Sunday, August 23, 2015

First Subgenre


First Subgenre

Adventures – High Seas

Adventures is already a subgenre of realistic fiction. High Seas is thus a sub-subgenre. The genre usually involves sailor’s life, naval rules and hierarchy, violence like wars between nations or piracy, treasures, adventures around the world, etc. The Prezi graph points out that the Napoleonic Wars are a popular setting for the High Seas genre, but it’s certainly not set in stone. The pacing could change significantly, just like the life at sea. It’s could be all quiet, which often give the author a chance to explain naval life and its specificities, or it could be a torrent of adventures one after an another. There is often one main character and around him/her a panoply of secondary characters, often presenting some sort of peculiarities. Language could also greatly vary. It can go from technical naval terms to vulgar sailor dialogue, and everything in between. Like the pace, the tone varies between exciting and detail-oriented. But most of the time there is a suspense because adventures can come and characters can do an about-face at any moment.

Example:


The Dark Frigate by Charles Boardman

A young orphan, Philip, left London in a hurry to escape death. He signs on with a boat leaving for the English Colony of Newfoundland. At sea, pirates seize the boat and force our hero to participate to their violent expeditions. Against his will, Philip is now a pirate and must deal with the consequences.

 


Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life by Hermann Melville

Moby Dick would have been a good example, but Typee is less known. Also Typee include something else about the High-Seas Adventures genre: the crash of civilization. The nineteenth century was the age of the Pacific Ocean discovery and colonization. Melville went there as a young man and discovered the Polynesian simple and happy way of life. The cultural differences led to a series of reflection on good and evil, on nature and culture, on sexuality and frigidity. Typee explains very well this anthropological aspect of the genre.

 


The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk

Set during WWII, The Caine Mutiny describes the (not-violent) mutiny abroad a destroyer during a horrible storm. Still at sea, the martial-court that follow occupies most of the plot of the book. Instead of pirates and adventures, this book focuses on the ethical dilemma that occur when a group of people live and work inside a small nut of wood in the middle of the ocean. Basically, things are not always the same at sea than on land.

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