When the role of hetero-image was
occupied by a non-European, non-Christian culture, their religion itself was
demonised, and thus employed to represent evidence of the inherent negativity of the
hetero-image.
Hoppenbrauwers argues that the values represented by nation and religion were
embodied in the monarch, whose authority and occasional triumphs reiterated the
strengths of the nation. Historical shifts towards republics and constitutional
monarchies diminished the sovereign’s role as the embodiment of the nation’s values.
19
Peter Hoppenbrauwers, ‘Medieval Peoples Imagined’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction
and Literary Representation of National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p.
51.
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It can be argued that this role shifted towards the figure of the hero; a fictional or
mythical character who served as a less problematic icon than a fallible monarch.
Raul Calzoni writes that the hero functions as “an embodiment of a society’s
political and moral ideals.”20
If, as Beller argues, stereotypes are strengthened
through textual reproduction and representation, then the hero’s replacement of the
monarch as national icon is facilitated by historical circumstance. The decline of the
system of absolute monarchies roughly corresponds with the development of
improved printing technologies and the emergence of other forms of media. The hero,
previously a nebulous figure conveyed through oral folk tales, thus becomes subject
to regulation and censorship. The hero therefore becomes a viable vehicle for state-
approved values, and for the propagation of prevalent forms of auto-image.
Calzoni argues that in the contemporary age, “the hero has lost some of its
fascination”21
, but here he writes specifically of semi-mythic, quasi-historical heroes.
The contemporary age has seen the wholly fictional hero continue to thrive as an
ideological tool. Joep Leerssen writes of the “ironic turn” undergone in the depiction
of national characterisation in the postmodern era; he claims that there is now a
“multi-leveled playfulness” about their depiction. However, he warns that “if they
are used half-jokingly, they are also used half-seriously”, and asserts that this has
contributed to “a revival of nationally stereotyped characterisations.”22
The fictional
hero and fictional texts in general, seemingly less significant than real figures or
events, are ideally suited to conveying ideology in the insidiously flippant
20
Raul Calzoni, ‘The Hero’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of
National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p. 332. 21
Ibid., p. 332. 22
Joep Leerssen, ‘National Character 1500-2000’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and
Literary Representation of National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen p. 75.
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postmodern cultural climate. Texts can now present ideology through degrees of
“multi-leveled playfulness”, it is no longer concealed, but apparently too jokingly
presented to warrant any challenge. Interestingly, this situation is similar to Bellin’s
assertions that, when the ideological content of fantasy films is referenced, it is often
considered subordinate to the texts’ aesthetics and supposedly universal elements
and, thus, unworthy of debate. The genre of fantasy, at a further remove from the
real world, would appear to be all the more suited to conveying the idealised auto-
image without arousing argument.
The field of imagology provides a suitable framework from which to examine one of
the central concerns of this work: the depiction of the Orient, the West, and the
relationship between the two, in fantasy literature. In his seminal work, Orientalism,
Edward Said argues that the West’s dominant perception of the Orient is a stereotype
of its own making; “The Orient was almost a European invention […] a place of
romance, exotic beings, haunting memories and landscapes, remarkable
experiences.”23
Thus, the textual reproductions of this perception are crucial to its
prominence. It is also significant that the dominant hetero-image of the Orient is a
notably exotic one. Exoticism lends itself readily to depiction in the fantasy genre, in
which the extraordinary and the astounding are focused on. Said himself notices this
correlation between Orientalism and fantasy; he remarks that “The European
imagination was nourished extensively from this repertoire [of Orientalist
representations]” which included “monsters, devils, heroes; terrors, pleasures,
desires”.24
This statement is similar to Jameson’s assertion that fantasy functions as
23
Said, p. 1. 24
Said, p. 63.
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an exercise and celebration of the imagination.25
Under Orientalism the Orient
functions as a projection of Western fantasies, fuelling the imagination in a manner
the seemingly rational West cannot. Therefore, if exoticism is a key element of
Orientalism, then fantasy is arguably the most suitable vehicle for Orientalist
ideology.
Consequently, it is necessary to examine the traditional depictions of the Orient
within the fantasy genre. The earliest modern examples occur in the Victorian
subgenre of ‘lost world’ fiction. In this subgenre, the expansion of colonial powers is
represented by the explorer protagonist’s attempts to progress through, and
sometimes tame or conquer, the wild, exotic ‘lost worlds’ of Africa and Asia. A
prominent example would be H. Rider Haggard’s She (1887) which depicts the
British duo of Holly and Leo discovering a hitherto unknown city, ruled by an
immortal enchantress, in an unspecified part of Africa. A particularly significant
aspect of this subgenre is that the fantasy elements of the narrative are situated firmly
within the non-European, Orientalised world. The fantastic elements depicted within
the ‘lost world’ often come as a surprise to the European protagonists who generally
hail from a seemingly realistically represented contemporary setting. Said argues that
Orientalist discourse establishes a binary in which the Oriental is irrational, exotic
and violent, while the westerner is logical and coolheaded: “[westerners] are (in no
particular order) rational, peaceful, liberal, logical, capable of holding real values,
without natural suspicion; [Arabs] are none of these things.”26
‘Lost world’ fantasy
reflects in its disparity between the realistic, relatable Westerners and the dangerous,
25
Jameson, p. 278. 26
Said, p. 49.
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fantastical Oriental culture. The ‘lost world’ concept not only exoticises the Orient,
but also dehistoricises it, representing it as a region completely separated from the
outside world. Madhudaya Sinha notes the implications of She fulfilling this function:
“the Africa of She may be seen not just as complimentary to, but as an integral
component of, the cultural apparatus of British Imperialism”.27
Thus, there is much
significance in this exoticised, ahistorical depiction of the Orient, Ella Shohat argues
as much; claiming the result of this method of representation is that “the Orient,
rendered as devoid of any historical or narrative role, becomes the object of study
and spectacle.”28
The tendency to divorce the Orient from history, and reduce it to a fantastic spectacle
continued after the colonial era. Writing about fantasy cinema’s representations of
the Orient, L. Carl Brown notes how the Orient has often been depicted as having
“little or no impact on what Americans [see] as the ‘real world’”.29
Recent prominent
examples of this school of representation include Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Doom (1984) and The Mummy (1999). In these texts the Orient serves its ‘lost world’
function; providing a springboard into the world of fantasy and danger for the
Western protagonist. These texts may be more self-aware than previous examples,
but they nonetheless propagate the same exoticised depiction of the Orient that
featured in texts from earlier eras. They comply with Leerssen’s assertion that
national stereotypes continue to function in a conscious, “half-joking” form. The
Orient remains largely detached from the protagonist’s realistic world, thus serving
27
Madhudaya Sinha, ‘Triangular Erotics: The Politics of Masculinity, Imperialism and Big Game
Hunting in H. Rider Haggard’s She’, Critical Survey, 3, 20, 2008, p. 29. 28
Ella Shohat, qtd in Bellin, p. 76. 29
L. Carl Brown qtd. In Bellin, p. 76.
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as a mere exotic diversion to reality. If, as Bellin argues, fantasy’s ideological
strength lies in its quality of otherworldly innocence, then its most significant effect
in the texts discussed is to reduce the Orient to such a state. The Orient is denied
agency in its reduction to fantasy.
