Category: Literary criticism

Media literacy 101, part 4: The voice of the narrator

~ SamRandom ~ Leave a comment

In the previous chapter, I discussed the role of the antagonist and protagonist within most narratives, and how understanding these roles can help us understand a text as a whole. Just like the point of view of these leading characters, can the point of view of the narrator also tell the reader a lot about the narrative as a whole. There are several types of narrators, a few of which I will go over in this blog post.

By discerning the voice of the narrator, can we parse more about the tone, theme and mood that the text is going for. A serious novel usually has an omnipresent, implied narrator, while a comedic novel might choose a more  overtly present narrator that is able to discuss and comment on the plot of the text itself. Contemplating how these narrator voices are used and in which context, can also help you become a better writer yourself.

First, second and third person narrations

The first definition I will discuss is that of point of view. The point of view in this context refers to which kind of perspective we are getting from the narrator. First, and third person are the most common forms of narrative styles, but other narrative points of view, like second person does occur, if a lot less often.

In a first person narrative, is the tale told from one or several people, ei “I walked down the road”. The narrator and the protagonist of the narrative are the one and the same person. Travel journeys, horror stories and other narratives where the internal monologues and feelings of the main character are important often use the first person form of narration.

The second person narrative refers to the reader themself as the point of view character. In other words the narrator is addressing a “you” in the text, for example “you find yourself in a dark hallway”. This is not a very often used perspective, but one that can be effectively used in horror. It is mostly used in choosing your own adventure novels and visual novels and other kinds of interactive fiction.

Third person narrative refers to a narration where the explicit or implicit narrator is telling a story about someone else, more about this in a bit. Most modern fiction is told this way, where a narrating voice describes the narrative of one or more protagonists. For example “Tom walked through the door, he felt a rush of fresh air”.

In deciding which perspective to set the narratives, do you also in part decide what kind of relationship the reader will have to the characters in your text.

Reliable and unreliable, explicit and implicit, omnipresent or not.

The voice of the narrator is a strong tool in storytelling, and can tell the reader a lot about a text. Besides setting the narration in first, second or third person, can the writer also put different kinds of levels of involvement that the narrator has in the story, as well as how real they are within the narrative itself.

First let’s discuss how or if the narrator exists within the fiction itself. An implicit narrator often only exists as a tool to tell the narrative, and only the text itself implies its existence. They exist soely as a medium for the telling of the tale, the words themselves. It is also possible to view the implicit narrator as the voice of the author itself.

An explicit narrator exists as a character in the tale itself. One example is Dr Watson in Sherlock Holmes, where the books are supposed to be Watsons own notes and journals. The explicit author can have an active role in the tale or not. A first person narration always has an explicit narrator in the form of the character telling the story.

A narrator can be omnipresent, or only be able to present a certain point of view of a narrative. An omnipresent narrator is present everywhere, and can be used to tell a story from every single angle, as needed. Third person narratives are often presented as omnipresent, in order for the author to jump between settings and points of view. An omnipresent narrator is useful to tell a full story of many points of view. A first person narrator is by its very nature confined to the character that is telling the story, and as a result can only tell the things that this point of view character is purview to. It is common that a narrator only follows a few or only one character, and can as a result only present a narrative from their points of view in the narrative. This is an easy tool to create suspense and mystery, as the reader is only previewed to the information that these characters have.

Lastly is the question of the reliable vs the unreliable narrator. These terms relate to how trustworthy the narrator of a text is. Most narrators, especially those told in third person narration are to be viewed as reliable narrators. In short, are these narrators that can be trusted to tell a tale as it supposedly happened. Just as with being omnipresent, are implied narrators also reliable by their nature of nonexistent. Most modern novels you would read follow this trend, unless adding an unreliable narrator would make the tale more compelling or interesting. With a reliable narrator can you assume that the things it is telling is true.

An unreliable narrator on the other hand is a narrating voice that you can not trust to tell a tale truthfully. Or rather, contradictions and falsehoods are baked into the storytelling style, making it harder to discern what happened within the context of the story. First person narrators are unreliable narrators due to their highly subjective point of view. For example, many of Lovecrofts main characters are highly unreliable narrators, as many of them are at the brink of insanity and despair. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter, S Thompson is a great example of both a first person narrative, Hunter himself, and an unreliable narrator, due to the melding of time and space that comes from both the surreal location of Las Vegas and the many psychedelic drugs the main character uses during the story.

An unreliable narrator is great to create a sense of confusion and fear in the reader, as well as a heightened sense of suspense. After all, who can we trust, if we can’t even trust the one telling the story to us.

Final thoughts

I have in this text, tried to present a series of narrative points of view and discuss a few ways they are often used. These definitions are far from the only ways to break down the voice of the narrator, but they are ones that I have found useful myself.

By dissecting how and why a narrator is presented in a text in a certain way, can the reader dive deeper into the message and theme of the text. It is worth putting some extra time in choosing what kind of narration that fits your story the best. While the omnipresent, implicit and reliable narrator is one that most know, and use, playing around with the voice of your narrator really changes the perspective on your writing, and your stories.

Media literacy 101, part 3, Protagonsits, antagonists and point of view

~ SamRandom ~ 1 Comment

The roles of protagonists and antagonists are to drive a narrative forward. The distinction of protagonist and antagonist has been used to describe and define the main characters since ancient times. Today I will discuss how these two terms function and how it can help you analyze and enjoy fiction more deeply.

By analyzing the expected point of view can we learn more about the underlying themes that the text is presenting, as well as how these themes are supposed to be interpreted

Protagonist

The protagonist or protagonists are primarily defined by the character that is trying to achieve something or pull the narrative forward. The most simple example of this is the hero that works towards saving the words from destruction. In other words, the protagonist is someone that is working towards something.

Protagonists are often heroes or in other ways morally good and often represent the “good guys”. This is not always the the case. Here is where the term anti hero, or anti villain is copied. The anti hero often refers to a character that while acting immorally or evilly is still working towards a goal that would often be described as heroic or good. For example the violent vigenlantie the Punisher. Anti villains are similar characters that while often acting sympathetic and or morally good way, still often aim towards things that are considered villains.

The protagonist is also the primary point of view character in most fiction and are as a result often the point of view character for the audience. As a result it is quite common for the viewers to be expected to take the protagonists point of view, and to root for them. Here is where I once again reiterate that the protagonist is not necessarily either a hero, or morally just. To bring up an example that most of my viewers are familiar with is the Imperium of mankind from the warhammer 40k series often posed as the protagonist of many of the settings stories, and as I have discussed earlier, are far from what one would call heroes of the setting.

Warhammer in general is interesting since the primary protagonist often changes depending on the text, and while the Imperium of Mankind is often the chief protagonist, is this far from always the case? The codexes, books that describe how to play each faction in the tabletop game, is a prime example of having protagonists that are not part of the Imperium of mankind.

Antagonist

The antagonist is the protagonist opposite, and someone that is trying to stop the narrative from proceeding, often in the form of an adversary to the protagonist. For example, would Sauron be the antagonist of Lord of the Ring, as he is trying to stop the protagonist Frodo from destroying the ring and saving Middle earth.

The antagonist is often the villain or in other ways a character, entity or set of characters that represents the wrong side. This is far from always the case, and in most cases the antagonists are simply someone that is on the opposite side of the protagonist. A good example of these would be a romantic rival to the protagonist, or a general on the other side of a war where both sides are equally right or wrong.

The antagonist is as a result more difficult, but they can be thought of as the forces that, if it would win, would end the story. At the same time the antagonist drives the narrative forward much in the same way as the protagonist does, and are as a result vital to many narratives.

