On 19Oct2021 0816, Jeffrey Schwartz - schwartz.jeffrey at gmail.com (via
tml list) wrote:
> I disagree
>
> The Zho equivalent of romance novels are a lot like "Leave it to
> Beaver" but without Eddie Haskell: they show a happy, well adjusted
> family
>
> The difference is the Zho romances are a lot like "How to do proper
> courtship rituals" docu-fiction. They have brief backstories of the
> two people, how they have a longing for companionship that is normal,
> but they talk to the Thought Police about it anyway. The helpful TP
> discusses it with them, and they feel sure that there truly is a
> person out there for them, and if they just follow the TP's dating
> tips they'll find true love.
> And they do.
>
> There's also "tragic lesson" romances, showing why it's unwise for a
> non-psi to pine away for a psi, or vice versa. This becomes part of
> societal knowledge and shapes how people act from the beginning, so
> the TP's don't have as much work to do
There would also be ones that seem more familiar to us, where the main
character is dissatisfied and vaguely unhappy, thinking they'll never
find the right person. Not to the point where the TP intervene, but not
as happy as they 'should' be. They flirt with some dangerous ideas,
maybe see some of the wrong people (there's bound to be some somewhere -
maybe the novel is set on a relatively newly acquired world to make this
more believable and acceptable) but then they meet someone who is right
for them, and realise that their parents, the TP, & society were right
all along. They probably tell the authorities all about the dodgy people
they were about to fall in with who then get rounded up as well.

I expect that, aside from the Thought Police, the Vilani romances mostly
follow similar patterns, as they too had little time for
non-traditionalists. That means that most Imperial worlds' writing and
programming will follow this pattern too, outside of those parts
strongly settled by Terrans (the Rim, parts of Diapsora, Old Expanses,
etc.) and Imperial high society (thougb post Rim-war I expect Solomani
style works were Not In Fashion).

--
Rupert Boleyn <xxxxxx@gmail.com>