However, though the Orient may be rendered ahistorical and fantastical, it is because
of the perceived threat it poses in reality that it is neutered through exoticism in
fiction. The economic and political conflicts between the Orient and the West are
simplified on the ideological field of the fantasy genre. The Orient’s strengths are
depicted as outside the field in which the Western protagonist operates. Leerssen
description of the tropes and characteristics most often associated with Arabs is
significant in this regard; “polygamy, harems and eunuchs, sensuousness and cruelty
[…] pre-modern, suave, dignified, sensuous and ruthless.”30
While the Orient may be
depicted as a place of wealth and power, these traits manifest themselves in ways
which cannot be equated with the liberal, logical West. Polygamy and eunuchs may
offend or titillate Western sensibilities, but, such is their association with the pre-
modern that they do not threaten Western political power. Thus, Orientalist fantasy
functions to ideologically contain or reduce any apparent economic or political threat
posed by the region to the West. This influences the perception of the Orient in the
West, and therefore limits its agency to define its identity and desires.
The depiction of Oriental religion is a notable aspect of this process. Said asserts that
“the European representation of the Muslim, Ottoman, or Arab was always a way of
30
Joep Leerssen, ‘Arabs’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of
National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p. 95.
24
controlling the redoubtable Orient”,31
and therefore, there were consistent efforts to
“make it clear to Muslims that Islam was just a misguided version of Christianity.”32
The consistency of these efforts infers that Islam has remained a source of frustration
and potential danger for Christian Westerners. Said addresses attempts in the middle-
ages to portray Arabia as a land of decadent heretics, while C.S. Lewis’ The Last
Battle (1956) demonstrates the trend continuing into the fantasy literature of the
twentieth century. The Last Battle is the final book of Lewis’ enduringly popular
Narnia series. It largely focuses on the conflict between the native Narnians and the
invading Calormenes, the latter are depicted similarly to traditional perceptions of
Arabs in dress and appearance. They attempt to convert the Narnians to their religion
– centred around Tash, a multi-armed, bird-headed God – by presenting an imposter
in the guise of the Narnian’s deity figure, Aslan. Critical consensus has long held
that “Lewis’ Narnia stories are Christian allegories” in which Aslan serves to
represent Christ.33
There is therefore much significance in the depiction of a quasi-
Christian religion being suppressed by Arabesque invaders. The climax of the book
sees the real Aslan triumph over the imposters and heretics. The Calormenes worship
of Tash is depicted as insincere and opportunistic; Lewis describes their leader as
losing his courage “when he first began to suspect there might be a real Tash.”34
Notably, while at least one Calormene is depicted in a positive manner, his good
deeds are appropriated by Aslan, and thus Christianity, who claims: “I take to me the
services thou hast done to [Tash] […] if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath
for oath’s sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not.”35
31
Said, p. 60 32
Ibid., p. 61 33
Murray Knowles and Kirsten Malmkjaer, Language and Control in Children’s Literature (London:
Routledge, 1996), p. 249-255. 34
C.S. Lewis, The Last Battle (London: Diamond Books, 1996), p. 125. 35
Lewis, p. 155.
25
Through use of the fantasy allegories of Aslan and the Calormenes, The Last Battle
reduces Islam to a “misguided version of Christianity.” Hoppenbrauwers’ arguments
concerning religion’s role in supporting a culture’s mythologised auto-image is
significant in this regard. Aslan’s triumph over Tash and appropriation of his
followers symbolises the legitimacy and authenticity of the Christian West, while
undermining the Muslim Orient.
Similarly Alan Nadel views Disney’s Aladdin (1992) as an attempt to ideologically
contain a region the US regarded as politically incomprehensible. Nadel describes
how “vague and protean the Muslim Middle East is to Americans”, and asserts that
Aladdin is the product of a long running effort to impose a readily understandable
good-evil binary on the region.36
This argument echoes Jameson’s assertion that
fantasy is suited to reiterating the dominant ideology because of its reliance on a
simplistic ‘mythology of good and evil.’ Nadel cites contemporary concerns about
the nuclear capabilities of Arab nations as manifesting themselves in the fantastical
and simplistic conflict between good and evil in the film. By reducing this threat to
an exotic adventure constructed for Western consumption, Aladdin ideologically
simplifies Middle Eastern politics for Western audiences. As Nadel argues; “Aladdin
plays out these problems in a way that asserts the immense destructive potential of a
nuclear-armed Muslim Middle East […] as forms of performance within the
spectacle of Western entertainment”.37
Notably, it is through one of the film’s most
prominent fantasy elements, the power of the genie, that this ‘destructive potential’
36
Alan Nadel, ‘A Whole New (Disney) World Order’, in Visions of The East: Orientalism in Film, ed.
Matthew Bernstein and Gaylyn Studlar (London: I.B. Taurus, 1997), p. 187. 37
Ibid., p. 187-188.
26
can be symbolised. In this case, as in others, fantasy is employed to simplify and
contain the perception of the Orient; to ideologically manage and manipulate it.
Correspondingly, Orientalist fantasy maintains a long tradition of mythologizing the
idealised qualities of the West through contrast with the Orient. During the
emergence of ‘Lost World’ fantasy during the Victorian era, the auto-image of the
colonising British emphasised “physical stalwartness and nimble willpower”.38
This
was depicted in sharp contrast with the ‘savage’ Africans and ‘decadent’ Arabs. The
depictions of the encounters between the West and the Orient in Orientalist fantasy
texts bolster Beller’s assertion that a culture’s auto-image is valorised through
negatively depicting other culture’s negatively. This is clearly the case in She, where,
as Sinha notes, Holly and Leo “establish control over the natural landscape by both
appropriating knowledge and hunting down the wild ‘essence’, thus taming and
humbling the vast African landscape.”39
The protagonists exert control over the land
in a manner the natives cannot. Similarly, Bellin argues that the titular hero of The
Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1974) is depicted as a “’Western hero – a partisan, as it
were, of the ‘free’ world rather than a pawn of Eastern superstition or despotism”.40
His exercise of ‘nimble willpower’ contrasts with the resignation of the other
characters to the will of Allah. In both texts, significant points arise with regard to
authority and power. In She, Holly and Leo’s interference leads to the end of
Ayesha’s rule over the Kingdom of Kor, while Golden Voyage ends with Sinbad
rejecting the kingship offered to him through prophecy. The former undermines the
38
Joep Leerssen, ‘England’, Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of
National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p. 148. 39
Sinha, p. 33. 40
Bellin, p. 97.
27
authority of the Orient, while the latter asserts the West’s ‘natural’ leadership
position. Thus, there continues a long tradition in fantasy of not merely containing
and undermining the Orient, but of asserting the West’s superiority to it.
It is apparent that there exists both the potential for, and tradition of, the fantasy
genre purveying Orientalist stereotypes. The significance of this point should not be
underestimated, as fantasy’s potential to mythologise its ideological content allows
prejudices to flourish and go unchallenged. The following chapter will explore Terry
Pratchett’s Jingo as a response to this Orientalist tradition of the fantasy genre. It
will examine how he responds to the tropes and conventions employed to
mythologise this stereotyped perception of the Orient and the West. It will be argued
that Jingo is an example of fantasy conventions being utilised to undermine
Orientalism, rather than support it, and thus demonstrate the progressive potential of
fantasy.
28
Chapter 2: Jingo, Orientals and Hetero-Images
This chapter will examine Terry Pratchett’s work in detail, focusing on his 1997
novel, Jingo. It will be chiefly concerned with demonstrating how Jingo can be read
as a response to the tradition of Orientalism in fantasy. Jingo’s subversion of notable
Orientalist tropes will be illustrated and expounded upon. The significance of its
awareness of its genre and use of the genre’s conventions and expectations will be
explored. Indeed, Pratchett’s awareness of these conventions and of his own role as a
fantasy writer, will be examined with a view to illustrating their significance. In light
of Jameson’s arguments concerning radically self-aware fantasy and Beller and
Leerssen’s assertions about the reductive nature of cultural stereotypes, Pratchett’s
nuanced critique of Orientalism will be argued to be particularly noteworthy.
