Ruritania: Difference between revisions
Content added Content deleted
m (Mass update links) |
m (Mass update links) |
||
| Line 28: | Line 28: | ||
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' actually named its fake countries D Country, with its [[Nerd Glasses]]-wearing princess simply named Princess D, and U Country, with its... vampire ambassador. No doubt D Country is the original home of [[Bionic Commando (Video Game)|Master-D.]] In the anime, there's also the Amethyst Kingdom, where apparently, the concept of money doesn't exist. [[Fridge Logic]] much? |
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' actually named its fake countries D Country, with its [[Nerd Glasses]]-wearing princess simply named Princess D, and U Country, with its... vampire ambassador. No doubt D Country is the original home of [[Bionic Commando (Video Game)|Master-D.]] In the anime, there's also the Amethyst Kingdom, where apparently, the concept of money doesn't exist. [[Fridge Logic]] much? |
||
** What about [[Pet Shop of Horrors|Count D]]? |
** What about [[Pet Shop of Horrors|Count D]]? |
||
* The Duchy of Cagliostro from ''[[The |
* The Duchy of Cagliostro from ''[[The Castle of Cagliostro (Anime)|The Castleof Cagliostro]]''. [[Lupin III]] states that the country is 'Ruritanian' when they first enter it, along with it being the smallest UN nation (population: 3500). A few other miscellaneous Ruritanias were featured on the various ''Lupin'' TV series as well. |
||
* ''Meine Liebe'' is set between world wars in a lovely noble monarchy on an non-existing island in the Bay of Biscay which lives as if it was still XIX or even XVIII century. |
* ''Meine Liebe'' is set between world wars in a lovely noble monarchy on an non-existing island in the Bay of Biscay which lives as if it was still XIX or even XVIII century. |
||
* ''[[Iono the Fanatics]]'' is a two-issue [[Girls Love]] manga whose whole plot is about an [[Ordinary High School Student]] being pursued by the [[Loveable Sex Maniac]] queen of a small and obscure European nation. In fact, it's implied at several points that the queen's obsession with having a massive (several ''thousand'' strong) harem of women is partially responsible for the traditional poverty associated with Ruritania -- one part the economic drain of having to support hundreds of women who live lavish lifestyles but basically do nothing but lounge around, have sex and otherwise amuse themselves, one part the implcation she's already taken most, if not all, of the women in the country as her courtesans. |
* ''[[Iono the Fanatics]]'' is a two-issue [[Girls Love]] manga whose whole plot is about an [[Ordinary High School Student]] being pursued by the [[Loveable Sex Maniac]] queen of a small and obscure European nation. In fact, it's implied at several points that the queen's obsession with having a massive (several ''thousand'' strong) harem of women is partially responsible for the traditional poverty associated with Ruritania -- one part the economic drain of having to support hundreds of women who live lavish lifestyles but basically do nothing but lounge around, have sex and otherwise amuse themselves, one part the implcation she's already taken most, if not all, of the women in the country as her courtesans. |
||
| Line 80: | Line 80: | ||
* Graustark from the novels of George Barr McCutcheon. |
* Graustark from the novels of George Barr McCutcheon. |
||
* The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a tiny European country about the size of a small town, in the ''Mouse'' books by Leonard Wibberley. It defeats the United States in a war in ''[[The Mouse That Roared (Literature)|The Mouse That Roared]]'' (which it [[Springtime for Hitler|intended to lose]]); beats the U.S. and Soviet Union in a space race in ''The Mouse on the Moon''; and disrupts the world's finances in ''The Mouse on Wall Street''. In a medieval prequel, ''Beware of the Mouse'', he gives more background on the founding of Grand Fenwick. Here Grand Fenwick is located between France and Switzerland, and the population is English. |
* The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a tiny European country about the size of a small town, in the ''Mouse'' books by Leonard Wibberley. It defeats the United States in a war in ''[[The Mouse That Roared (Literature)|The Mouse That Roared]]'' (which it [[Springtime for Hitler|intended to lose]]); beats the U.S. and Soviet Union in a space race in ''The Mouse on the Moon''; and disrupts the world's finances in ''The Mouse on Wall Street''. In a medieval prequel, ''Beware of the Mouse'', he gives more background on the founding of Grand Fenwick. Here Grand Fenwick is located between France and Switzerland, and the population is English. |
||
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' - The Durmstrang Institute of Magic possibly exists in a Ruritania with Eastern European and Germanic overtones. It's never stated exactly where it's located. Some students explicitly hail from Bulgaria or Russia, while former student Gellert Grindelwald has a Hungarian first name and German surname. The name "Durmstrang" is a fairly obvious play on the German phrase "''[ |
* ''[[Harry Potter]]'' - The Durmstrang Institute of Magic possibly exists in a Ruritania with Eastern European and Germanic overtones. It's never stated exactly where it's located. Some students explicitly hail from Bulgaria or Russia, while former student Gellert Grindelwald has a Hungarian first name and German surname. The name "Durmstrang" is a fairly obvious play on the German phrase "''[[wikipedia:Sturm und Drang|Sturm und Drang]]''." |
||
* The book ''Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry'' is ostensibly a travel guide to the titular fictional country. |
* The book ''Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry'' is ostensibly a travel guide to the titular fictional country. |
||
* Genovia in ''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' book series is a fictitious European Principality, however it is more Mediterranean than Easten European. It's a teeny place (1 mile long, with a population of 50,000) which is supposed to be between France and Italy (reminiscent of Monaco, or, maybe, [ |
* Genovia in ''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' book series is a fictitious European Principality, however it is more Mediterranean than Easten European. It's a teeny place (1 mile long, with a population of 50,000) which is supposed to be between France and Italy (reminiscent of Monaco, or, maybe, [[wikipedia:Principality of Seborga|Seborga]]) or between France and Spain (like Andorra) in the movies where it's a Kingdom. It's pretty nice, if a bit dull. |
