Ayla's Saga: Fictional Prompts
[Image: enlarged crop of the original cover for the 4th book of the Saga].
Publication date: 2021-11-15
Just as satire uses wit and humor to slide unauthorized perspectives beyond our collective social defenses, fiction allows an author to probe topics which are often beyond view.
Having re-read the "Ayla" Saga, the sequence of novels by Jean M. Auel starting with "Clan of the Cave Bear", I have been appreciating the themes, contrasts and parables which she has woven into the Saga's arcs. I wish to relate them to my study of power and geopolitics, and also to recent cultural discussions which have been occurring in both the old and new media.
This discussion does not include the final book in the Saga, which I have not read.
The Saga: A recap
The Saga takes place during the lifetime of the heroine, Ayla, from when she is 5 years old until 20, during an European Ice Age about 40 000 years ago. During this period Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens inhabited the area. The stories in the Saga are ones of cultural description, and Ayla's search for herself and a home amongst a community. It is also a love story involving the personal redemption of her hero.
The journey from what is now the Black Sea and the Crimean Peninsula through eastern Europe to what is now France includes the fictional characterization of the Neanderthal community in which she is raised (the "Clan"), and from which she is outcast, through several differing Homo Sapien communities (the "Others", from which she descends) of differing languages and residential environments, but with a loosely common spiritual outlook.
Jean, the author, bestows upon Ayla the discoveries of tens of thousands of years to give her a mythic power: the taming of horses and a wolf (and happily, a beautifully unbelievably Cave Lion), the discovery of panniers and a travois for the horses, the discovery of spark from flint and pyrite, the invention of the needle, an incredible knowledge of the healing uses of plants and treatments for flesh wounds and broken bones, and a supreme ability to learn languages including the "sign language" of the Neanderthals who raised her. The author also gives the hero, Jondalar, the invention of a "spear thrower" enabling greater power and distance to the throwing of a spear.
It is a Saga, not an "historical novel". The author invests much effort to provide the best description of the physical environment, including its plants, animals, and physical geography and climate which were known at the time of writing. She has a particular interest in the carvings of revered bountiful female statues that have been recovered in archaeological digs in the area, and around those constructs the mythology of the Homo Sapien (“Others”) communities, the "Great Earth Mother".
The Story and Themes
The story is a "rollicking yarn" involving joy and tragedy. It is a pleasure to read, invoking calm laughter and many a wet eye. I would recommend it for anyone from 14 years to any age.
The themes lie in the interpersonal and the structure of society, with more global ideas to which I return at the end. The interpersonal themes move from the individual (the heroine and hero, largely), to smaller societies including the "Clan" and other communities that they meet during their return to the hero's society. As the Saga progresses larger societies and social gatherings are included to further present an analysis of the social and power structure arrangements among the societies, while at the same time exploring the conflict between primarily the "Clan" and "Others" societies, and also those between and within the "Others'" societies.
The power structure relationships within the "Clan" are very fixed, and firmly fixed on gender. Those for the "Other's" vary a little, but the current tensions within them as the journey progresses allow an exploration of different topics.
In the fifth book, "Shelter's of Stone", Jean explores a parable of the tension between the church and state, or spiritual versus community leadership, with the introduction of new knowledge and new ideas which largely form the basis for this consideration.
Gender Roles and Identity
The Saga's portrayal of society and gender roles is conservative. Some acknowledgment is made of non-heterosexual individuals, though non-heterosexuals have no major, or even minor roles.
During recent years the Russian Federation and Hungary have passed laws prohibiting the advertising of non-heterosexual relations to those under the age of 18. This has drawn ire and criticism from significant sections of the "progressive" "west". This response has stuck me as quite strange.
There is a common cultural background, conservative Orthodox Christianity, and the elected democratic governments align with this cultural tradition. The Communist period in the USSR including Hungary, despite its efforts, had been unable to repress this cultural background. It has emerged and wishes to preserve long held cultural traditions through the ballot box and parliamentary law. In which other way do their critics think it best to preserve their cultural traditions?
The two world wars created largely by Europe, really got in the way of the Suffragette movement demanding what we now call Universal Suffrage, but which should really be called Everyone Gets a Vote, with the emphasis on Everyone. The brave women behind this were followed in the 60's and 70's by the feminist and racial equality movements seeking their own electoral and economic emancipation. Moving at the same time were the gay rights movement, and environmental movements.
To my mind, the Feminist, Racial Equality and the Gay Rights Movements have given much to the cultures in which they have been successful. It is also to be recognized that changes in society, especially rapid ones, create resistance. Was the Feminist movement purloined by the Capitalist Class to exploit their labour? Maybe, but would you deny women the ability to have economic independence? They still do not receive equal wages for equal work in much of the world, developed or otherwise, and their contribution to societies' structure and well being in the form of childcare and the core structures of local communities is still an "externality" in the minds of the largely male national and international economic planners. This is equally true of biodiversity for the environmental movement.
As for the Gay Rights movement, it has had wonderful success, despite the AIDS pandemic and its horrific impact upon their community and across sexual orientation lines, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. But, what of the BTQI part of LGBTQI? What is this all about?
The Gay Rights movement planted a "rainbow" flag; we're not going anywhere. One can only but smile at "Dykes on Bikes" during a Sydney Mardigras and other equivalent floats during parades in festivals worldwide. Its the BTQI part that irks more conservative social groups.
A conservative, but considerate element of society may say, do your own consensual sexual practices in private, as we do ours, and have at it. Equivalently, we acknowledge homosexuality and bisexuality. But, given the current acceptance, why so much noise? There are millions of children dying from lack of clean water or food. Its a bit “first world problem” territory.