To begin with, it is necessary to offer some information regarding Pratchett’s
Discworld novels, some of which will be the primary texts of this work. Pratchett
initially created the Discworld to serve as the setting for his parodies of fantasy
literature clichés. However, as Pratchett’s work progressed from genre parody to
social satire, he constructed elements of the Discworld which functioned as broad
allegories of real life cultures. The city of Ankh-Morpork, the setting of the texts
addressed in this work, serves as Pratchett’s representation of Western, urban
29
society.41
The continent of Klatch reflects elements of Africa and the Arab world in
terms of culture and myth, while the nation of Klatch has a more distinctly Arabian
culture. This quality of ‘Arabian-ness’ is constructed through the depiction of
recognisable parallels between Klatch and the Arab world with regard to
terminology, appearance and fantasy tropes. Jingo depicts a war between Klatch and
Ankh-Morpork breaking out due to both nations’ claims to the recently resurfaced
island of Leshp.
As was outlined in the previous chapter, fantasy is a genre with a history of, and
indeed, a capacity for, furthering Orientalist discourse. Even removing the question
of ideological intent from the matter, it is possible that the genre will continue to
propagate Orientalism indefinitely, through use of its established tropes and
conventions. Joep Leerssen asserts that Aristotle’s dramatic principles, which
stressed consistency and the necessity of making the work easily understandable to
the audience, facilitated the furthering of stereotypes. Under these principles
stereotypes flourish as functional dramatic devices. Thus, with regard to fantasy,
Orientalist tropes continue to be employed because of their dramatic function;
Orientalist ideology is therefore furthered while remaining an ostensibly secondary
concern. Orientalist convention acts as a self-perpetuating literary device; its
previous uses ensuring future use.
41
Terry Pratchett and Paul Kidby, The Art of the Discworld (Victor Gollancz, London, 2004), p. 7-9:
Pratchett claims Ankh-Morpork was initially “just the stock Medieval European City”, but later
developed elements of “eighteenth-century London, nineteenth-century Seattle and twentieth-century
New York”.
30
Indeed, Pratchett’s earlier work can be viewed as an example of this process. In
Sourcery (1988) he makes use of a number of Orientalist clichés, chiefly derived
from Arabian Nights. Although he employs these tropes in a satirical manner, it is
their narrative conventions, rather than the ideology behind them, that he mocks.
Thus, the clichés of the treacherous Grand Vizier and decadent Sultan play upon the
readers’ generic expectation; they are satirised for their apparent ubiquity within
Oriental fantasy settings. One of the characters ponders that “There must be a school
somewhere” for Grand Viziers which instructs them in ruthless ambition, but the
ideology behind this recurring perception is not probed.42
Pratchett mocks the
repetition of ruthless and decadent Oriental ruler figures, but ultimately propagates it
himself, albeit in an overtly humorous manner. His satirising of Orientalist clichés in
Sourcery could be argued to comply with Leerssen’s assertion of cultural stereotypes
flourishing through irony in the modern era.43
Pratchett’s failure to address the
ideology behind the stereotypes he employs “half-jokingly” in Sourcery means that
they also function “half-seriously”; reiterating regressive ideology, albeit in a
parodic fashion. However, Sourcery’s parody of Orientalist clichés does demonstrate
that Pratchett’s fantasy possesses a quality of self-awareness. According to Fredric
Jameson, this quality is crucial to the production of a progressive or radical fantasy
text.
Jameson argues that to break from this cycle of reiterating dominant ideology,
fantasy authors must establish “an awareness of the possibilities and potentialities of
42
Terry Pratchett, Sourcery (London: Corgi, 1989) p. 129. 43
Joep Leerssen, ‘National Character 1500-2000’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and
Literary Representation of National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen p. 75.
31
the form itself.”44
Fantasy authors must therefore refrain from adhering to dramatic
convention for its own sake, and opt instead to make imaginative use of the genre’s
tropes. It could be argued that what Jameson prescribes is the knowing subversion of
the tradition, rather than the blind following of it. However, while Jameson asserts
that fantasy should be free of any constraints save those of the imagination, there
remains the genre’s tradition of proliferating Orientalism. Jameson’s hypothetical
radical fantasy may ignore all that constrained the genre before, but a more
progressive approach is to confront these constraints in light of the self-awareness
and imaginative capacities he champions. Jingo is particularly significant in this
regard, as is not only subverts Orientalist discourse, but does so in a manner which
references and satirises the ways in which this discourse had previously been
employed within the fantasy genre. Jingo serves as a work of imagination which
does not eschew the largely regressive tradition from which it emerged, but instead,
addresses it in a progressive fashion.
As outlined above, Klatch is broadly Arabic in depiction, and the xenophobia
aroused against it in Jingo bears striking similarities with Orientalist stereotypes
concerning Arab culture. Leerssen’s assertion that Arabs are often viewed as pre-
modern in the West is borne out with regard to the predominant Morporkian view of
Klatch. Sergeant Colon claims that “’You can probably live like a king for a year on
a dollar, in Klatch.’”45
This presumption of economic superiority implies that Colon
believes the Klatchian grasp of economy is particularly primitive. Colon later
reiterates the Orientalist stereotype of the amoral, lustful Arab when he complains of
44
Jameson, p. 280. 45
Terry Pratchett, Jingo (London: Corgi, 1998), p. 110.
32
Klatchians’ polygamy.46
The belief in the inability of Arabs to hold real values,
which Said described, is demonstrated in Jingo by repeated assertions of Klatchians’
propensity for thievery. Elsewhere in the text, the Klatchian envoy Prince Khufurah
tells Commander Vimes that “’some of your fellow citizens feel that just because my
people invented advanced mathematics and all-day camping we are complete
barbarians who’d try to buy their wives at the drop of, shall we say, a turban.’”47
This statement is particularly significant as it implies a humorous awareness of
Orientalist clichés by the subject of the discourse.
Conscious of the Orientalist discourse so often reiterated in his genre, Pratchett
demonstrates a willingness to subvert and satirise the contradictions inherent in this
discourse. This is particularly evident in the The New Discworld Companion, an
encyclopaedia of sorts for his Discworld novels. The Companion outlines the
incongruities regarding Ankh-Morpork’s predominant view of Klatch: "Klatchians
are regarded as being at one and the same time incredibly cunning and irredeemably
stupid, bone-idle and deviously industrious, highly cultured and obstinately
backward…”48
These ideological contradictions are satirised throughout Jingo.
Colon claims that the Klatchians are cowards who will flee once they “taste a bit of
cold steel,” before going on to condemn their bloodthirsty nature. The irony is not
lost on his subordinate Corporal Nobbs, who pointedly asks “You mean, like… they
viciously attack you while running away after tasting cold steel?”49
Similarly, Ankh-
Morpork military leader, Lord Rust, denounces the Klatchians for their supposed
46
Jingo, p. 188. 47
Ibid., p. 77. 48
Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, The New Discworld Companion (London: Victor Gollancz,
2003), p. 235. 49
Jingo, p. 42.
33
cowardice, but maintains that they are the finest soldiers in the world “when led by
white officers.”50
When claims are made as to the technological or moral superiority
of Ankh-Morpork over Klatch, examples are soon raised which undermine these
assumptions.