Furthermore, does the antagonist not need to be a character at all, the antagonist in many disaster oriented survival stories for example, have the environment take on the role of the primary antagonist. While these stories often have secondary antagonists, the primary obstacle is often storms, earthquakes or a virulent disease. The antagonist can, in this way, be the primary obstacle that the protagonist needs to overcome.

Another prominent quality of the antagonist is that they rarely, if ever have the role as point of view character for the audience. The antagonist is always seen through the eyes of the protagonist, and rarely has their point of view shown. If a villainous character is presented from their point of view, are they most likely a protagonist with morally evil intentions, rather than an antagonist.

Conclusions

Both the protagonist and antagonists are needed for the drive of most narratives, while they are not always needed are they incredibly common in all narratives that revolve around a central conflict. The protagonist can be said to lead the conflict forward, the one that sets out on the adventure, tries to save their home town from destruction or tries to marry their childhood love. The antagonist is likewise the force that tries to stop this goal to be achieved, be it a dragon at the end of the adventure, an evil oil company, or a romantic rival.

The protagonist is also the point of view character, and often the surrogate for the viewer in the narrative itself. This role as audience surrogate is played, regardless if the protagonist is sympathetic to the audience or not. For example, the protagonist in American Psycho is a truly detestable and horrifying human, but the audience are still forced to see the world through his eyes, because of his role as protagonist.

Understanding why a certain character acts as the narrative’s protagonist can help us as readers to understand what the text is trying to achieve. By presenting the viewers with a clear point of view does the text create an implicit line between what the audience can come to understand the primary conflict of the text, as well as how it can, or can not come to be solved. Even with texts like Warhammer 40k, and American Psycho that have highly unlikable protagonists, are they not chosen at random. TheImperium is often used to discuss themes of evil to fight bigger evils, and American psycho asks the audience if Patrick Bateman or the system that allows him to flourish is the true monster.

Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 4, Comedy and the importance of narrative points of view

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This chapter will discuss how the Orks points of view turns atrocities and horrific events into darkly comedic situations using context and dramatic irony. The primary role of the Orks, besides their use as a constant antagonist to the major point of view factions humanity, do they also serve as a form of comic relief. The Orks are often featured in comedic cartoons and comics, and the narrative that follows them as the major point of vire characters are always centered around comedy and more often than not, slapstick.

The Ork mentality and War

I discussed in earlier chapters that the Orks are not affected by warfare and strife like any of the other races are. To them mortality is not something to consider or worry about, and war is nothing but a fun and exhilarating adventure. This mentality allows the reader to temporarily join the Orks in this mentality via suspension of disbelief. Note that this narrative form seems to mainly be used against other Orks, where both sides of the conflict are equally as unfaced by injury, trauma or death.

The Orks are furthermore described as having little to no empathy for the suffering of others, and when they do show concern for another, or even save another of their kin, it is always a close friend, and the interaction is soon forgotten. Lastly, are the Orks shown to be irredeemably violent, destructive and by most definitions evil. This description makes it easier for the reader to laugh at the struggles that the Orks suffer and are subjected to. Games Workshop primarily uses the Orks as a comedic foil in this manner when they are facing other military forces, or other foes that are capable of fighting back in one way or another. An Ork act of genocide of civilians or any similair atrocities are mostly described as the tragedy it is, and the image of the comedic relief is instead replaced with that of a faceless, remorseless murderer.

For an Ork, there is little to no difference between besieging a planet, and fixing the rear axle of a truck, both are equally pedestrian in the lives of the Orks. This, if anything, shows the mundanity that warfare takes up in the lives of the Orks. 

Enthusiasm and slapstick

The Orks are given an eternal can-do attitude, and endless energy. They are not describe as being dumb, just short sighted and overly eager. The first solution is always the best, and that solution is often poorly thought out, dangerous and most importantly, funny. It is easy to draw parallels between the Orks shortsighted plans of, for example ramming a rocket in to the side of a wall before firing it “to make sure it hits”, and the convoluted antics of Tom from Tom and Jerry, or the Calories from Loony Toons. The audience’s knowledge of the inevitable failure, contrasted by the character’s ignorance is where a lot of the comedy comes from in this form of comedy, and the buildup is just as important, if even more so then the finale.

One example of such logic comes from the Ork campaign in the game Dawn of War 3, where the Orks after building an enormous gun, realized they had no way to bring it back. After realizing that the gun was not properly secured and would violently jump every time it was fired, the logical solution was to simply shoot it all the way back to the base!

This kind of mentality and the situations they create is at the base of much of the comedic relief that the Orks bring to the setting. By approaching each task, regardless of how bloody, painful and pointless with a sense of pure enthusiasm, do the Ork work as a great contrast to the otherwise bleak, hopeless and dread filled setting of Warhammer 40k.

Dramatic irony

The concept of dramatic irony pertains to the idea that the reader understands things that the characters in the narrative do not, or have information they are not allowed to have. This allows the reader to make connections that the characters in the text are robbed from making. This narrative device is often used to underscore tragedy or tension. 

Much of the comedy, as well as the drama relating to the Orks lies in the fact that the Orks can never truly understand the pain and suffering they are bringing on to the rest of the universe. Likewise are the rest of the races in the franchise unable to grasp the logic and emotions behind the Orks’ seeming acts of random and unprovoked violence. This tension between viewpoints, and the lack of information that each faction has about their opponents is what drives most of the drama of the setting, and as I have shown with the Orks, also the comedy.

Final thoughts

By presenting the Orks in the way that Games Workshop does, can they inject an element of comedy, if not a decisively dark one, without sacrificing the grim and depressing tone that permeates most of the franchise as a whole. It can be argued though that the series of Warhammer 40k has gotten less deliberately comedic and more serious in tone as the franchise has gone on.

The flexibility of the Ork depictions allows them to be used as both a comedic foil, and as a horrifying threat as the narrative needs it. I am aware that the Orks are far from the first, or the only way that slapstick and dark humor has been used this way. The Orcs in the Peter Jackson films for example both play the role of primary antagonists, and foils much of the movie’s comedy. While many of Warhammer 40,000’s characters and themes can become comedic by the nature of their grandness and extremeness, I would argue that the Orks is the only place where this is done fully intentionally. 

Next chapter will conclude this part of the series, as I will combine all the parts of the Orks as a narrative device and set of characters, and combine them into a unified whole.

Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 3, Futurism and facism

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Modern facism is intrinsically linked with futurism in their love for violence and glorification of warfare. Power and the subjugation of the week are also concepts that both movements share. These are ideals that can be found amongst the Orks. 

I will not dive too deeply into either of these movements in this chapter, and I will mainly show enough evidence to present certain similarities between the Orks in Warhammer 40k and the aforementioned movements. 

I want to start with specifying that my arguments here are somewhat of a simplification of the movements and their motivations. There is for example, an anxiety over economic and cultural values being diluted that exists within facism that have little or no direct links to the Orks. Futurists, and fascists alike like to point towards a corruption in the current system and a need for change that is not present in the Orks, as the Ork society itself is already in constant flux and change.

Futurist Orks

Depictions of Orks tend to reflect some elements of Italian futurism. Italian futurism was founded and spearheaded at the beginning of the 1900s by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and some like minded artists in order to escape the decadence and corruption they saw in their society. They believed that the past had forever entrapped their nation in a state of stagnation and decay. They saw ruins of ages past, and museums dedicated to old masters and they despaired. The Orks do not make history, and have no interest in preserving their own or others. (Games Workshop. 2014, Rye. 1972)

The futurists, as their title entails, praised the future and a forward motion, and despised the past and traditions. A purist futurist would burn all the world’s museums and exhibits, and would expect their followers to do the same. The new world was one of automation, speed and war, of thrills, fast cars and big guns. The future was for the bold, strong and young. The Orks are likewise obsessed with guns, fast machines and loud sounds. (Games Workshop. 2014, Rye. 1972).

