the Archipelago of Weird

[mdlbear]

Go read this essay on subcultures in siderea's LJ. I'll wait.

Culture, in the part of the world in which I've been, and, for all I know, in other parts as well to which I cannot speak, has two rough parts: the Mainland and the Isles.

The Mainland is what calls itself the "mainstream" or "normal" culture.

You know... Mundania.

The Isles are everything else. Everything that's not "mainstream" is an island.

Nobody knows how many Isles there are. They are wholly and utterly unmapped. Each one is its own subculture.

Some Isles are closer to the Mainland, and some further.

Some Isles are closer to others. Some are big. Some are small.

We -- meaning I and a very large percentage of my readership -- live in a collection of close Isles which form up an Archipelago. The SCA. Fandom. NERO. Etc.

This is the Archipelago of Weird.

(From autographedcat, who got it from celticdragonfly.) Very well said.

Comments

[jilara.livejournal.com]

I think I'm living on at trading ship. I also visit a couple parallel archepelagos that have very little intersection with our own, but are again waaaay outside the mainland. Civil War reenactors have their own island (with a few outliers) and the mainstream not only considers us weird, but very possibly dangerous. But they love to visit as tourists and gawk at the quaint habits of the natives.