This strategy illustrates the irreconcilable disparity between the motivations and
manifestation of Orientalism. As was outlined in the previous chapter, Orientalism
functions to neuter the threat posed by the Orient by rendering it ahistorical,
exoticised and, ultimately, inferior to the practical, capable West. However, this
function arises precisely because of a perceived political or economic threat that the
Orient is seen to pose to the West. Matthew Bernstein argues that Orientalism arouse
from the perceived threat of the Ottoman Empire to the West, and he claims the
discourse “served to control and domesticate such a fearful yet fascinating
prospect.”51
In Jingo it is made abundantly clear that Klatch poses a serious military
threat to Ankh-Morpork, possessing superior weapons and a better trained army, thus
the Morporkians attempt to compensate for this threat by ideologically reducing it.
Pratchett satirises the contradictions apparent in their efforts to illustrate the fallacies
of Orientalism as an ideological strategy.
A notable, but relatively subtle aspect of Jingo’s subversion of Orientalist clichés is
the text’s undermining of perceptions of a homogenous Arab world. In his
assessment of stereotypes concerning Arabs, Joep Leerssen notes the vagueness of
50
Jingo, p. 360. 51
Matthew Bernstein, ‘Introduction’, in Visions of The East: Orientalism in Film, ed. Bernstein and
Studlar, p. 3.
34
the term; how it is applied indiscriminately to many culturally diverse groups within
the Arab world.52
In the Companion, Pratchett describes a similar tendency regarding
Klatch: “It has to be said that the words ‘Klatch’ and ‘Klatchian’ are used by the
people of the Sto Plains as practically interchangeable with ‘foreign’”.53
This
attitude is in evidence in Jingo, when Ankh-Morpork goes to war with the nation of
Klatch, despite the latter consisting of a large and diverse empire, many Morporkians
discuss the ‘Klatchians’ in a very general sense. The comically ignorant Sergeant
Colon tells Corporal Nobbs that “’o’ course, they’re not the same colour as what we
are.’”54
Later, Lord Vetinari will inform them both that “’People within the
Klatchian hegemony come in every shape and colour.’”55
Elsewhere in the novel,
attempts are made to demonstrate the diversity of Klatchian culture; two Klatchian
settlers in Ankh-Morpork argue with each other, because of cultural and religious
differences.56
Likewise, the Klatchian leader, Prince Cadram is described as having
significant difficulty in bringing the D’regs, a nomadic desert people, within the fold
of his empire, a conflict which demonstrates that Klatch is far from culturally or
politically homogenous.57
While Jingo, centring as it does on the Ankh-Morpork
City Watch, does not allow itself the scope to focus on what might be deemed the
Klatchian point of view, it is notable that what it does depict of Klatch is a diverse
and complex empire which undermines perceptions of a homogenous Orient.
52
Joep Leerssen, ‘Arabs’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of
National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p. 94. 53
The New Discworld Companion, p. 234. 54
Jingo, p. 40. 55
Ibid., p. 278. 56
Ibid., p. 160. 57
Ibid., p. 276.
35
That Jingo primarily focuses on Morporkian characters, rather than Klatchians, is of
particular significance. In doing so, it centres on the West, rather than the Orient. In
previous Discworld novels Pratchett had not been adverse to focusing on characters
beyond the broadly European Sto Plains. Although the City Watch are prominent,
recurring characters within the Discworld novels, there was little beyond generic
convention to prevent him from introducing a Klatchian protagonist to feature with
them in Jingo. Pratchett’s decision not to do so could be read as being influenced by
his consciousness of his position as a Western author attempting to address the issue
of Orientalism. Said argues that: “It is Europe that articulates the Orient.”58
Although
the potentials of fantasy literature allow Pratchett to invent and articulate his own
Orient, he may be wary of indulging in the tradition of Orientalist fantasy.
This anxiety is certainly reflected in the mindset of the text’s protagonist, City Watch
Commander Vimes. Vimes is frustrated by the jingoistic attitude of the city’s
aristocracy and the prejudices it arouses in the populace. As a prominent official, he
is anxious to remain even-handed and not succumb to the Orientalist xenophobia
concerning Klatchians. When Klatchian settler, Mr. Wazir repeatedly accuses Vimes
of imprisoning a fellow Klatchian he had placed under protection, he is unsure of
how to react. He reassures himself that “there is no reason why a Klatchian couldn’t
be a pompous little troublemaker”, but feels “uneasy about it, like a man edging
along the side of a very deep crevasse.”59
After this encounter, Vimes rues his lack
of knowledge of Klatch, a sentiment that is misunderstood by Sergeant Colon: “’I
wish we understood more about Klatch’ […] ‘Know the enemy, eh, sir?’ […] ‘Oh, I
58
Said, p. 57. 59
Jingo, p. 158.
36
know the enemy,’ said Vimes. ‘It’s Klatchians I want to find out about.’”60
The
encounter with Mr. Wazir and the subsequent exchange with Colon demonstrate not
only Vimes’ rejection of Orientalist discourse, but also his wariness of becoming
complicit in it. Michael Richardson articulates an anxiety concerning the seemingly
all-encompassing nature of Said’s definition of Orientalism. He notes that, by Said’s
logic, “the object cannot challenge the subject [Orientalist discourse] by developing
alternative models” of conceptualising the Orient.61
Through Vimes Pratchett depicts
this anxiety and its consequences.
Vimes’ wariness of becoming implicit in Orientalist discourse even leads him to
suspect Morporkians over Klatchians in a conspiracy regarding an attempt to trigger
a war between the two nations. Klatchian policeman 71-Hour Ahmed rebukes him
for the lengths he will go to in order to reject the dominant Orientalist ideology:
“Truly treat all men equally. Allow Klatchians the right to be scheming bastards”.62
This retort is particularly notable as it demonstrates an Oriental responding to
Orientalism, a reaction Richardson deemed particularly difficult if the discourse
functioned as Said described. Pratchett depicts his Oriental characters with the
agency to be aware of, and act against, the discourse which defines Oriental
characters in other fantasy texts.
Vimes’ anxiety and Ahmed’s awareness of Orientalism is articulated in further detail
during a conversation between the two men near the novel’s climax. Vimes has
60
Jingo, p. 161. 61
Michael Richardson, ‘Enough Said’, in Orientalism: A Reader, ed. By A. L. Macfie (Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, 2000), p. 211. 62
Jingo, p. 342.
37
discovered that Ahmed, whom he previously regarded as an inscrutable thug, is a
policeman like himself. Ahmed admits to subterfuge, asserting “Always be a bit
foreign wherever you are, because everyone knows foreigners are a little bit
stupid.”63
Vimes is insulted that Ahmed presumes that he was as prejudiced as other
Ankh-Morpork officials, but despite this lack of prejudice, he still disapproves of
Ahmed’s violent policing methods. This attitude is not lost on Ahmed who
comments: “You think I am an educated barbarian?” He then goes on to outline how
the differences between their respective methods arise from the disparate
environments in which they work.64
This serves to undermine Orientalist claims that
the cultural differences between the West and the Orient are inherent, rather than
arising out of historical and political context. The conversation also makes it
apparent that, although Vimes is the novel’s protagonist, his views are not idealised
or mythologised. He is fallible, subject to being subsumed into the pervasive
ideological climate of Orientalism, despite his consciousness of it. Said notes the
power of myth to further Orientalist discourse, writing that “myth displaces life”, it
denies the Arab agency.65
Pratchett does not use his protagonist to mythologise
ideology, to present problems “already analysed and solved”,66
instead he depicts
him in a continuous learning process which subverts Orientalism’s essentialist
claims.