Machines and cars

The speed and novelty of the car and motorbike is something that tends to appear in Futurist art. Futurist art tends to display the glorification of these machines, and most specifically for the speed it provides. One needs only to look at the Futurist manifesto to find several examples of the joy of speed and the allure of industry. The power that comes from driving a large, fast or powerful machine, or from the heavy industry that takes part in its manufacture, the Orks are likewise obsessed with speed and machinery. (Rye. 19722)

The thrill of speed and loud engines is something that fascinates the adrenaline hungry Ork. The Speed freaks are the most prevalent example of the Orkish need for speed and the allure of the reave of engines and the smell of gasoline. Like many other of the Ork, and Futurist obsessions does the love of machines steam from the sensation of adrenaline, danger and power that they exude. This is particularly true for large, fast or otherwise dangerous machines. (Games Workshop. 2014)

Guns and war

The Futurists despised pacifism, moralism and what they weakness in any form. Many times this was professed through their love of weaponry and war. It was only through the conquest and killing of the weak that the strong may rule. But more importantly, the act of wanton destruction and violence was in and of itself, an expression of art and freedom. (Rye. 19722)

The links to the war hungry and weapons obsessed orks is not a difficult one to make. Just like the futurists, the Orks also seek war for its own sake, and destruction for the joy of it. The act of shooting a gun, or burning down a building is very much seen as expressions in and of themselves, and acts that are enjoyed not for the outcomes they bring, but rather for the joys of performing them. (Games Workshop. 2014)

Kill the past!

A grand statement of the Futurists was their object hatred of the past. To burn down the libraries and museums of the past, to let the foundations of the old cities were seen as ultimate expressions of freedom, and a way to lead humanity into the future. The Futurists lived for the future, yes, but more importantly they lived in the present, and they embraced the fact that one day they too would be discarded for the future generations. (Rye. 19722)

While the Orks do not have an outspoken hatred for the past, they do not spend much time or energy in preserving it. Besides some storis and legends carried by the Runtherders, an Ork profession dedicated to slavery, are they not described as creating any lasting monuments, cities or works of art. An average Ork is described as being a creature of the present, rarely having a plan further than to his next meal. They live purely for the moment, and for the violent and turbulent experiences of the present. (Games Workshop. 2014)

Orks often end up destroying and burning the past of other races in their conquests, many of who have their own relationship to their past. The Eldar as described earlier are representations of a bygone age, of the glory of the past, a trope depicted by the Elves first in Tolkien’s works, and then in later fantasy novels that followed in his wake. Humanity is depicted as being in fear and reverence of their past in equal measures, and the Necrons are creatures of the past brought into the present. In other words, does the Orks not necessarily follow the Futurists hatred for the past, or their wish for its destruction, but their actions non the less leads to these goals. They are an expression of Futurist goals, if not intentions. (Games Workshop. 2014)

The asexually reproducing warrior

It is impossible to speak of the Futurists without mentioning gender. As the astute reader have already noticed does the interests of the Futurists, and the Orks fall within activities that would in the 1910s, as well as today, fit into a stereotype masculne stereotype. The love of war and guns, the need for speed and industry are all traits that are labeled as masculine. The hatred of the femenine and as a result, the queer is something you once again only need to look at the Futurist manifesto to find. To detest women and feminism is clearly and overtly stated as one of the primarily goals of the Futurists. Womanhood and femininity is seen as weak, nurturing and pathetic. One of the Futurists dreams were to device a way for many to be able to reproduce asexually, without the need of women. Creating an unbroken line of voulent, adrenaline hungry men.  (Rye. 19722)

While the Orks are not openly antagonistic towards women, they are described as despising many of the traits stereotypically related to women. Empathy, emotions and softness are traits that are often given to the Orks enemies, by the Orks. More importantly are the Orks all depicted as masculine, being referred to, and referring to themselves as He. The Orks also reproduce Asexually, once agian expressiong Futurist goals, if not intentions. (Games Workshop. 2014)

Facism and the right of might

Many of the same questions and goals that drove early Italian Futurism also came to drive both German and Italian facism during world war 2, and beyond. The ideas of facism has been discussed in the Imperium of man segment at large, but I will go over some of the points again here, as I relate them to the Orks.

The hierarchy of might

One of the founding tenets of facism in its many forms has always been, the fact that might, gives the right to rule.  While this might be physical in the case of the Orks, this is not always the case. This might come from perceived breeding, intelligence or ideology. The important part is that a group uses a perceived superiority to control another, and that it is the fate of said group to be ruled by their supposed  supperiors. (Nathan Crick. 2022)

The Orks, as I have shown, is a highly hierarchical society that uses violence and intimidation to keep those under them in line. It is quite literally the rule of the strong. Orks do not care for intelligence, carisma or vision in their leaders, only strength, brutality and fearlessness. The Orks are described as being instinctively receptive to follow the biggest, meanest and strongest of their kind. (Games Workshop. 2014)

Us and Them

In order to have a society of might, you must have clear definitions of a we, and a them. In order to have a superior class of rulers, there must always be an inferior one to be ruled. This distinction is the basis of many alt right movements, the Italian fascists included. In order for the ideology of facism to truly work, there must be an eternal enemy, an eternal theme that We can show superiority ovcr. For a facist narrative to work, they must first present an in group of the We. Most often is this we took the shape of a nation state or a specific political organization (Nathan Crick. 2022).

Facism often grows in the wake of discontent and worries. The facist arguments works by taking these negative emotions, and forcing them on a real or projected other. Immigrants, national or religious minorities, social and medical others are all common targets for this other (Nathan Crick. 2022).

When it comes to the orks is this distinction is twofold. Firstly there is the distinction of the Orks and the rest of the universe, then there is the distinction between the Orks of different clans, and even Orks within the same clan. Though not ideologically driven most of the time, the Orks seem to primarily use this us and them mentality as a justification to start fights with everyone around them. (Games Workshop. 2014)

The eternal war

As mentioned before, does facism in its many forms need an enemy to show its superiority over. This always necessitates an eternal war or struggle against this other. In order to unite the we, there must, scoring to facist rhetoric, be a they to unite against. To be superior, there must be an Other than can be inferior. Facism can not last without an enemy to fight. There can, in other worlds never be a peace, as peace would imply that there is no longer an Other to use to put the self in relationship to. If an external enemy can not be found, I would argue that an internal one needs to be created, something that we have examples off in Nazi Germany, but also Stalinist Russia.  

The Orks are quite literal in this sense, as they can not thrive, quite literally, without being at war. The concept of peace is not only undesirable, but utterly outside of the Orks world of understanding. Life is strife and war, and fighting, there exists no peace, only periods where there is currently no fighting happening. (Games Workshop. 2014)

When the Orks can not find an external enemy to fight, they are more than happy to fall upon each other in civil wars, vendettas and enslavements and destruction. Due to the ways that the Orks are described to work, does this lead to a net positive for the Ork society as a whole. The Orks are in other words proof that, at least for them, the Facist doctrine does work, war and strife, where the strong survive, is truly the only way towards success as a civilisation.

