Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

C. J. Cherryh: The Ties That Bind

2007; Modern Humanities Research Association; Volume: 37; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/yes.2007.0000

2222-4289

Stephen R. L. Clark,

Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies

In "Destroyer (2005)" and "Pretender (2006)" C.J. Cherryh continues her exploration of loyalty, family ties, feudal devotion, and personal friendship. Further recurrent themes include the community cut off from broader human culture, and the solitary human who takes on alien characteristics so as to serve as the human interface with otherness. The large, empathetic companion animal, the professional judge/assassin, constant travel, and the shifting environment of jump space are other familiar images. The special emphasis here is on the ties that bind in Cherryh's social and physical universe. The essay argues in particular that the author's aim is to contrast a modern conception of friendship, founded in friendly feeling, with a more classical conception, "philia", and that her environmental consciousness has developed over the years.