63
Jingo, p. 339. 64
Ibid., p. 344. 65
Said, p. 312. 66
Ibid., p. 312.
38
Said referred to Orientalism as the product of “imaginative geography”,67
that a
response to it should utilise a literal ‘imaginative geography’; a fantasy world, is
notable. As was outlined in the previous chapter, fantasy may be a particularly
suitable vehicle for Orientalism, but Jingo serves to illustrate its potential to refute
and subvert this ideology. It is of particular significance that the subversion of
Orientalist discourse in Jingo is facilitated by the fantasy elements of the text.
Fantasy, the “celebration of human creative power”68
allows Pratchett to construct
his own fictional world onto which he can project a conflict between the ‘Orient’ and
the ‘West.’ The freedom of being able to construct his own cultural and political
circumstances gives Pratchett the ability to critique Orientalism in a notably nuanced
manner. Pratchett can depict Orientalist discourse in many different forms, rather
than be confined to a variant of the discourse specific to a particular cultural or
historical context.
Significantly, the effectiveness of Jingo’s critique of Orientalism arises from how the
text transcends the limitations Jameson claims fantasy function under. While
undoubtedly influenced by its author’s own view of morality, Jingo possesses no
central “mythology of good and evil.”69
Myles Balfe notes the significance of
fantasy’s moral binary, he argued that it was often imposed onto international
conflicts within fantasy texts: “These evil nations are usually ‘Other’, and located in
realms where the Evil inhabitants are swarthily vile, unlike the good guys who tend
67
Said, p. 59. 68
Jameson, p. 278. 69
Ibid., p. 274.
39
to be white in appearance.”70
The war between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch is
depicted as a political power struggle over ownership of a newly resurfaced island.
The conflict is motivated by greed and nationalism; neither side is portrayed as being
inherently ‘right’ or ‘good.’ As a consequence, the world depicted in Jingo, and
indeed, in the other Discworld novels, is not completely “incompatible with history.”
The Discworld is not the “moralised neo-medieval Europe”71
which Balfe claims is
the predominant setting for fantasy literature. Pratchett’s own sense of morality
certainly plays a part in his texts, but it does not have a direct relationship with the
Discworld’s culture or geography. After a city council meeting in which Ankh-
Morpork nobles urge war with Klatch, Vimes tells Lord Vetinari “’You see sir’, […]
‘I can’t help but think over there in Klatch a bunch of idiots are doing the same
thing’”.72
His assessment articulates the view that the conflict between Ankh-
Morpork and Klatch arises from a cultural climate of jingoistic nationalism. Their
conflict is the clash of an emerging empire, Klatch, and a diminishing but self-
important military power, Ankh-Morpork. It is a clash arising from the Discworld’s
fictional historical context, rather than an ahistorical moral crusade.
Jameson claims that fantasy texts are often mired in their own ahistorical, quasi-
medieval setting and thus “the pre-modern world alone exists, and therefore it cannot
be defined as pre-modern.”73
Jingo subverts this apparent limitation, it references the
fictional history of the Discworld to support its own narrative. Several references are
made throughout the text to General Tacitus, a Morporkian general who conquered
70
Myles Balfe, ‘Incredible Geographies? Orientalism and Genre Fantasy’, in Social & Cultural
Geography, 1, 5, 2004, p. 78. 71
Ibid., p. 78. 72
Jingo, p. 35. 73
Jameson, p. 274.
40
most of Klatch hundreds of years before the text’s main narrative.74
Tactitus’ deeds
enrich Discworld’s fictional history and, thus, support the notion that the conflict in
Jingo has arisen from historical and cultural context.
Indeed, throughout Jingo, there are several references to the social and technological
upheaval and advancements that Klatch is undergoing, an element of the text which
further illustrates its aversion of fantasy’s ahistorical conventions. Inventor Leonard
of Quirm praises Klatchian technological innovation of the recent past before
exclaiming: “I would be astonished if they hadn’t made considerable progress!”75
The afore-mentioned attempt by Prince Cadram to extend his dominion over the
D’Regs is part of his plans to modernise Klatch, which are discussed by different
characters at various points in the text. It is evident that Klatch has progressed
significantly from being the mere exoticised setting for Arabian Nights motifs that
was depicted in Sourcery. This portrayal of historical advancement also acts to refute
the stereotype of the ahistorical Orient. Said argues that “Arabs are presented in the
imagery of the stoic, almost ideal types, and neither as creatures with a potential in
process of being realised nor as history being made.”76
Jingo depicts an Oriental
culture in the process of significant social change, rather than a stagnant or
ahistorical nation.
A further aspect of the text which rejects the perception of the ‘stoic Arab’ is its
depiction of Klatchian emigrants living in Ankh-Morpork. The Klatchians’ position
74
Jingo, p. 204. 75
Ibid., p. 100. 76
Said, p. 321.
41
in the city as an ethnic minority earning money through sale of their own local wares
and cuisine parallels that of the Asian community in Britain. The parallel is
particularly emphasised through references to Klatchian curry, korma and vindaloo.
Pratchett depicts the immigrant community as conflicted; caught between
attachments to both Klatch and Ankh-Morpork. Their confliction is personified in
the figure of Janil, the adolescent son of Mr Goriff, the owner of a Klatchian
restaurant in Ankh-Morpork. Janil’s family are forced to return to Klatch after
suffering xenophobic attacks due to the outbreak of the war. Janil has no desire to
return to Klatch77
, but his anger over the racism his family suffers means he cannot
truly consider himself part of Ankh-Morpork either. That Jingo can depict both
colonial, militaristic Orientalism espoused by Rust and Colon, and the more modern
problems of the Oriental settler in the West is due to its own nebulous historical
setting. The creative freedom afforded to Pratchett by writing within the fantasy
genre allows him to portray a cultural context in which he can depict varied and
nuanced examples of Orientalism.
Although Jingo may not be the most overtly fantastic of Pratchett’s Discworld
novels, it nonetheless utilises its fantasy elements to subvert and parody Orientalist
discourse. In doing so, it functions as a progressive response to the tradition of
Orientalist fantasy detailed in the previous chapter. The imaginative freedom
afforded by the fantasy genre allows Pratchett to construct a nuanced critique of
Orientalism which can transcend temporal and social settings. Jingo subverts the
Orientalist discourse of the colonial era and the newer discourses which have
emerged in the modern era of multi-cultural and multi-ethnic communities. The next
77
Jingo, p. 182.
42
chapter of this work will examine how Pratchett employs similar techniques in his
subversion of the idealised auto-image which forms the other half of the Orientalist
binary.
43
Chapter 3: The City Watch Trilogy, Heroes and Auto-Images
This chapter will examine the other aspect of the Orientalist binary; the idealised
Western auto-image. It will focus on how this auto-image is subverted in three of
Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms and Feet Of
Clay.78
These three novels precede Jingo in Pratchett’s City Watch series, and while
they do not present as direct a critique of Orientalism as Jingo does, they nonetheless
undermine a key element of Orientalist ideology. This chapter will explore how all
three texts depict the perceived role of the monarch as a culture’s idealised auto-
image, and how they demonstrate the fallacies of this perception. It will outline how
this constructed ideal works in conjunction with such binary ideologies as
Orientalism, bolstered by the discourses it forms around its supposed opposite. The
three primary texts analysed in this chapter may not set this ideal in opposition to the
hetero-image of the Oriental, but they present it as similar to the auto-image which
recurs in Orientalist texts; the rational, intelligent Westerner. It will be argued that
their subversion of the idealised Western auto-image functions as a key element in
the critique of Orientalism.