Divine destin

A grant part of the facsit mythos is the idea of a divine, or preordained destiny, of the We. A destiny to rule all others. For example did the nazi ideology in based on the concept that the Germans were the rightful inheretor of the Arian race, and are destined to rule al of the Euriasuan continent. Divine destiny is something we have discussed before, and I indeed dedicated an entire chapter to the concept when discussing the Imperium of man. Many movements, be they religious, like the Crusades, or secular like the European colonial projects, have used the justification of a divine or otherwise preordained plan to justify their atrocities. (Nathan Crick. 2022)

The Ork version of this is known as Ragnarork, the myth that one day we’ll all of the galaxy be covered in war and strife, and on this day the Ork gods will materialize into the moral realm and lead their children to ultimate victory. The Orks, as most of the other factions in the franchise, see themselves as the galaxy’s true and justified ruler. (Games Workshop. 2014)

Conclusions

As I have attempted  to show in this chapter, do the Orks follow or live up to many of the Facist and Futurist aspirations, while not always having the same motivations. The Orks live the life of a warrior and destroyer, while existing within a deeply structured and hierarchical society. Many  core concepts liek asexuality and eternal conflic ois something that is fully, and intricate built in to the Ork society, and the Ork as an individual.

My second goal with this chapter was to introduce the reader to a deeper understanding of both Facism and Futurism, as well as to point to how these two movements are linked with each other.  As facism, and its justification is a big part of the Warhammer 40k setting, especially when it comes to the Orks and to the Imperium of man, is it vital to have at least a surface level understanding of these concepts.

References

Games Workshop. (2014) Codex Orks 7th Edition

Nathan Crick (2022). The Rhetoric of Fascism [Elektronisk resurs]. University of Alabama Press.

Rye, J. (1972). Futurism. London: Studio Vista.

Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 2, nature of the beast

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Introduction

This chapter is meant to be an introduction to those of my readers new to the franchise. This series will focus on the seventh edition Orks, to keep with the rest of the series continuite. These Orks do look a bit different from their modern counterparts. This notroduction will be crucial to understand the rest of my arguments in this series. I will make plentiful references back to this chapter throughout this mini series, so feel free to return back here whenever you need it.

Nature and nurture

The Orks are some of the primary antagonists of the Warhammer 40k setting, an ever present evil that forever threatens the other races with their warfare and raiding. Described to be one of the oldest races of the galaxy, the Orks were with the Necrons and the Eldar at the beginning of the beginning of the history of the Warhammer universe. The Orks are described as being genetically engineered by the Old Once, woh created the Orks toghter with the Eldar to fight the tyrannical Necrons. The Old Once play the role of the predecessor trope, common to many sci-fi settings, as well as conspiracy theories. Notable examples are the Alien series by Ridley Scott, and the Old once in HP Lovecrofts series, a source of inspiration I have mentioned earlier in this series.

The Orks are described as being musculair built with very little body fat, no hair, and with a height that would outstrip a human if they “would just stand up straight”. They have small red eyes, almost non existent noses and  the huge sharp teeth of a predator. Everything in the descriptions of the Orks physical appearance aims to convey the sensation of a creature breed to kill. The are for all intent and purpose, purebred killing machines. The Orks are secribed as reproducing asexually, and reproduce by relesing spores in to their environment throughout their lifetime.

Furthermore the Orks are depicted to get stronger from the strife and pain they endure. More specifically, Orks grow stronger, bigger and tougher from the act of violence, be it a bar room fight with another Ork or a prolonged firefight with an alien army. All these sensations of violence are described to be highly beneficial to the Ork in question. Even the act of preparing for a violent act, such as making weapons or preparing once armor is described as beneficial to the Ork. The fact that the Ork, unlike most of the galaxy, requires this form of activity to remain strong and healthy, is the basis for much of the setting’s conflict, as Orks has no real choice then to seek out conflict wherever they can.

Warfare as culture

As mentioned above, are Orks dependent on a steady diet of foolhardy violence much in the same way as a human is in need of food and sleep, and will go to great lengths to acquire this stimuli, including taking any opportunity to start a brawl with a fellow Ork. These acts of random bloodshed would make the Ork society highly self destructive if it were not for their toughness and positive reactions to violence, as well as their instinctive desire to follow those bigger and stronger than themselves.

The Ork society is deeply rooted in the notion that might makes right, and it only seen as natural that the bigger has the right to boss over the smaller. In the hierarchy of the Orks, there is almost always someone smaller than you to bully. For each large Ork there is a smaller Ork, and for each smaller Ork, there is a Gretchin etc etc.

Much of what an Ork knows, and believes, he gets directly from his DNA. An Ork is predisposed to have certain traits, such as a need to go fast, or have an unquenchable thirst for looting, depending on what faction that each individual Orks grew from. Ork experts, such as engineers and medics are also born with a rudimentary knowledge of their craft, that they can later improve by experimentation. While the Orks have specialists, the most prominent fields being engineering, and medical care, much of their advances in technology and science are described to be due to their ability to will a certain reality into existence.

Mind and matter

I have discussed in earlier chapters the concept of the Warp, and the psychic energies that flow from there. While humans and Eldar are able to directly affect and direct these energies, are the Orks not as much in control of psychic energies, as they exude them. The Orks are described as creating a sphere of energy around themselves that subtly changes reality to what the Ork in question believes it to be. For example, does many Ork guns work, partly because the Ork wielding it believes it to work.

The Orks are in other words projecting their own reality onto the “objective” reality around them. The extent of this ability varies from edition to edition, and writer to writer. In some cases is this psychic power able to make any form of machinery work as long as they roughly look the right shape. In other cases does this ability simply provide the last push needed to get a barely functioning device or weapon to work.

A large quantity of Orks has the ability to draw others to its kind, if they happen to be part of a particularly intense battle, or if a particularly powerful leader is preparing an invasion. This combined invasion, colonization effort and sacred war is what’s known in universe as a Waaagh!. Many narratives are started, or fully driven by the arrival of a Waaagh! on a planet, or in a star system.

The kingdom of shrooms

Lastly, I will spend a little time discussing another point that makes the Orks such an interesting antagonist and driving force of the Warhammer 40k franchise. I mentioned before that the Orks reproduce by leaving spores to create new Orks, but this process creates far more than just Orks.

At first this process will only create more mushrooms, large fields of them in caves and other shaded areas. These mushrooms will form the basis for the Ork diet, as well as provide everything from fuel to medicine to alcohol. Next comes the Snotlings, weak miniature Orks whose only purpose is to tend to the mushroom fields and the squigs that form alongside them. Squigs are aggressive reptilian creatures that form all manner of functions in the wider Ork society, from food to tools, these creatures make the backbone of the Ork ecosystem.

Following the Snotlings and Squigs are the Gretchin, larger creatures that share many of the tropes of a fantasy goblin (source), in that they are malicious, greedy and not very smart. The Gretchin function as the slave class, making everything from builiding shelters and carrying supplies to making breakfast and shining boots.

Lastly does the Orks emerge, taking the longest to form. When they do emerge, they do so to an environment custom tailored to their comfort and approval, with food, medicine and servants enough to focus all their time and energy on waging war on anyone in their reach. The Orks are in other words, not only designed perfectly to fight, but their entire society grows organically to make sure they can spend all their time doing so.

Conclusions

The information in this chapter will form the basis of my analysis into the world of the Orks in Warhammer 40k. This chapter is not meant to be exhaustive by any means, and as usual if you wish to get the full experience I suggest you go and read the source for yourself. This rundown is simply meant to give enough background that a reader with no prior knowledge of the setting will be able to follow along with my reasoning and discussion.

Next chapter will focus on the ties between Facism and Futurism, and how both cultural movements can be seen within the depiction of the Orks in Warhammer 40k.

Games Workshop. (2014) Codex Orks 7th Edition

Warhammer 40k an in depth analysis: Part 5, The Orks: part 1, Introduction

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This chapter will serve as an introductory chapter to the Orks as well as to the concepts I will discuss in this part of the series. Because the Orks are the ever present antagonist of the franchise, as well as somewhat of a comic relief, I have decided they are worthy of their own series altogether. Each of the topics presented in this chapter, will have their own fully fleshed out chapter later. The reader is free to jump to whatever chapter they find the most intesteresting, but they are written to be read in order.

