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BDSM Dictionary : Gor: history
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This entry is part of the BDSM Dictionary hosted by Informed Consent.
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Gor, the Counter-Earth, is the alternate world setting for
John Norman's "Chronicles of Gor," a series
of 28 already published novels that combine reactionary philosophy, soft
science fiction, and BDSM
erotica. Real-life or on-line followers of the
philosophies and lifestyle outlined in the books are called
Goreans. Series summary
Gor is an intricately detailed world in terms of flora, fauna, and customs. Norman also delights in ethnography, populating his planet with the equivalents of Roman, Native American, Viking, and other races. The Gorean humans have advanced architectural and medical skills (including life extension), but are primitive (due to limitations imposed by the Priest-Kings) in the fields of transportation and weaponry -- at approximately the level of Classical Mediterranean civilization. Norman is a competent classicist and sociologist, although his prose, fraught with unnecessary punctuation, diction, and tangents, is less solid.
A major theme of Norman's "Gor" novels is exploring the relationships of
men who have absolute power over owned female slaves (though only a
minority of women on the planet Gor are slaves). For further
elaboration on the psychosexual content of his writings, see John Norman.Books
Most of the books are narrated by transplanted New England professor Tarl Cabot (a.k.a. Bosk of Port Kar), master swordsman and possibly Norman's alter-ego, as he engages in adventures involving Priest-Kings, Kurii, and humans alike. Books 7, 11, 19, 22, 26, and 27 are narrated by abducted earth women who are made slaves. Books 14-16 are narrated by abductee (and initially male slave) Jason Marshal.
Besides humans, the main races in his narrative are the insectoid Priest-Kings (who rule Gor in a mostly dispassionate anti-advanced weapon technology manner) and the ogre-esque Kurii. Both the Priest-Kings and the Kurii initially came from outside our Solar System; the Priest-Kings have a very advanced technology and rule Gor in a disinterested manner not caring about the lives of humans or Kurii, while the Kurii (with a technology more advanced than Earth but less than the Priest-Kings) want to replace humans as the dominant lifeform on Gor and Earth. The Priest-Kings do not interfere in the intermittent struggle between humans and Kurii while both sides observe the Priest-Kings' technology restrictions. Some critics have commented that these contrasted extremes are a warning for moderate human behavior, for the ultra-rationalist, unromantic Priest-Kings see little point in their existence, and the sanguine Kurii kill anyone, lacking morals to check themselves.
Early books in the Gor series were simple plot-driven planetary adventures, influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" series, with later entries growing more heavily theoretical.
Norman's books had their widest appeal during the decade when books 4
through 13 in the series were published. Although
bondage, harsh training, and
slavery were always present, their ubiquity,
as well as the length of their philosophical and psychological
justifications,
gradually increased to the point of detracting from the plots. Possible
reasons include Norman's use of his then-popular series to battle the
emerging feminist movement, or that demand for his
books was so great that he was able to insist that they be
published largely unedited. In any case, during the 1980s there was a
feminist backlash against the books, purchasers for bookstores and
libraries became increasingly aware of the books' non-"mainstream"
content, and interest among general science-fiction readers (as
opposed to hardcore Gor fans) fell off. The books continued to be
profitable, but their lessening popularity and changes in leadership at
his publishing house led to the demise of the Gor paperback series in
1988. In the early 1990s, Norman
went on to release the separate "Telnarian" series through another
publisher, but
it was not a critical or fan success. Norman complained of being
blacklisted.Current state
Gor fans grouping together on the Internet (beginning in the mid-1990s)
produced a resurgence of interest which led to the resumption of the Gor
series in the 2000s. The most recent book is set on one of the "Steel
Worlds" (artificial space habitats) of the Kurii.
(See
announcement on "Gor Chronicles" site)See also
(This entry in the BDSM Dictionary incorporates text from the Gor article in Wipipedia.)
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