Firstly, it is necessary to examine the role of the monarch regarding a culture’s
perception of itself. As has been previously discussed in the first chapter of this work,
in pre-Renaissance Europe, the monarch was viewed as the embodiment of the ideals
78
Collectively referred to in this work as the City Watch Trilogy. Footnoted references are to an
omnibus text of the same name which contains all three novels.
44
which supposedly characterised the nation. The monarch’s role as idealised auto-
image was then succeeded by the fictional hero. Notably, all three texts in the City
Watch Trilogy depict a situation in which perceptions of the two have overlapped,
re-enforcing the ideological potency of the idealised monarch figure.
Technologically and socially, Ankh-Morpork, the setting of all three texts, is
somewhat similar to pre-modern European societies, albeit with many fantasy
elements. However, it is described as having gone without a monarchy for several
centuries. Thus, the monarchy has taken on a semi-mythic quality among many
characters in the text and the figure of the monarch has been conflated with that of
the folk hero.
This is evident at the beginning of Guards! Guards! in which the text’s antagonist
attempts to convince his cohorts to join him in a plot to restore the monarchy. The
group discuss the possibility of a lost heir to the throne revealing himself in a manner
similar to the events of a folk tale. Rising from apparently humble origins, marrying
a princess and saving the kingdom are viewed as essential elements of his rise to
power. The link to fiction is made almost explicit when one of the characters asserts
that such things “Happen all the time. You read about it.”79
This discussion
demonstrates how the ideological potency of the ideal of the monarchy is magnified
because of its links to fiction. It has become mythologised because of its absence.
Barthes addresses this process, noting the tendency to perceive notions considered
romantic or artistic as being divorced from the ideologies which permeate mundane
79
Terry Pratchett, City Watch Trilogy (London: Victor Gollancz, 1999), p. 9.
45
reality.80
The Ankh-Morpork monarchy is regarded in this manner, it is perceived as
a romantic ideal, rather than a subjective political ideology.
As has been previously outlined, Barthes claims that the process of mythologizing is
“constituted by the loss of the historical quality of things”.81
Guards! Guards!
depicts a scenario in which the monarchy has become detached from its historical
and political context, and has been elevated to the status of a mythic ideal. Barthes
asserts that “Mythical speech is made of a material which has already been worked
on so as to make it suitable for communication”.82
Thus, the folk tale conventions
with which perception of the monarchy has become synonymous within the text
renders it an all the more effective vessel for Ankh-Morpork’s idealised auto-image.
The hero and the king have become conflated, history has been subsumed into myth,
a circumstance which bolsters the potency of the idealised auto-image.
Joep Leerssen emphasises the role of the hero in a culture’s perception of itself, he
asserts that heroes display “superhuman traits which elevated him close to divinity
and made him an embodiment of a society’s political and moral ideals.”83
The
function of the hero is therefore significant with regard to Orientalism. Orientalism is
a binary ideology; its depictions of an exotic, pre-modern Orient exist in a symbiotic
relationship with perceptions of a rational, civilised West. Said outlines this binary at
the beginning of Orientalism: “the Orient has helped define Europe (or the West) as
80
Barthes, p. 81. 81
Barthes, p. 142. 82
Ibid., p. 144. 83
Joep Leerssen, ‘Heroes’, in Imagology: The Cultural Construction and Literary Representation of
National Characters - A Critical Survey, ed. By Beller and Leerssen, p. 332.
46
its contrasting image, idea personality, experience.”84
The hero thus functions to
mythologise this binary; to render the positive attributes of the West, or a particular
Western culture, inherent and unchangeable. In an essay addressing Pratchett’s
depiction of heroes, Gideon Haberkorn elaborates on the ideological significance of
the hero-king figure:
He steps into a rank he was meant for, was in fact born for. This is, very importantly, not a
democratic tale of hard work being rewarded by social mobility. Instead, it is the tale of the
misplaced monarch being found and reinstalled. The hero is no self-made man. He is a born
king.85
The conflation of hero and king depicted in the City Watch trilogy bolsters
Orientalist ideology by idealising the traits of the Western culture which is framed in
opposition to the Orient.
Guards! Guards! depicts this ideology at work through the antagonist’s attempts to
enthuse his fellow conspirators about restoring the monarchy. After they have voiced
their dissatisfaction with various, petty elements of their lives, he assures them that a
king would remedy their grievances. Notably, he frames this in terms of a ‘natural
order’:
’I think,’ said the Supreme Grand Master, tweaking things a little, ‘that a wise king would
only, as it were, outlaw showy coaches for the undeserving.’
There was a thoughtful pause in the conversation as the assembled Brethren mentally
divided the universe into the deserving and the undeserving, and put themselves on the
appropriate side.86
84
Said, p. 1-2. 85
Gideon Haberkorn, ‘Cultural Palimpsests: Terry Pratchett’s New Fantasy Heroes,’ in Wilson Web,
Journal of Fantastic in the Arts, 3, 18, (2008).
Unfortunately the only copy of this article I could access, on the H.W. Wilson online database, could
not provide me with page numbers. 86
Terry Pratchett, City Watch Trilogy (London: Victor Gollancz, 1999), p. 11.
47
Men At Arms further demonstrates the ideological role of the hero-king idealised
auto-image. Deranged aristocrat Edward D’Eath is obsessed with restoring the
monarchy, feeling that it will halt the decline he feels Ankh-Morpork is suffering
from. His assertion that “It was never meant to be like this […]. It shouldn’t have
been like this”87
infers that he feels a perceived ‘natural order’ has been subverted by
the dissolution of the monarchy. The recurring perception that the return of the
monarchy will restore a natural order or impose objective justice serves to
demonstrate how the figure of the king-hero can so effectively mythologise ideology.
It effectively increases consciousness of Ankh-Morpork’s idealised auto-image,
while disguising its subjectivity. Characters see their own aspirations reflected in the
hero-king, but perceive them as fixed, objective ideals.
The City Watch Trilogy also depicts how reductive these perceived ideals are by
demonstrating how they function purely in opposition to a perceived other. While the
binary depicted is not strictly of an Orientalist nature, the Trilogy’s subversion
centres around undermining the notion of an idealised cultural auto-image
continually under threat from, and yet defined by its contrast with, outside forces. In
doing so, it functions to efface the binary which supports Orientalist ideology. As
Said himself attests, Orientalism is as much concerned with “express[ing] the
strength of the West” as it is “the weakness of the Orient.”88
The Trilogy depicts a
perception of this ‘strength’ which is based on notions of purity and opposition. It
portrays a binary ideal defined by that which it considers itself simultaneously
superior to and threatened by. Said argues that Orientalism is supported by such a
87
City Watch Trilogy, p. 256. 88
Said, p. 45.
48
binary, which stresses “the importance of the distinction between some men and
some other men, usually not towards especially admirable ends.”89
These undesirable
ends are depicted in Men At Arms, which sees a party of nobles equate Ankh-
Morpork’s auto-image of hero-king with xenophobia, asserting that the city
“certainly didn’t open the gates to whatever riff-raff was capable of walking through”
during the halcyon era of the monarchy.90
Similarly, the antagonist of Feet of Clay expresses his distaste at the prospect of the
heir to the throne, believed to be the Watch’s Captain Carrot, siring children with a
Werewolf. Commander Vimes sarcastically compares his attitude to that of an
animal breeder: “All the wrong people are getting to the top […] it really messes up
the breeding program.”91
In this manner it becomes apparent that Ankh-Morpork’s
idealised auto-image is based on exclusion, and thus, is prone to be employed to
such negative ends as propagating Orientalist ideology, as demonstrated in Jingo.