The nature of the beast

In this second chapter I will outline everything needed to be able to follow along with the rest of the augmentations I will make in this series. If you are already familiar with the setting of Warhammer 40,000 you may want to skip this chapter, as I will be retreading a lot of familiar ground.

This second chapter will focus on the in universe description of the Orks physiology, history, society and quirks. Their faith and strange abilities to seemingly warp reality will all be covered here. The Orks are described as power hungty, murderous monsters who lives only to kill, burn and destroy in the other factions narratives. In their own narratives they are described as being driven by pure need for adrenaline and action, for fast cars, guns and violence, something that I will show ties them closely to futurism.

The Orks furthermore are driven by absolute certainty in their own greatness and invulnerability. Each individual Ork is fueled by an absolute sense of self, and the deep rooted belief that he alone is the greatest, not only amongst his kin, but amongst every species in the galaxy.  The Ork race as a whole see themselsves as the true masters of tue universe, and this belif justifies them subjecting and murdering as they see fit, a traits they share with the Imperium of man, even tough their flavour of facism is somewhat different.

Futurism and facism

Facism is a common theme within the Warhammer franchise as a whole, as seen in my series on the Imperium of Man, a militaristic empire run on cruelty and xenophobia. Facism, being the ideology that the mighty and the strong have intrinsic rights to rule over the weak, for if the weak were strong enough to rule themselves, they would not have been subjected. The ideology of might making right is something that is deeply tied to the Ork narrative of Warhammer 40k.

One of the defining features of facism, and similar movements, is the need for an Other. The concept of the Other is one I have discussed several times before on this website. In short teams, the other here is defined as something or someone that exists outside the self, and can as a result be used to define what self is not. If the othter for example is weak, the self is strong, if the other is dumb, the self is wise.

The artistic tradition of futurism is one that fascists of Europe lashed on to, arguably at least at the beginning of the 1930s, before they became too rebellious for the status quo of the ruling parties. For, as I will discuss later in its dedicated chapter, is futurism, at its heart, an ideology of change. Formed out of the frustrations of stagnation and cultural and political corruption in 1920s Italy, Futurism aimed to throw off the old, scorch the land, and build the new on the burning ashes, only to have their predecessors repeat the cycle.

Comedy and the importance of narrative points of view

As mentioned before, does the Orks often serve as dark comic relief to the rest of the otherwise melancholic setting. The Orks provide a dark variety of slapstick and brutal comedy, often in the form of dramatic irony. As I have hinted before is the Ork presented in their own texts, rather different then the one presented in the other races narratives.

This is predominantly down to dramatic irony, a narrative device where the reader of a text knows more than the characters in said text. In this case, the irony comes from the fact that the reader knows that the Orks, and the rest of the characters see the universe radically differently. The Orks have no concept of mortality and death, they feel very little pain, and grow stronger, smarter and overall healthier by fighting, much in comparison to any other species, who rarely comes away from a prolonged fight without losing something.

The eternal antagonist

In the last chapter before the conclusion I will shortly discuss the idea of an eternally irredeemable foe in fiction. Be it the droids in Star Wars or the zombies in Night of the living dead movies, are vital for the genre of action to function. The audience needs an unambiguously evil force that the protagonist can dispatch with impunity. Tolkien mentioned in his letters that he struggled with his rendition of the Orcs, wanting to give them humaninsing traits, but yet seeing the need for a foe that the heroes could strike down in vast numbers, without becoming villains themselves (Tally, 2010).

The Orks with their monstrous physique, absolute lack of empathy and morals, as well as their obsession with violence and guns makes them a perfect foil. The fact that the Orks themselves do not suffer in any real way from being hurt, or even killed, furthers their role as a perfect fodder for the protagonists of the franchise as a whole.

Next chapter

The next chapter will give the reader an in-depth presentation of the narrative threads and important characteristics of the Orks within the wider franchise. This will allow me to present more deep and nuanced topics, without needing to pause to explain context.

Tally, Jr., Robert T. (2010) Let Us Now Praise Famous Orcs: Simple Humanity in Tolkien’s Inhuman Creatures, Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature: Vol. 29 : No. 1 , Article 3.
Available at: https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol29/iss1/3

Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: Orcs

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The archetype of the Orc is perhaps most well known today as the primary foil for the heroes of the series Lord of the Rings as well as many Dungeon and Dragons campaigns. The Orcs, just as the other factions discussed in this series have had a history of being portrayed as villains and monsters, obstacles to be dispatched by various heroes and forces of good.

Introduction

The Orcs of the Warcraft world is described as warlike and proud, living a life of conflict and warfare. The Orcs of the warcraft world live for the honor of their clan and their name, and will rather die than to lose either. The influences of war and combat can be seen in most depictions of their culture and traditions, from the titles of their leaders, to the layout and construction of their buildings (Blizzard 2012).

The comparison between Orcs in warcraft and certain stereotypes relating to African natives is a topic that is very well handled in the text by Spiecker (2011). I will in this text primarily focus on the Orc as an expression of the other. Here the Orc will be positioned against the more westernized human. This dichotomy is something that has existed since the series inception. The humans always presented as logical, civilized and faithful. The Orcs, and later the hoard being their opposite of vilient, illogical and savage.

The other

The Other is one way of describing the object of the self, is to relate it to, or contrast it with something outside of the self. This outside force or individual is known as the other, and by defining the other, the individual can use said outer to describe what they are not. This sense of otherness can be used to draw lines between, secualities, nationalities religions and cultures. Otherness can furthermore be related to individuals, as well as to groups of people, be them companies, religions or nation states.

I will primarily use the other to discuss race, and nationality, but also religion and politics to some extent. The other has been used to describe the underlying motivational forces, and justifications for western colonialism, where the western white and supposedly enlightened race was set against the so called savage and wild African and later Native American nations. By describing what the European explorers saw as wild, savage and uneducated, they could place themselves as cultured, logical and educated. The Others were creatures of wars, cannibalism and brutality while the Europeans represented peace, enlightenment and prosperity. The process of describing the west by a perceived other is what  is in academic circles often described as Orientalism. (Mountz 2016)

The otherness of the Horde

I have described in earlier chapters how culture and religion has been used to present some of the members of the hordes as stereotypically “non European”, starkly contrasted to the eurocentric Alliance. The same sort of tropes that were used by Europeans to describe the other is present within the Horde, and within the Orcs in particular. Characteristics such as violence, superstition and “primitive” craftsmanship are all things that make out the visual language of the Orcs and the Horde as a whole.

Due to the Orcs and the Humans being the most fleshed out factions, being the only ones playable in all three original games, it does make sense that these factions, more than the rest, color the visual language of the games. It is not a far stretch to imagine that the human is meant to be considered the protagonist of the series, seeing that the writers, as well as the players are indeed human. As mentioned before, human architecture and cultures borrow heavily from western medieval costumes and architecture, something that’s made even more apparent when taken in account the witness of all of the major human characters’ skin.

One source of the creative decision of the Warcraft series comes from its original inspiration, Warhammer Fantasy. A series that is set in a fantasy version of Europe during the late medieval period,, Indeed most continents are present in the Warhammer Fantasy world, but with a large focus on Europe or “the old world”. Warhammer fantasy is a series I will return to later on.

Orcs are, as discussed earlier, often used as the typical antagonist in modern fantasy, a brutal warlike evil that can be set against the heroes and can be dispatched with impunity. While Warcraft, especially Warcraft 3 goes out of its way to humanize the Orcs and give them more redeeming qualities throughout the campaign, they still represent a society of war and strict hiercies. Where the humans have kings and ministers, the Orcs have warchiefs and warlords. Instead of building citides, they create war camps and forts. Each thing the Orcs create seems to be geared towards violence and aggression.

