Severian's skin color

Andrew Kertesz · 17 Jun 2005, 16:43 · from 2005-June.txt.gz

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From: andrew.kertesz at gmail.com (Andrew Kertesz)
Date: Fri Jun 17 16:43:26 2005
Subject: (urth) Severian's skin color
In-Reply-To: <BAY7-F3275BD506EAAA38D566196D7F40 at phx.gbl>
References: <1f7617370506162013140667ef at mail.gmail.com>
	<BAY7-F3275BD506EAAA38D566196D7F40 at phx.gbl>
Message-ID: <23f894a005061716432eb2d7c9 at mail.gmail.com>

Actually, I was under the impression that the people of Severian's day
(at least those of the "lower" social orders) are somewhat
Neanderthalic. Wolfe makes a few references to high foreheads and
thick brow-bones (IIRC - I may be completely off-base here...)

On 6/18/05, Seth Lombardi <sethlombardi at hotmail.com> wrote:
> >This is a clear case of artists assuming that the generic SFF hero
> >is white no matter what the writer says.
> >
> >Somewhere in there Wolfe (or Severian) makes a comment to
> >the effect that each of the continents has a characteristic
> >physical "type," and that peoples who live on a continent long
> >enough will tend towards that "type." (Something like a hundred
> >generations?) Since the Commonwealth (a) is on - roughly -
> >the South American continent, and (b) has been there a long
> >time, we can reasonably conclude that its citizens resemble
> >contemporary native South Americans.
> >
> >--Dan'l
> 
> 
> But much of South America is peopled by people who do not necessarily
> resemble "native" South Americans.
> 
> Assuming Severian's theory be true, then we also have to assume that the
> people who happen to live there have lived there in isolation without
> invasion or other ethnic turmoil for a hundred generations, and also that
> there have been no significant changes in diet or environment on that
> continent between now and TBOTNS. We already know that the sun has dimmed
> significantly. It is also harped on that Severain is tall and may or may not
> have some exultant blood in him, and it's not even clear if exultants are
> natives of Urth, much less what was once called South America. So, while I
> think it may be reasonable to assume that Sevarian may be tale, pale and
> sunken-cheeked only by the standards of his community and not that of
> contemporary Europeans, I think it's a bigger stretch to assert one way or
> another that he or the people of Nessus look like contemporary native South
> Americans, or any other ethnic group we can imagine.
> 
> seth
> 
> *****************************
> Seth Lombardi
> sethlombardi at hotmail.com
> http://sethlombardi.blogspot.com/
> AIM: melombardi
> "Two faces are alike; neither is funny by itself, but side by side their
> likeness makes us laugh" -Pascal
> 
> 
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