As has been outlined above, despite their subversion of the Western idealised auto-
image, the books comprising the City Watch Trilogy are not direct critiques of
Orientalism. There is therefore particular significance in the manner in which the
auto-image is subverted. Its ideologically narrow and xenophobic nature is
highlighted through reaction to the increasing number of fantasy races living in
Ankh-Morpork. The influx of Dwarves, Trolls and various varieties of undead
creatures into the city is, similarly to the Klatchian community in Jingo, depicted in
89
Said., p. 45. 90
City Watch Trilogy, p. 329. 91
Ibid., p. 743.
49
the manner of modern immigration. The various fantasy races establish their own
respective communities within the city and thrive by providing services which arise
from their specific cultures. Despite this, their presence in the city is regarded with
hostility by certain characters, and a significant element of the Trilogy concerns the
Watch’s efforts to promote peaceful coexistence and equality. This is particularly
evident in Men At Arms when Carrot exclaims “’We’re the City Watch […]. That
doesn’t mean just that part of the city who happens to be over four feet tall and made
out of flesh!’”92
The Trilogy refrains from either idealising or demonising these non-human races, but
it certainly champions equality through its protagonists, which include Dwarves,
Trolls and Werewolves. The ability of these non-human races to coexist and thrive
within the city serves to undermine an auto-image which relies on “the importance of
the distinction between some men and some other men”.93
Jameson claims that
radical fantasy must be aware “of the possibilities and potentialities of the form
itself.”94
Pratchett demonstrates this awareness employing fantasy tropes to
emphasise the fallacy of binary ideologies such as Orientalism.
With regard to Jameson, it is also notable that the integration of these fantasy races
into the social milieu of Ankh-Morpork serves to illustrate historical progression
within the Discworld. As has been previously detailed in Chapter 1, Jameson cited
the ahistorical nature of most fantasy texts as a key factor in inhibiting the genre’s
92
City Watch Trilogy, p. 317. 93
Said, p. 87. 94
Jameson, p. 280.
50
potential for presenting radical or progressive ideologies. In Men At Arms the
immigration of substantial numbers of various fantasy races to the city is portrayed
as a relatively recent development; as the Watch must recruit one Troll, Dwarf and
Werewolf as part of an affirmative action initiative. Set an unspecified amount of
months afterwards, Feet of Clay portrays the Watch as a large, multi-species
organisation. The book focuses on the discrimination suffered by Golems, and to a
lesser extent, the undead, while Dwarves and Trolls have been largely accepted by
most of the city’s populace. The Trilogy’s depiction of the changing perception of
fantasy races within the city displays how the limitations of fantasy lamented by
Jameson can be transcended. The fantasy elements of the Trilogy bolster its
subversion of the idealised auto-image, illustrating its negative qualities in a
particularly vivid manner.
Feet of Clay features a particularly notable example of how fantasy tropes can
function to subvert reductive ideology. The text depicts Golems, automatons derived
from Jewish mythology, attempting to liberate themselves from their state of slavery
by creating a king Golem from their own clay. The king Golem is described as
looking “like humans wished they could look” and wears a crown as part of its “very
design”.95
It is evident from his idealised design and the Golems’ aspirations for him
that the king Golem represents the hero-king auto-image. The Golems create him to
personify their aspirations and ideals, but the text demonstrates the fallacies of
rendering a culture’s values rigid by investing them within a single figure. The king
Golem is driven mad by his inability to match his creators’ manifold expectations.
By the end of the novel, the Golem Dorfl is freed and resolves to buy the freedom of
95
City Watch Trilogy, p. 723.
51
his fellow Golems with his earnings from his new job in the Watch. Rather than
submitting his will to the king, Dorfl actively encourages debate by the end of the
novel.96
Thus, the text contrasts liberty with the hero-king auto-image. This idealised
figure is depicted as reductive and ultimately harmful; Dorfl’s state of enlightened
self-reliance is endorsed as a viable alternative.
This viable alternative functions to refute myth. It represents the championing of
debate over unquestioning acceptance. The significance of myth with regard to the
hero-king auto-image was discussed above, however it is pertinent to explore the
implications of the universalising qualities of myth, and how they are subverted in
the Trilogy. Barthes argues that myth functions to universalise ideology, to conceal
its emergence from a particular socio-political context. Gideon Haberkorn asserts
that the process of mythologizing is evident in the discursive construction of heroes.
He writes that heroes “embody and defend a society's most important values”, but
later notes how hero narratives suggest “global problems can be solved by the right
person singlehandedly”.97
Thus, myth functions to elevate a society’s heroic auto-
image to a universal ideal. Writing broadly within the conventions of the fantasy
genre, the City Watch Trilogy features hero protagonists, but Pratchett manages to
depict them in such a manner that they do not compromise his subversion of the
idealised, mythic auto-image.
Sam Vimes, the most prominent of the Trilogy’s protagonists, is a pertinent example
of how Pratchett’s heroes resist mythologizing. Vimes is depicted as being notably
96
City Watch Trilogy, p. 751: “I Would Like To Discuss […] I Would Enjoy Disputation.” 97
Haberkorn.
52
suspicious of attempts to conceal subjectivity through myth. His conversation with
Corporal Littlebottom underlines this in a humorous manner:
’Well… they say…’
‘Who say?’
‘They, sir. You know, they.’
‘The same people who’re the ‘everyone’ in ‘everyone knows’? The same people who live in
‘the community’?
‘Yes, sir. I suppose so, sir.’
He is particularly cynical with regard to the monarchy, offended by the idea that a
man can be deemed naturally superior to others. Despite this belief, he becomes a
member of the aristocracy through his marriage to Lady Sybil Ramkin. His
continued ill feeling towards nobility despite his own position is repeatedly
referenced throughout the Trilogy. This can be read as an acknowledgement of the
complexities of his function as a fantasy hero in texts which work to subvert the
homogeneity and mythologizing such heroes traditionally represent. The most
evident acknowledgement of Vimes’ unusual role occurs during a conversation with
Lord Vetinari who tells him; “Commander, I always used to consider that you had a
definite anti-authoritarian streak in you […]. It seems you have managed to retain
this even though you are authority […]. That’s practically Zen.”98
This anti-
authoritarianism comes to the fore when he converses with fellow nobles at a society
party, ostensibly agreeing with their prejudices against Trolls and Dwarves, while
actually pointing out its contradictions.99
Vimes thus occupies a nebulous role both
within the narrative, as a noble who undermines the auto-image the nobility models
its identity on, and on a meta-fictional level, as a fantasy protagonist who subverts
the conventions of fantasy heroism. The complexities of his role demonstrate how
98
City Watch Trilogy p. 748. 99
Ibid., p. 331: “that’s what’s so damn annoying, isn’t it? The way they can be so incapable of
rational thought and so bloody shrewd at the same time.”
53
Pratchett negotiates fantasy conventions to his own end, employing them to subvert
reductive ideology, despite their previous ideological connotations.
Pratchett’s awareness of the ideological consequences of the hero narrative is in
evidence in the conclusion of Guards! Guards! which features Lord Vetinari
offering a surprised Vimes a reward for the Watch’s part in saving the city from a
dragon. Vetinari rebuffs Vimes’ surprise by telling him that “After every triumphant
victory there must be heroes […]. It’s all part of the natural order of things”.100
Significantly, the dragon had been summoned by conspirators hoping to manufacture
its defeat at the hands of their pawn, rendering him a hero to the public and, thus, a
viable candidate for kingship. When this plan fails, the dragon itself assumes power.