While the human faction also has soldiers, and fought in wars, it is not described to be so integral and tied to their culture and way of life. While not necessarily the intentions of the creators, this distinction nonetheless points towards a trend in western fantasy of the era. By tying certain cultural traits and tropes to the human factions, the text creates a link between certain culture, and humanity.

The image of the Orcs supposed savage nature is driven home by their architecture. Their buildings use bones and leather, giving them a more “primitive” look, when placed next to the human versions of the same buildings. The human buildings are mundane town houses and straw roofed hamplets. The orc houses are in comparison made out of stone and spiked poles, clearly made to be defensive structures. Even the seemingly civilian wood cutting structure of the Orcs is known as a War mill, further defining the Orc culture as one with a focus on martial traditions.

This dichotomy can most clearly be seen in buildings that create spellcasters. The Horde has a tent that brings to the imagination northern native american tribes. The human arcane sanctum that draws the imagination to alchemists and astronomers, with astrological devices and strange glowing runes. This distinction can be found in the units these buildings create as well. Where the humans have sorceresses and priests, the Orcs have shamans and witch doctors. Terms that I have discussed earlier in this series, but that rings of a clear Western and Non-western theme.

Conclusions

Throughout this series, I have used the trilogy of Warcraft to discuss the concepts of otherness when it pertains to race, faith and culture. In this final chapter I have discussed how the use of war and warlike traditions is used to differentiate between the more civilized Humans, and the savage Orcs. This destinction is one that has been used several time in human history to justify slavery and conquests. The example I have chosen in this chapter is the European colonisations of so-called “less civilized people and nations”. I hope to show with this comparison that no piece of media is made in a vacuum, and we are always colored by what came before us. But by becoming aware of this history, can we make more active and informed decisions of what kind of stories we wish to tell, and listen to in the future.

This series was made primarily to show that pop culture can be a great way to explore the people, societies and cultures that created it. It can help us understand ourselves and others, and our place in the bigger context of the societies we find ourselves living within.

Media literacy 101, part 2, The author

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In this chapter I will present the reader with a number of ways we can approach the concept of the author, and how to critically deconstruct and analyze it. All the methods I mention here are viable and used in media and art analysis. I will present the various methods in a rough historical order.

Note that, just as my other texts in this series, this chapter is simply meant as an introduction to the topic, and a way to start learning more about the media we all love to enjoy.

The scribe and the codex

Without going too far back, but still getting some context to the rest of the text, I will start by quickly describing how scribes worked in medieval Europe and how these scribes created their codexes, texts created to be specifically made for a single customer’s needs. A scribe was foten, but not always employed by a monestary, and were tasked to copy texts for reditrtbuition and selling. Some texts were copied as is, but many texts were made out of materials from various diferent texts, to create compilations of certain topics.

These compilations of knowledge could contain anything from poetry, to history and philosophy and alchemy. It was not uncommon for historical or mythical events to be subtly changed to give the contractor’s family a bigger role in the commissioned version.(Woodmansee, 1994). More importantly were these books seen as objects in and of themselves Many of these texts that were sold, were carefully and lovingly edited and decorated by the scribe or one of the scribes colleagues. These codexes as a result were created as unique one of a kind items.  These items were created in a communal setting, with a clear tradition and history behind their creation (Barthes, 1968).

There were of course well known named authors and scholars in medieval and renaissance Europe, though much less before the introduction to the printed word. These writers would publish under their own name, and have their works copied and circulated by the above mentioned scribes. Attributing one’s findings and research to a more well known, or even mythical figure was also far from unheard of either

I bring this up primarily as a background for what we will discuss later on in the chapter, that what we imagine as the writer and the artist is a relatively new invention all things considered. What is of most import to this discussion is the fact that the author, creator of the text, and the text itself was not nearly as closely entwined as they are today.

The genius and the craftsperson

During the late medieval and renaissance period, a new image of the creator and artist started to arise. The individual changed from a craftsperson that has worked within a tradition of art and craftsmanship to create singulair items, into a genius creaing series of texts or works. This new creative figure worked in isolation, and whatever they created, was from their own mind, or divine inspiration. This is in stark contrast to the more collectively driven bardic and craftsman traditions of past artistic endeavors (Barthes, 1968).

Ownership of the art also moved from the owner of the piece, to the originator of said piece. This has a number of reasons, as well as ramifications, but we are interested in two of these today, intellectual property rights, and canon forming (Barthes, 1968).

By strengthening the image of the writer as a genius, of one with almost divine inspiration, could works be more tightly tied to them. This meant that a specific work of art was seen as the unique and singulair creation of the genius artist, rather then the continuation of a comunal tradition. By tying the work to a singular person, can more strict control over production and distribution be justified (Barthes, 1968, Woodmansee, 1994). The elevation of the creator of art, from a mere craftsperson to one of an artist and genius also helped funding in a landscape where patronage from wealthy nobles and business men became less and less available.

The author and their environment

We would today argue that no creator exists in a vacuum, and this approach aims at understanding the text and the creator from their contemporary history. Every written word can, acording to this methond be placed within a certain context, that can, at least partly explain why the work turned out the way it did. J.R.R Tolkien’s works can for example be contextualized by his dramatic experiences fighting in world war 1, where he got a first hand experience of the brutal war machine.

We must always be weary in that when making these sorts of analyses we can not fully escape our own biases. Our knowledge and lived experiences will inevitably lead us to focus on certain aspects of the author’s experiences over others. With that said, a thorough investigation, and immersion into the context of a work’s creation, can open up a more rich and detailed understanding of the text you are taking in.

“Death of the author”

The phrase “Death of the author” refers to an essay by French literary scientist Roland Barthes (1915 – 1980) by the same name . This essay formed the basis of a new form of  analysis that discards the agency and creative power of the writer, in order to move the text to the forefront of the analysis. The arguments layed forward, and that are often used in modern literary criticism can be laid out like this. The authorial intent of a text can take two forms. They can either:

a) Be apparent in the text, and as a result, it would be pointless to ask the author, since the reader can discern it themselves.

b) Not apparent in the text, and as a result, was the author unable to bring forth their intention, and as a result, it is not relevant to the text.

This removes the focus of analysation and interpretation from the author, and moves it to the reader themselves. No longer would the writer have the utmost say in what and how their works conveyed (Barthes, 1968. Woodmansee, 1994). These ideas tie closely into the idea of sender-message-receiver I discussed in the previous chapter.

To give a practical example. Will Wright, the creator of the series of video games, the Sims has argued that he did not create the game The Sims 1 in order to parody the modern American dream. I would argue, and many others have, that this is just what Will Wright did. I would argue that the focus on the acquisition of material things, chasing careers, and eventually owning the biggest house on the block, neatly transfers into a cynical, if lighthearted take on the capitalist American dream.

This method does have several advantages, primarily by removing anything between you as a reader, and the text itself, at least for as far as that is possible. I want to once again reiterate that allowing yourself to take the author, and their lived experiences into account, will also equally lead to interesting discoveries about the text in question.

Final thoughts

I have with this chapter presented a few ways one may look at the concept of the author and how we might understand them in relation to their work. The author has in this text gone from being a craftsperson or the creation of a text, to isolated genius, to being a genius that wads non the less influenced to their environment, to once again stepping down and giving the text the ultimate center stage.

All these methods do have their uses, and I wish that my readers will see these, not as competing theories, but rather as tools that can be applied to different problems when it comes to thinking about art and media. In the next chapter we will add even more tools to this theoretical toolbox.