||
* 1938 novel ''Biggles Goes To War'' features two Ruritanias: small, peace-loving Maltovia and bullying larger neighbour Lovitznia. Although a thinly-disguised allegory for the German takeover of Austria, in the novel it is the Maltovians who appear more German and the Lovitznians who have more of the Slav about them. It is left to the reader to decide whether Capt. Johns was inverting the stereotype or subtly pushing a message about the Red Menace... |
* 1938 novel ''Biggles Goes To War'' features two Ruritanias: small, peace-loving Maltovia and bullying larger neighbour Lovitznia. Although a thinly-disguised allegory for the German takeover of Austria, in the novel it is the Maltovians who appear more German and the Lovitznians who have more of the Slav about them. It is left to the reader to decide whether Capt. Johns was inverting the stereotype or subtly pushing a message about the Red Menace... |
||
* Borogravia from the [[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]] book ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]''. |
* Borogravia from the [[Discworld (Literature)|Discworld]] book ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]''. |
||
| Line 176: | Line 176: | ||
== Western Animation == |
== Western Animation == |
||
* Thembria from ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale Spin]]'' was a mock version of the Soviet Union (which was [[The Great Politics Mess |
* Thembria from ''[[Tale Spin (Animation)|Tale Spin]]'' was a mock version of the Soviet Union (which was [[The Great Politics Mess-Up|still around]] at the time), with its hostile arctic climate, babushka-clad peasantry, inept and bombastic centralized government that insisted on putting the prefix "glorious" in front of everything and a moribund economy that resulted in constant shortages of everything, including ammunition. So much so that the Air Force had to sometimes employ bathtubs and lunch meat as offensive weapons.<br /><br />It gets worse; they even ban imagination, because imaginative people do not conform. |
||
* ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' had Boris and Natasha's home country of Pottsylvania, an imaginary Soviet satellite where literally ''everyone'' is a spy. |
* ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' had Boris and Natasha's home country of Pottsylvania, an imaginary Soviet satellite where literally ''everyone'' is a spy. |
||
** There was also an arc featuring a country that was actually called Ruritania. |
** There was also an arc featuring a country that was actually called Ruritania. |
||
| Line 191: | Line 191: | ||
== Real Life == |
== Real Life == |
||
* Short version: [[Truth in Television|Not entirely unjustified]] thanks to Central and Eastern Europe having a long history of conquering and being conquered, resulting in some odd mixing of ethnic groups, religious affiliations and language families, often within a single empire. |
* Short version: [[Truth in Television|Not entirely unjustified]] thanks to Central and Eastern Europe having a long history of conquering and being conquered, resulting in some odd mixing of ethnic groups, religious affiliations and language families, often within a single empire. |
||
* Poldavia (Poldévie) was a fictional country, invented by a French journalist who was a member of a far-right organization in 1929. Its supposed representatives wrote letters to French Senators to ask them to intervene in a Civil War supposed to take place in their country. The prank mainly targeted radical-leftist and anticlerical Senators.<br /><br />The [[Identical Stranger|consul of Poldavia]] makes a brief appearance in the ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]]'' adventure ''The Blue Lotus''.<br /><br />The politician Marcel Déat in an editorial printed on May 4, 1939, wrote that Danzig was not worth fighting a war over and that French farmers had no desire to die for the Poldavians ("mourir pour les Poldèves"). Déat went on to become a prominent fascist politician in Vichy and occupied France.<br /><br />Poldavia was also cited as the "birth place" of [ |
* Poldavia (Poldévie) was a fictional country, invented by a French journalist who was a member of a far-right organization in 1929. Its supposed representatives wrote letters to French Senators to ask them to intervene in a Civil War supposed to take place in their country. The prank mainly targeted radical-leftist and anticlerical Senators.<br /><br />The [[Identical Stranger|consul of Poldavia]] makes a brief appearance in the ''[[Tintin (Comic Book)]]'' adventure ''The Blue Lotus''.<br /><br />The politician Marcel Déat in an editorial printed on May 4, 1939, wrote that Danzig was not worth fighting a war over and that French farmers had no desire to die for the Poldavians ("mourir pour les Poldèves"). Déat went on to become a prominent fascist politician in Vichy and occupied France.<br /><br />Poldavia was also cited as the "birth place" of [[wikipedia:Bourbaki|Nicolas Bourbaki]]. |
||
* Sometimes real world politicians are asked about situations in fictional countries as part of a Gotcha test. One example referenced "[[Duck Soup|Freedonia]]" which at least one Congressman did recognize. Others did not. |
* Sometimes real world politicians are asked about situations in fictional countries as part of a Gotcha test. One example referenced "[[Duck Soup|Freedonia]]" which at least one Congressman did recognize. Others did not. |
||
* In fact, the history of many real-life east-european provinces can explain the mishmash of unrelated cultural elements (German, Slavic, Turkic, Greek, etc.) usualy found in the description of fictional Ruritania. For instance, the real-life province of Bukovina has successively belonged to Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Romania, USSR and is at the present time cut in half between Ukraine and Romania. |
* In fact, the history of many real-life east-european provinces can explain the mishmash of unrelated cultural elements (German, Slavic, Turkic, Greek, etc.) usualy found in the description of fictional Ruritania. For instance, the real-life province of Bukovina has successively belonged to Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Romania, USSR and is at the present time cut in half between Ukraine and Romania. |
||
| Line 219: | Line 219: | ||
[[Category:Hollywood Atlas]] |
[[Category:Hollywood Atlas]] |
||
[[Category:Ruritania]] |
[[Category:Ruritania]] |
||
[[Category:Trope]] |
|||