Jump to content

Is the Supremacy a proxy for modern China?


ecohansen

Recommended Posts

So, we know that Brandon has repeatedly drawn on Asian cultures in his worldbuilding: WOB confirms that the Alethi are partly inspired by Three-Kingdoms-period China, The Emperor's Soul is Asian to the max, and big parts of Warbreaker feel very Tang-Dynasty to me.  And of course there's Brandon's time in Korea.

To me, there seem to be a lot of parallels between the Supremacy and Modern China, and I'm wondering if the parallels are deliberate.  Obviously, there's modern China's emphasis on "harmony" and "peaceful rise", and its comfort with hierarchy, technocracy, and meritocracy.  There's its strategy of gaining and maintaining hegemony through offering services that other potential power centers can't offer.  For the Supremacy, it's transport, and for China, it's manufacturing, and increasingly also finance and resource extraction.  The massive Chinese-backed infrastructure projects in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and other nations within the Belt and Road Initiative show that China is also quickly becoming the regional hegemon for transportation, just like the Supremacy.

In Cold War-era SF, the Bug-Eyed-Monster-Hivemind-as-standin-for-filthy-commies trope came standard.  Here, the parallels seem a lot more nuanced.  And obviously, the relationship isn't on e-to-one: clearly, the Supremacy is a lot more polyethnic than China is, for example.  Still, can we use the Supremacy to think about China, or can we use China to help us think about the Supremacy?  Or am I just seeing ghosts?  Does anyone else get a China vibe from them?  If so, what are your thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You could certainly read it that way.  However the superiority has several noteworthy differences to china.  They have a greater tolerance for public debate, they are as you mentioned far more polyethnic, they care a lot more about stopping aggression and their political processes are far more democratic then china's.  I personally see the superiority as a mostly original creation but that does not mean you are wrong. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...