Sources and further reading 

Barthes, R. The Death of the Author 1968 – University Handout

Woodmansee, M. (1994). The author, Art, and the market: Rereading the history of aesthetics. Columbia University Press.

Media literacy 101: part 1, introduction

~ SamRandom ~ 1 Comment

This series will be a quick introduction to the concepts and goals of media literacy, as well as why it is important to everyday life. This series will aim to answer three questions, as well as to arm the reader with a powerful set of tools to use in their everyday contact with a wide variety of media formas.

What is media literacy and why does it matter?

The skill of media literacy enables someone to critically evaluate, take in and create different forms of media. This skill allows the individual to detect biases, goals and intentions of the piece of media in front of them. The most prominent goal of media literacy education is to help the student to acquire knowledge of, and the ability to detect propaganda, as well as ideologically and emotionally changed material. This will allow the consumer to make active choices in their interaction with the media in questions.

Being fluent in media literacy also allows an individual to get more out of the media they consume. By becoming aware of trends and tropes, as well as thinking critically about the media we consume, will we be able to detect biases in our society, as well as within ourselves. By becoming aware of these biases can we make more informed choices on what we as individuals wish to support, or work against. In this way is media literacy a powerful tool in citizen awareness and the spread and protection of human rights and democracy.

Even though you have no interest in critically analysing texts professionally, you  can still gain great advantages from being able to watch media with a more critical viewpoint. As mentioned before can these tools also be used on news, political debates or any other form of discourse that contains a form of message. Because of my educational background in literary studies, I have chosen to give these lessons and examples using pop culture, but these skills can be deployed in any of the above areas as well.

The Sender, the message and the receiver

We will focus on the dichotomy of the sender, or creator of the message, the message itself, the recipient, as well as how this relationship changes in various media forms. The sender in this equation is the creator of the message. This sender can be explicitly named and stated, or they can be implicit or implied. What is important is that there will always be a sender for a message to come into being, even if they are obscure or abstracted away.

The message in this context, is the very media itself, as well as the content that this piece of media is communication (more about this distinction later). Without this message, as well as the media that transports it, would communication not be possible. I am going to use the term Text in this series to describe a form of media that explicitly carries a message. In other words any form of media, like a book or a video game that sets out to communicate a set idea or message.

Finally we have the receiver or reader, the target for the message. A receiver is always implied, as even a message sent to no one in particular will have an intended recipient in order to be complete. Traditional communications theory presented the receiver as a passive and solely receptive part of this equation. Later studies centred the receiver or reader as an active participant in not only decoding the meaning of the message, but also as an active creator of meaning.

One theory holds that a message only gets a meaning once it is interpreted by a receiver. With the advent of social media and the web 2.0 has the lines between sender message and receiver, as the receiver is now able to directly interact with the message and the sender in the form of chat messages and comment fields and ratings. The one way communication has instead become a two way communication. A later chapter will deal exclusively with how these forms of participatory forms of communication have changed how we think about media literacy and communication in general.

Sender and intention

While consuming media is it fruitful to be aware of the fact that there is always a sender at the other end of the line, be that implicit or explicit. An explicit sender in this context would be a named author, creator or brand that is presented in the media itself. An implicit sender will be harder to detect, but is no longer present in order for the message to be sent, as discussed above.

It is a fruitful practice to analyse and try and discern the intended message of the sender. Furthermore can it be a good exercise to consider if the intended message is:
a) The sender being presented directly.
b) The sender that ends up coming across to the reviver.
c) The sender that is indirectly being presented.

By thinking critically about the sender and the intention of sending it, can we grasp a deeper understanding of the text itself. It is important that every intentional message has some form of sender. The goals, abilities and biases of this sender are all important parts of deconstruction and analysing a text.

When analysing a text, is it important to keep in mind that we are very rarely, if ever able to get to the actual intention of the sender, and often have to make due with deconstructing the meanings that can be found within the text itself. With this said, can it be a reading and informative exercise to, if the sender is known to you, investigate the context and social norms in which the sender worked. Understanding the context in which a person or team of people worked, might help us understand the messages they send out in the world.

The media and its content

I will give much time in this series to discuss various forms of texts, and how the makeup of these texts changes how they function, and how we interact with them. Our approach, even if its subconscious will naturally be different between a TV show, a film and a newspaper or a song. By understanding the forms and rules that each media form follows, can we gain a deeper appreciation for the text in front of us, as well as to start. To begin with we will focus on how these texts are traditionally understood, and we will later move on to more post structuralism approaches to creating and understanding texts.

Just as when discussing the sender, much each piece of media can be understood with its one frame of references and context. Nothing is after all, created in a bubble, and it’s important to try and understand where, when and how a text was created. It is equally important to be aware of our own biases, frames of references and prior experiences. Our world-views, opinions and experiences are very much going to colour our perception of a text. This is in and of itself not a bad thing, as long as we are aware that we are indeed colouring our perceptions of the thing we are examining.

Conclusions

These are a few of the topics that this series will include, and I will expand it as times goes on. For now this series is simply meant to be an introduction, and to aid in further reading and research in the subject of media literacy. The primary goal of this series is to make my readers more media savvy, as well as allow them to get more out of the media we all love to consume. This knowledge will also be useful to you in contexts out of pop culture and other entertainment.

This introductory chapter is a simple and quick start, as a way of dipping our toes into a rather large and complex topic that I will discuss over the coming months. I hope you are excited to go on this adventure with me!

Warcraft 3 and the otherness of the Horde: Trolls

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Introduction

In the previous chapter of this series, did we get a glimpse on what in Anthropology for many years has been known as the “noble savage”. The so-called others that the European explorers encountered, individuals and communities though seen as other, and in many cases lesser, they were still seen as “good”, and in some cases even better then the corrupt western mind, due to their supposed simplicity and purity. In this chapter we will take a look at the other side of the image of the supposed savage, the one that did not get the western approval, and we will do this via the lenses of the modern troll in contemporary fantasy literature.

Voodoo, Vodou and the western narrative

The concept of Voodoo as it most commonly known in western popular culture is more often than not framed as something evil and or foreboding, strange and othering. Famous examples are the evil powers used by James Bond villains in Live and Let Die (1973) as well as the villains of Indiana Jones and the Temple of doom (1984). Similar negative and villainous portrayals can be found in many contemporary and later mainstream and pulp representations of Voodoo in western media. Common tropes of these representations are its focus on the otherness, exoticism and danger of the practice, as well as the fact that the practice is rarely, if ever described at its own terms. The first known example of horror films is the first Zombie movie, White zombie. Many examples of the negative stereotypes of Voodoo can be found in this movie, from exostisism, human sacrifice as well as snakes and skulls.

Just like with the chapter on the Tauren must I here reiterate that I am far from knowledgeable about the actual Just like with the chapter on the Tauren must I here reiterate that I am far from knowledgeable about the actual practices of Voodoo, or more specifically Vodou, or any adjacent faith structures, and I in no way claim to be. Keep this in mind however I discuss these practices in this and following texts. As a result will I in this text purely focus on how the depiction of the Trolls can be tied to tropes and stereotypes found in other western media regarding the views and stereotypes about Voodoo amongst its creators and audience.

Voodoo dolls, spirits and witch doctors are all terms that are common in the descriptions of Voodoo in popular western fiction, though rarely, if ever are they used in their indented contexts or meaning. Note that there are indeed exceptions to this rule, particularly in later years, but at the time of the release of warcraft 3 was Voodoo firmly in the realm of “strange otherness” for the vast majority of western audiences. Commuting with spirits, and the use of dolls to hurt and control victims are similarly very popular themes that seem to return several times in western media depicting the practice of Voodoo.

