Garak asserts to Bashir that the Repetitive Epic is the finest form of Cardassian literature. I was wondering, is there any real-life literature that could be considered a “repetitive epic” in the same vein as “The Neverending Sacrifice?”

  • Value Subtracted@startrek.website
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    10 months ago

    I think you might be able to draw a parallel with long-running serials like comic books, or even Star Trek itself. They tend to revisit old themes and revolve around a certain status quo.

    They tend not to involve multigenerational obedience to an authoritarian regime, though…

  • teft@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. It tells the story of a man who lives his life over and over again. Very interesting story and while not exactly like Garak’s repetitive epic its definitely in the same vein.

  • ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works
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    10 months ago

    I feel like repetitive epic is like a Cardassian version of the dubious literary idea of The Hero’s Journey, adapted for the Cardassian heroic ideal of selfless sacrifice to the state. I think Garak would appreciate the “Rememberence of Earth’s Past” series (Three Body Problem) for the way that individual heroics take a backseat to the glory and survival of the state.

  • Corgana@startrek.website
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    10 months ago

    I love this question. My first thought was not a book, but Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse which depicts the repetitive life of a Hungarian farmer and his daughter. Each day is essentially the same, with similar but ever-changing frustrations, and no hope for change in sight. The audience really feels their frustrations, but the characters also appear to have fully accepted the situation. The title is a reference to the horse-whipping that allegedly drove Nietzsche insane.

    Not quite an “epic” in the usual sense, but absolutely repetitive and a surrender to economic powers beyond one’s control.