Worldbuilding Wednesday 3/24/21: Anarres and Urras

Ursula K. LeGuin’s political science fiction novel The Dispossessed has as its subtitle “An Ambiguous Utopia.” But screw that. Isn’t this a whamdoodle of a cover? Twin worlds, close enough to touch, one lush and green, one red like Mars but cratered like the Moon, done up in a riotous rainbow of colors?

(I’ll do a later post on the many covers of the novel, which is approaching its 50th anniversary.)

I bought this very same paperback as a teenager just because of it, and because I liked LeGuin and had heard good buzz about the book. On reading it, however, I was underwhelmed, because I expected something grandious and full of action, and The Dispossessed is not that. It shares the Cold War background that rooted The Left Hand of Darkness (literally, in that case, because Gethen was a planet in its ice age) but lacks the romance and adventure of it. However, that doesn’t mean it is a bad book. Just beyond 9th grade me.

Now I can appreciate it for what it is, and in fact it’s something of a comfort read, in that I re-visit it every few years and always take back something new on the reading. Which is the mark of a superior writer, IMO.

One of the things that I appreciate anew, and have respect for, is LeGuin’s method for naming the characters. Those living on Anarres, the “moon” of the Tau Ceti system (though it’s really more of a double planet arrangement) are named by a computer on their birth, a unique, two-syllable, randomly generated name using a limited number of consonant sounds (b, d, g, gv, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, sh, t, v) and vowels (a, e, i, u) which the parents must accept no matter how crazy the sound of it is, because it’s what they are ideologically conditioned to do — Anarres being a sort of Communism that actually works, without the authoritarianism. Shevek, Bedap, Gvarab, Pipar are some examples of the names. Anarrians get only one name, the idea of a family or family line being one of the “propertarian” elements they divested themselves from when they left Urras as polotical exiles.

Those living on the home planet, Urras, in contrast, have flamboyant multi-vowel names that are sort of Hawaiian, sort of Latin, to my ears anyway. This is for only one language, that of the nation of A-Io, which is accepted as the “America” country analog (though to me it reads more like Switzerland.) The other nations have their own languages.

Writing fanfic on either world? Here are some names for you.

 

Proper Names from The Dispossessed

Anarres

Bapuv

Dolesh

Gvubul

Kemluk

Kerigv

Kikeb

Leksus

Listek

Lunas

Lutek

Maklis

Nashas

Nuran

Pansir

Rakud

Rutim

Sesrel

Shadig

Shidil

Shumun

Shuvat

Sirit

Susbur

Telush

Tuptar

Viblin

Vupad

Urras

Rae Ieseano

Opo Dae Turi

Ievo Pon

Aru Oemanai

Sanoi Airo Isru

Ere Nait

Atru Shul

Afoe

Poiae

Ini Nilae

Eusae

Sei Nea

Soi Aetu

Uira Kae

Nui Iko

Viti Enail

Te Reto

Inai

Vadoua

Kio Pe

Amo Li

Vaa Chaea

Saniou

Ili Ea

Ute Amo Li

Pulea

Ralii

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.