The savage, cannibal and the rebel

In the last chapter did we use the text of Ellingson (2001) to describe the more “benign” aspect of what has come to be known as the noble savage. This chapter will discuss the other side of that trope. Namely the people that the travailing anthropologists did not look at as favourably. Chief amongst these persevere traits were the concept of cannibalism, be it real or imagined by the western observer.

What is important for this chapter is that Haitian cultures and societies, during various points in history, have been tied, by western observers, to the practice of cannibalism as a way of lessening their worth as human beings. Ellingson (2001) further explains that in areas where cannibalism seems to be lacking, other atrocities such as mutilation or sacrifice of war prisoners could be used in its place, that way practically any “savage” could be tied to cannibalism by proxy.

The concept of alienation and savagery can easily be found in the direct connection to Voodoo, or Vodou as it is officially recognized, both in the Haitian and New Orleans incarnations. To truly understand the depth and importance of Voodoo for these areas, we must first discuss the Haitian revolution, and so many in the white western world (including me), have not thought about it. (Reinhardt, 2020)

Between the years of 1791 and 1804 did the former colony known today Haiti, carried out a successful revolt against their French colonial rulers, though many readers, just as myself, were probably not aware of this fact until now. The historian Reinhardt argues in his text, that the concept of a black revolt would be unthinkable for the contemporary white mind, slaves could run away, yes, they could kill their masters surely, but the concept of a black lead revolt was impossible to imagine, even less so a successful one. (Reinhardt, 2020)

This revolution is tightly linked to the Haitian Vodou faith and practices. A Vodou ceremony was in fact the place of the beginning of this rebellion. Furthermore is the practice of Voodoo, both in Haiti, and later the New Orleans branch, both clear examples of rebellion against colonial and racist powers imposed on their predominantly black practitioners. (Tussaint-strauss, 2020, Fandrich 2007)

Trolls in modern fantasy

The troll in modern fantasy, has as many other concepts, much of its roots to be found in J.R.R Tolkien’s massive works, as well as Germanic myths and legends. The modern troll is often described as strong, dumb, cruel and with a love for eating other sentient creatures, mainly human beings. A popular trope is furthermore that trolls are infamously difficult to damage with anything other then fire, due to their abnormal power of healing.

The modern Trolls serve descriptions and narrative uses within the fictions that they are depicted in. What matters for this text is that the troll, just as Orcs, Goblins and other monstrous creatures is almost always, if not exclusively presented as the other, the evil and the monstrous. Rarely, if ever, are these creatures pictured in a sympathetic or positive light.

Note that these creatures are physically humanoid, though always different, in often strange and grotesque ways. The most common version of the troll that we find in modern fantasy mirrors the versions found in Scandinavian folklore, as well as their reimagining in Tolkien’s mythos.

Trolls in warcraft 3

The version of the trolls we find in warcraft 3 follows many of the popular tropes discussed above. They are often the version of the trolls we find in warcraft 3 follows many of the popular tropes discussed above. They are often described as a cruel and sadistic race, taking pleasure in the pain they cause, they are furthermore very dangerous to kill off due to their ability to regenerate from what should be mortal wounds. Lastly have they been shown to have no problem in consuming other sentient races, as well as other trolls, this feature is so integral that they were given an ability to do so in the MMORPG World of warcraft, enabling the player to eat the corpses of defeated foes.

Voodoo | WoWWiki | Fandom
Troll witch doctor.

Many of the same terms and concepts that permeate contemporary western pop culture regarding Vodou can be found amongst the descriptions of the Warcraft 3 trolls. The most prominent and easily recognisable features being that one of their main military units, pictured above is known as the Witch Doctor. Furthermore are upgrades for Troll units found in a building known as the Voodoo lounge.

Many of the voice-lines of the troll characters make further references to stereotypical Voodoo related practices such as communing with spirits as well as mentioning good and bad mojo. Furthermore, do the two primary Troll units within the game, the witch doctor and the headhunter both use abilities that refer to the practices described above. The term headhunter hints at the soteriological Voodoo practice of gathering and shrinking enemies heads, while the term witch doctor is tightly tied to Voodoo and Vodou in the western imagination.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Vol'jin Sylvanas Windrunner Troll, world of warcraft, fictional Character, mythology, warlord png | PNGWing
Source: https://www.pngwing.com/en/free-png-zordk

Like many other versions of the Troll in fantasy, are they depicted as more monstrous versions of the humanoid form, being tall, with enormous ears and noses. The troll is furthermore given a more bestial visage with the addition of two large tusks protruding from their face. Their alienation is made further with their blue skin tones, a trend that will continue with the Orcs. This visual can once again be prepared to the much more traditionally attractive human forms in the shapes of Humans, Elves and Dwarves respectively.

Conclusions

Once again have we seen that the creative design of Warcraft 3 shows their inspirations on its sleeves, for better or worse. the use of Vodou practices is in and of itself not the problem, but the combination of Vodou, and other Once again have we seen that the creative design of Warcraft 3 shows their inspirations on its sleeves, for better or worse. the use of Vodou practices is in and of itself not the problem, but the combination of Vodou, and other stereotypically negative “savage” tropes such as cannibalism does point at negative underlying stereotypes. This image of otherness amongst the trolls, is furthered the tropes of Vodou as well as negative “savage” tropes is given to a stereotypically monstrous race, the troll. The sensation of otherness is made quite clear when put in contrast with the human faction, that is not only predominantly shown to be white, but is also heavily coded as western and Christian in their presentation.

Just as the Tauren depiction seen in the last chapter, is the Trolls part of a wider system of tying Vodou and similar non white practices to cannibalism and other forms of brutal and savage traditions. As I have shown in this chapter is it not uncommon a trend can be found in the depictions of Vodou as evil or savage magic. The practice of condemning a foreign practice of religious philosophy, is one way of legitimizing your own as True faith. A practice that is, even though made subconsciously, continued in the text of Warcraft 3.

The choice to give the traits of traditionally coded Haitian Vodou practices to a monstrous races can not be understated, as well as the depiction of the Horde in general as a more bestial and primitive race, something that we will discuss further in the upcoming chapter on orcs can not be understated. Regardless of what the intention of this division was at the creation of the text, is it not possible to ignore the fact that it exists a stark contrast between the two major forces of the Horde and the Alliance, one having a distinctly western and “progressive” coding, while the other having a similarly distinct foreign and “savage coding. Note that foreign is here used to denote otherness, in this case, individuals other than the western culture and traditions.

The goal of this series is not to try and condemn and shame. My goal is to show how unchallenged tropes and subconscious biases can help produce hateful and derogatory depictions in the media we create. It is difficult to become aware of once biases and underlying narrative tropes without having them pointed out to you. It is my goal in this series to provide some examples of such biases and tropes to the reader, in the hopes of helping them discover their own biases, and if they choose, overcome them. While becoming aware of, and being able to reflect critically about these biases, will we be able to more inclusive, imaginative and engaging narratives in the future.

Sources

llingson, T. (2001). The myth of the noble savage. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.

Reinhardt, T. (2005). 200 Years of Forgetting: Hushing up the Haitian Revolution. Journal of Black Studies, 35(4), 246-261. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40027220

Toussaint-strauss, Josh (2020) How ‘voodoo’ became a metaphor for evil, YouTube series

Zarka, E. (2020) The Origins of the Zombie, from Haiti to the U.S. | Monstrum YouTube series

Ramsey, K. (2012). From ‘Voodooism’ to ‘Vodou’: Changing a US Library of Congress Subject Heading. Journal of Haitian Studies, 18(2), 14-25. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41949200

Fandrich, I. (2007). Yorùbá Influences on Haitian Vodou and New Orleans Voodoo. Journal of Black Studies, 37(5), 775-791. Retrieved September 13, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40034365