The issue here, from this author’s perspective, is not one of severity in case, but global attention. A teenager uncertain about their sexuality is a very difficult situation in such a crucial time of identity formation. A lack of drinking water for a 3 year old is a different problem. The west’s media’s focus has been on local social challenges, including those of gender identity issues and largely excluding social existential challenges created by war or commercial exploitation combined with poor civilian infrastructure. It is the magnification of one important but small local social issue over wider global existential issues which this author believes has lead some governments to resist media influence due a lack of trust.
It comes back to the threat of rapid social change, which we shall explore along with another threat of rapid change, that of technology.
Power Structures
The most accurate and simple to understand analysis of global power structures that I have found is by James Corbett. I'm sure its not new, but it goes like this:
There are collections of power centers, be they people, families or organisations, which vie for influence in both economic and raw coercive power. They are not aligned on all issues, and fight amongst themselves.
I would add that, above all else, they wish to preserve these elite groups. Do not think that means that any group must be static, but that the groups knows who they are, and it is managed. They must be identifiable and controllable.
The Saga explores an existing power structure, the spiritual "elite" the zelandonnia, and their weaker but aligned "state" or community power structure the "leaders", and their response to the introduction of new ideas and technology.
The super-heroine (Ayla) and her lover, the hero (Jondalar), return to his society bringing with them both new concepts and new technology. Additionally, she is both a foreigner and one raised largely by the "Clan", eliciting cultural resistance and raising challenges on all fronts. The author, Jean, explores through her fictional narrative how these tensions are responded to on familial, community, societal and cultural levels. It is the portrayal of these challenges represented by the author that really took me in my most recent (third) re-reading of the Saga.
Technological Challenges
The tamed horses and wolf are shocking to the community to which the heroes return. However, they are dealt with quickly, due to the support of community leadership. The spear thrower is doubted but proves itself and is embraced. The "needle" (thread puller) occurs here and there and is accepted. The use of the "travois" is immediately seen as useful with the horses and is accepted.
Ayla's discovery of "fire from stone" (flint striking pyrite) is the major problem. It is a technology that the zelandonnia see as very useful for creating theatrical effects to bolster their own performances/social influence. Some elements within the structure wish to "control" (restrict) the dissemination of the new technology. The arguments amongst the zelandonnia lead to a delayed release of the technology so that it can be more easily/carefully delivered to the communities.
As a comparison, one could consider the development of new technologies which are developed for the military before being delivered to the citizenry a decade later.
Knowledge Challenges
Both the spiritual and community power structures have a problem with the cultural divide between the "Clan" and the "Others" (them). Ayla’s, and to a limited degree her hero's, knowledge of the Neanderthals will rupture social dogma and provide a way to harmonize tensions between the cultures.
The biggest problem for the spiritual leadership, who also have a monopoly on healing (health care), is that Ayla's healing skill surpasses their own in some areas, particularly female contraception. They also cannot believe that this skill was obtained from the "Clan". Ayla’s knowledge is not entirely received. Her creative and analytic skills have enabled her to extended that which she learned. Nonetheless, it scares the monopolists.
Ayla has also shown capability in the "spirit world" which I shall ignore, but it is relevant to the concerns of the zelandonnia.
All of this cultural, technological, and medical knowledge, combined with her "spiritual" potential leads the author to write (Chapter 36, Shelters of Stone) from the perspective of the leader of the zelandonnia:
She had to be brought in, it could pose too great a threat to the stability of the zeladonnia to have someone with her knowledge and innate skills outside their influence.
I think this beautifully captures Corbett's analysis of our global power structures.
Cultural Tension
One of the ongoing themes through the book is the tension between the "Clan" and the "Others".
This is obviously a call for people to travel and learn other cultures. One may then counter the ridiculous caricatures that are seen in media of whoever the current "enemy" is:
all the Russians drink too much vodka and are implicit liars
all the Chinese want to repress political speech and oppress some minority
all the Iranians want to kill all Jews
all the Venezuelans want to repress all of the other Venezuelans
Auel marks the problem and its potential solutions openly. It is presented from the perspectives of the "Others":
a deep reflection on the “histories” of their people provides the leader of the zelandonnia evidence that the land on which they live was previously occupied by the “Clan” (i.e the “Others” are settler colonialists)
repeated aggressive (rape, murder) actions are described performed by the "Others" against the "Clan"
community leadership asks "what if they'd done that to us"?
spiritual leadership attempts to lower tensions by reducing the cultural divide
the Trade Master for the heroes' "Cave" asks about establishing trade relations with the “Clan”?
It is a very sad indictment of our current media how often these questions are not asked. What is the cause of the conflict? How would we feel? How can tensions be reduced? Even worse is the lack of any publicity of any government or bureaucracy asking these questions in reverse? How do the Iranians feel about USA economic policy towards them? If we had the insurgency problems that China is facing in Xianjiang in say, Texas, how would we respond? Could better trade relations between ourselves and (country X) alleviate social difficulties there, and which trade relations would better both?
Global Theme
The Saga's global theme is the "Great Mother Earth" and "Her Children". It is neither Environmentalist, nor Feminist but concepts from both movements are a part of the narrative. Its a calling for the acknowledgment that we all live on this one planet, and that during the last Mother knows how many years many of us have lived in a patriarchy which has denied both femininity and motherhood to our societies' detriment.
Sources
The Clan of the Cave Bear, Jean M. Auel, Wikipedia
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