Ruritania: Difference between revisions

* Genovia in ''[[The Princess Diaries]]'' book series is a fictitious European Principality, however it is more Mediterranean than Eastern European. It's a teeny place (one 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|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...

* Mixolydia is a Slavic Ruritania invented by Angela Thirkell for her ''Barsetshire'' novels. In the novel "Cheerfulness Breaks In," set in the opening year of World War Two, Barsetshire has to accomodate a number of refugees from Mixolydia, all of whom are various foreigner tropes. We learn that the local religion is Orthodoxy, and they have a long list of hereditary enemies among real-world nations. The name is a word-play on the mixolydian mode or scale in music.

* Barrayar in [[Lois McMaster Bujold]]'s ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'' series is basically a [[Planet of Hats|planet-wide]] Ruritania. The planet was settled by Russians, Greeks, French, and English, with Russian culture dominating. Take a multi-cultural interstellar colony, add [[Lost Colony|several centuries of dark ages]], and shake. Voila!

 

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[[Category:National Stereotyping Tropes]]

[[Category:Settings]]

[[Category:Hollywood Atlas]]

[[Category:Fictional Culture and Nation Tropes]]

[[Category:Gothic Horror Tropes]]