Hekuvihírsa: Difference between revisions

Dialogue peppered with untranslated [[Caphiric Latin]] words and phrases.

According to Paravakonen in his monograph ''The "I've Never Been To Caphiria But This Is What It's Like" Starterpack'' very few authors of ''Hekuvihírsa'' had ever visited Caphiria themselves. As such, their impressions of Caphiria and its culture were drawn mainly from second- and third-hand accounts, encounters with Caphirian cultural imports, popular history, and other literature. As such, portrayals of Caphiria in these stories typically contain a large number of inaccuracies, many of which would have been readily apparent to Caphirians or to Kiravians personally familiar with the country. Paravakonen has advanced the claim that around the peak of the genre's popularity, most new authors entering the genre were basing their understanding of the country primarily on other ''Hekuvihírsa'', which had the effect of magnifying certain inaccuracies. Higher-quality and better-researched ''hekuvihírsa'' have fewer and less glaring factual inaccuracies than their downmarket cousins, but also intentionally emphasise elements of Caphirian culture that Kiravian audiences would find exotic and captivating, to the effect of departing from {{wp|circle jerk|realism}}. At the same time, many stories also contain unconscious impositions of Coscivian culture where audiences are unaware of differing customs in Caphiria.  

One enduring and visible influence of ''Hekuvihírsa'' on Kiravian culture has been the proliferation of pseudo-Latin given names among Kiravians. Latin and Latinised Greek or Semitic names, particularly of Biblical, hagiographic, or otherwise religious provenance, had already gradually been adopted over time as Christianity spread among Coscivians, and a trend toward more overtly Latinate versions of extant Gaelicised or Coscivised Latin names (e.g. ''Páulus'' over ''Pálur'' or ''Páv'') accelerated with the growth of [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]]. However, it appears that ''Hekuvihírsa'' contributed to the widespread adoption of Latin-''sounding'' names that did not actually exist in Caphiria or any other Latin-speaking culture, such as ''Barcivius'' and ''Demarius''. As discussed above, many ''Hekuvihírsa'' authors did not have a deep knowledge of Caphirian culture, nor did most of their target audience. As such, many, especially toward the later half of the genre's heyday, incorrectly extrapolated Caphirian names from names in modern Levantine languages (e.g. Gerry → Jerrus, or more ridiculously Dilbert → Dilbertarianus), composed novel and often nonsensical names from Latin roots (e.g. Calecanus, Superfixarius), or simply made them up (e.g. Barkivius, Hughtavius, Arrhenius). A great many pseudo-Latin names used in these works were assumed to be legitimate Latin names and were given to children by Kiravian readers, and a large number remain in use today. This has no doubt influenced the continuing practice among many Kiravians (particularly the less-educated classes), to form new names by slapping ''-us'' or ''-ia'' to the end of any old thing.

Although the classic ''Hekuvihírsa'' genre declined in the 2XXXXs and new publications following the genre's conventions had ceased by 2XXXX, its influence has lived on. Television critic Netflixicus Thérafolon, himself named after a minor character from an obscure ''Hekuvihírsa'' novel, has identified a contemporary reincarnation of the genre in several Kiravian-produced corporate dramas, as well as the novel ''Crazy Rich Latins'', which may be set in present-day Caphiria, the [[Tryhstian Littoral]], or the [[Melian Isles]], and often centre around business enterprises from or doing business with Caphiria. Although these recent works differ from their predecessors in having a less exoticist and more factually accurate depiction of Caphiria and Caphirians, Thérafolon argues that their plot structure and thematic elements recall the ''Hekuvihírsa'' of yore.