heartmint
asked
Ann Leckie:
It's implied in Ancillary Sword that nuclear families and unrequited love (and therefore strict monogamy) are not really things that the Radchaii concern themselves with. Could you elaborate a bit on that? Are romantic/sexual relationships generally casual? Are there usually more than two adults raising children together?
Ann Leckie
So, unrequited love is a thing--but monogamy is not. In the culture I live in, at any rate, the publicly ideal romantic relationship is sexually exclusive and only two people. Radchaai don't have an institution that idealizes or centralizes such an exclusive romantic/sexual relationship. Of course, there are certainly some long-term pairs of lovers, and some of those pairs will have been exclusive, but not because it's expected. So a song about "the person I'm in love with is married to someone else oh woe" isn't a situation that would resonate. "The person I'm in love with isn't in love with me and I have to find a way to deal" would be, though.
Generally children are raised by their house. Or, the household that's a subunit of their house. Children might have one, two, or possibly even three or four parents (whether legally or biologically or some combination of those), but their membership in a particular house is (ideally at least) unambiguous from before they're born. Some of those parents may be from other houses, and those connections mean something (and in some cases the children are at least partially a result of various alliances and agreements, especially in the really aristocratic houses) but mostly kids are raised by the parent(s) who is/are member(s) of the same house, plus other older relatives or clients in that particular household. Lots of households include extended families, though of course not all.
Complicating this, of course, is the fact that various pre-annexation customs have hung on in some form long after everyone in a particular location considers themselves entirely Radchaai--so my description above is general and idealized, and individual circumstances will vary from place to place, sometimes fairly widely.
Generally children are raised by their house. Or, the household that's a subunit of their house. Children might have one, two, or possibly even three or four parents (whether legally or biologically or some combination of those), but their membership in a particular house is (ideally at least) unambiguous from before they're born. Some of those parents may be from other houses, and those connections mean something (and in some cases the children are at least partially a result of various alliances and agreements, especially in the really aristocratic houses) but mostly kids are raised by the parent(s) who is/are member(s) of the same house, plus other older relatives or clients in that particular household. Lots of households include extended families, though of course not all.
Complicating this, of course, is the fact that various pre-annexation customs have hung on in some form long after everyone in a particular location considers themselves entirely Radchaai--so my description above is general and idealized, and individual circumstances will vary from place to place, sometimes fairly widely.
More Answered Questions
Claire
asked
Ann Leckie:
Hello. I wondered if you were aware of the fact that in the french translation of Ancillary, Breq is male ? The translator (a guy btw), made Breq speak using male pronouns and epithets about herself...himself... Were you consulted on that matter ? Did they (the french editor) made Breq male so as to sell more books ?
Dane
asked
Ann Leckie:
Just finished Ancillary Mercy, and absolutely loved it. Should we be expecting any more books set in the universe any time soon? Seems like there's a lot going on, and even if Justice of Toren's story has reached its end, I really want to know what happens next! Would also be really cool to see inside the actual Radch at some point.
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