Though the beast’s ascension to the throne is initially greeted with fear by the
citizens of Ankh-Morpork, they quickly attempt to convince themselves of the
positive aspects of having a dragon as monarch.101
Guards! Guards! demonstrates
Pratchett’s understanding of the constructed nature and ideological potency of the
hero, or hero-king, figure. The text emphasises that, although heroes may seem a
narrative inevitability, they are nonetheless a subjective social construct, rather than
a universal phenomenon.
The character of Captain Carrot is a particularly complex case with regard to the
Trilogy’s subversion of fantasy hero conventions. It is strongly hinted throughout the
Trilogy that he is the true heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork. He appears to embody
ideal values; courage, charisma, kindness and moral strength. He is described as
100
City Watch Trilogy, p. 240. 101
Ibid., p. 171: “a dragon as king mightn’t be a bad idea’ […]. It definitely looked very gracious”.
54
“genuinely, almost supernaturally likeable.”102
Featuring as a prominent protagonist
in all three texts, particularly Men at Arms, it would appear that Carrot functions as
Pratchett’s idealised auto-image. However, Carrot ultimately serves to subvert the
conventions of the auto-image, undermining the notion that it should function as an
apparently universal, mythic ideal. Gideon Haberkorn argues along these lines, he
claims that “Carrot, who is the heir apparent, is constantly involved in narratives
which negotiate questions of kingship, and he constantly subverts the tradition,
simply by remaining hidden.”103
This is particularly evident at the end of Men at
Arms when Carrot refuses commandership of the Watch in favour of Vimes:
Because… people should do things because an officer tells them. They shouldn’t do
it just because Corporal Carrot says so. Just because Corporal Carrot is… good at
being obeyed.’ Carrot’s face was carefully blank.104
Here, Carrot demonstrates an awareness of his potential to serve as the city’s hero-
king auto-image, but rejects it in favour of championing the law. Theoretically, the
law serves, rather than subjugates the people. The law is created by society, whereas
“the hero embodies part of the social unconscious to tell society what's on its
mind.”105
By opting to function as part of a society, rather than defining that society, Carrot
indirectly acknowledges the subjectivity of that society’s ideals and his own role in
promoting them. The Orientalist binary, as has been detailed above, serves to
discursively divide the world into the positive West and the negative Orient. The
binary functions to universalise Western ideals, it renders any alternative or variety
apparently undesirable and inferior. The role of a watchman limits Carrot’s
102
City Watch Trilogy, p 263. 103
Haberkorn. 104
City Watch Trilogy, p. 506. 105
Haberkorn.
55
authorities and responsibilities to Ankh-Morpork. Whereas a king operates on the
international stage, a watchman is concerned with upholding the law of his
jurisdiction. Indeed, in Men at Arms Carrot points out that the word policeman
derives from a term meaning ‘man of the city.’ The Watch’s afore-mentioned
burgeoning multi-species staff is also significant in this regard. By operating within
an organisation which advocates cultural plurality, rather than serving as a fixed
ideal himself, Carrot subverts the perception that a culture’s auto-image can embody
or define objective positive traits. Haberkorn argues that this attitude recurs
throughout Pratchett’s Discworld series. Pratchett’s work, he claims, demonstrates
the belief that:
heroes can no longer be organs of society and embody part of the collective social
unconscious and tell society what is on its mind, nor can they serve as models for the
development of individuality. They can only be relevant to a section of society.106
Ultimately, Pratchett’s City Watch Trilogy can be read as a nuanced and vivid
subversion of the concept of the idealised auto-image which supports the Orientalist
binary. The Trilogy manages to use its fantasy elements to further this subversion,
while also transcending the perceived limits of the genre. The freedom afforded by a
fantasy setting such as Ankh-Morpork allows the Trilogy to explore the how the
hero-king discourse is constructed and propagated. Similarly, the fantasy genre
grants the scope to depict a variety of different sentient species living within the city,
the very presence of which demonstrates the fallacies of the discourse. The Trilogy
manages to be uninhibited by the genre’s convention of hero protagonists, it utilises
them in a manner which undermines the notion of a homogenous heroic auto-image.
Regarded together in this light, the three texts act as a refutation of attempts to
106
Haberkorn.
56
naturalise and universalise subjective values within a single figure. Thus, they
undermine the Orientalist binary which relies on the notion of inherent Western
superiority and affirm the ideologically progressive potential of fantasy.
57
Conclusion
It becomes evident through contrast of the first chapter of this work with the latter
two, that fantasy texts can transcend their limitations to purvey progressive ideology.
Despite the genre’s suitability for, and history of, conveying mythologised ideology,
it can serve to undermine myth and the regressive ideologies it supports. The binary
established by Orientalist ideology is a particularly significant example of a
regressive ideology which has been furthered by fantasy texts partly because of their
unquestioning adherence to their own conventions. Exotic foreign settings and hero-
kings help further the hetero-images and auto-images constructed by Orientalist
ideology while concealing this consequence. They appear to be merely operating
within the genre’s perceived natural parameters.
Pratchett’s work vindicates Jameson’s belief that radical fantasy can flourish when
the genre becomes aware of its own possibilities. The four core texts of this
dissertation demonstrate this awareness, they are fantasy-literate fantasy. The satire
of Orientalist clichés in Jingo and the subversion of expectations concerning Carrot
in the Trilogy display an awareness of the potentially ideologically problematic
nature of some of the genre’s conventions. Haberkorn claims that “By activating
patterns and connections we already possess, fiction may help us deepen our
understanding of our beliefs. It may also encourage us to create new connections
between beliefs that seemed unrelated before, and we may be led to consider or
58
reconsider our ways of categorizing experience.”107
Through its awareness of the
fantasy tropes so familiar to its readers, Pratchett’s writing demonstrates an
awareness of their ideological ramifications. It is through such awareness that the
connections Haberkorn mentions are forged and myth is thus subverted.
Barthes aligns myth with the propagation of regressive and negative ideology, he
claims it is the language of “the oppressor”.108
Myth supports reductive cultural
stereotypes, such as Orientalism. Thus, to undermine myth is to be progressive, to
advocate pluralism and therefore subvert homogenous ideologies such as
Orientalism. The most significant point emerging from this dissertation is the
assertion that popular fantasy texts can achieve this. To achieve this refutation of
regressive ideology ultimately becomes a matter of awareness of the genre’s
possibilities and perceived limitations. Regarded together, the core texts of this
dissertation eschew the limitations of the fantasy genre lamented by Bellin and
Jameson. They demonstrate the progress of history within Pratchett’s fictional milieu,
thus subverting myth’s tendency to de-historicise its subjects. They avoid depicting
innate forces of good and evil, therefore avoiding naturalising the ideology of its
protagonists and antagonists. They utilise the exotic and the unfamiliar to illustrate
the fallacies of homogenous ideology rather than to support it.
In this subversion of the homogenous and the reductive, Pratchett’s work
demonstrates the potential for fantasy texts to further progressive ideology. It
illustrates the possibility for Jameson’s ‘radical fantasy’, “a fantasy narrative
107
Haberkorn. 108
Barthes, p. 149.
59
apparatus capable of registering systematic change and of relating superstructural
symptoms to infrastructural shifts and modifications.” In other words, fantasy texts
which do not purvey mythologised ideology or homogenous viewpoints, but instead
acknowledges that it “can only speak for one section of society” and highlights its
own subjectivity. In doing so, fantasy can subvert the truth claims of regressive
ideology.
60
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