1926 in Vinlandic Culture
The Entrepreneur
Albert Granberg, an inventor from Bodenborg, Västermark, has become one of the great success stories of the year. Granberg had been building and modifying vehicles specialized for operation in snow for several years, which was his primary source of income since his departure from work with the Västra Scandinavia Järnvägen, where he worked as an engine mechanic. Upon the outbreak of the Aisuyochi War, Granberg brought his Snöbandfordon (Snow Track Vehicle) to a presentation the Vinlandic military. Impressed by its capabilities, the military commissioned one hundred such vehicles for use in the northern conflict. By working day and night, and hiring a small staff of assistants, Albert Granberg managed to complete his commission over the summer, shipping the last machines out before the first snowfall.
The successful operation of the Snöbandfordon in the harsh conditions of Aisuyochi was the cause for a great deal of positive publicity for Albert and his nascent company. A slow trickle of orders rapidly became a flood in early 1926, and the inventor proved himself to be more than just a talented engineer, but a fine entrepreneur to boot. Following the example of several pioneering automotive companies in Argentina and the United States, Granberg made the use of his first year of profits to build a factory, establishing a production line which could churn out dozens of Snöbandfordon a day, maintaining the same high quality for which Mr. Granberg had quickly become famed.
A Granberg Modell Fyra Snöbandfordon.
The Musician
Lazarus Lars Blå is a man at the core of a burgeoning cultural scene blossoming out of the diverse prairie metropolis of Sammanström, the self-proclaimed Nationens Hjärta (Heart of the Nation). Blå himself is a second-generation immigrant to Vinland, the son of an escaped slave who fled via underground railroad to Vinland. Lars father adopted a Vinlandic name, like so many of his compatriots, as a way of both integrating into a new, alien society, and to distance his family from the past.
Lars grew up in two worlds. One foot was securely planted in the small, tight-knit black community of Sammanström. The other stood in the rapidly-integrating tumult that existed in the city during the early 20th century. Lars upbringing would later be well-reflected in his music- it bore the indelible impact of both the old folk songs sung at his parents Baptist congregation, and the traditional string music of the Vinlandic culture in which he was immersed.
While he repeatedly and unsuccessfully tried out for positions on Sammanström VK (Varukorgboll Klubb), Lars would find far greater success playing in the emerging scene of musical clubs throughout the city. Fusing together his disparate musical heritage into a single coherent sound, Lars Blå brought together the brassy up-tempo blare of black music from the south with the lively strings of contemporary Vinlandic folk dance. Ever an experimenter, Laz (as he became popularly known) would come to incorporate ever more styles into his repertoire, incorporating tango-inspired Latin touches, alpine horns, and, in his own words anything I can get my hands on that sounds good.
The skyrocketing popularity of radio would only help to further spread Lazs Sammanström Sound, spreading his music from Konradsköping to Nya Stockholm. A host of other musicians from the Heart of the Nation were quick to pick up on his music, further expanding upon and developing the nascent genre, while other musicians across Vinland, and even in the northern United States, were quick to make their own versions of the lively sound. Through all of this, Laz remained at the heart, where he constantly innovates and reinvents his music to this day.
Lazarus Blå, on the bass.
A sample of the Sammanström Sound.
The Animator
Mikkel Stovolski is a pioneering animator running a small studio in the city of Sjöstad. While the film industry in Vinland is very small, the popularity of foreign films presented an opportunity to get in on this lucrative business. A cartoonist by trade, Stovolski drew two simple characters, an Elk (named Henrik) and a Squirrel (named Karl), and painstakingly animated them in a 5-minute feature Älg och Ekorre, a retelling of a classic Vinlandic folk tale.
The short proved to be highly popular, and was widely screened before full-length foreign films. Stovolski would go on to produce many more Henrik and Karl short films. Each of these were generally lighthearted, comical retellings of popular tales, although over time Stovolskis animations would begin to develop stories of their own, sometimes parodying current events, and often drawing upon wider and wider areas of source material.
The studios animation work has met with widespread acclaim. Stovolskis animation eschews stiffness and strict realism in exchange for a fluid, exaggerated style that takes full advantage of the medium of moving pictures. The attention given to Henrik and Karl has been a boon for conventional Vinlandic cinema, although this area still lags far behind the cultural juggernauts of Brazil and Argentina. However, in a twist of irony, though Stovolskis animations initially piggybacked on the success of foreign cinema, they are now seen just as often abroad as they are at home in Vinland. The strictly non-verbal style of the animations frees them from cultural and linguistic barriers, allowing them to be effortlessly translated- Enrico and Carlo, Henry and Charles, and Genrikh and Kral are all seen preceding full-length features across the world.
Karl, with his famous bucktoothed smile.
The Writer
Ulf Samuelsson is a well-known writer and critic of a diverse array of sociopolitical issues. Originating from the same social proletarist intellectual circles as present Statsminister Ole Gudrunsson, Ulf lies somewhere on a spectrum between a pamphleteer and a full-blown novelist. Most of his fiction serves as critiques of various contemporary issues, ranging from war, to workers rights, to female emancipation to racism. His latest work is a novel, Kugge (Cog). While outwardly a piece of speculative fiction (like many of Samuelssons novels),
Kugge reads as a fierce critique of teknokrati, a political ideology that has become quite fashionable within the Socialproletärpartiet in recent years. In this novel Ulf takes teknokrati, which envisions the ideal state through a mechanical metaphor, to what he views as its logical conclusion. The protagonist, Johan Tolv (John Twelve), is a man who struggles to fit into an oppressively homogenous society. Dictatorial Tilldelingner (Allocators) judge the attributes of young children, assigning to them occupations towards which they are most suited.
Johan, who is quite tall and strong for his age, is allocated into construction. While he grows up constantly told how well-suited he is for his job, he finds himself depressed nonetheless. In private, he discovers painting, a nearly lost art which has been phased out due to its inefficiency and the widespread use of cameras. Through paint, Johan is able to discover joy, revealing his vivacious inner world. Through this, he meets and falls in love with Svetlana Tjugonio, a subversive opposed to the powers of the Tilldelingner.
While he finds joy in simple love and artistic expression, the powers that be conspire to bring an end to this. Troubled by his increasingly distracted nature, Johans overseers investigate and learn of his hobby, and command him to cease distracting himself from his required duties, dismissing his requests for reallocation by declaring his work to be technically poor, advising him to leave art to the artists. Soon thereafter, Johan is informed that he is scheduled to be mated to another woman, whose genes are projected to mix well with those of Johan to produce optimal, strong and fit children.
Defeated by the threat of removal from society, Johan abandons his art and enters a loveless marriage with the faceless woman who goes unnamed throughout the novel. Growing increasingly depressed, Some time later, Johan is devasted to learn that Svetlana was captured and executed by the Tilldelingner for her attempts to destabilize the Mekanism av Staten (the Machine of the State, a direct reference to the title of the technocratist manifesto published by J. Peltola in 1923). Overwhelmed with grief, Johan comes to his work site after hours, and in a Herculean effort, builds a towering brick statue in tribute to his deceased lover. When the morning comes, Johan is found completing his work. A widespread disturbance takes place as laborers halt their work, and onlookers marvel at the work of art. This is quickly shut down by the authorities, who apprehend Johan Tolv. Unrepentant for his gross disruption, Johan is taken by the Tilldelingner, who ultimately decide to lobotomize him. As the operation takes place, two of the allocators discuss their mistake, and its correction. They conclude by agreeing that corrections should take place when individuals (with specific reference to Johans children with the faceless woman) are younger, to prevent such disruptions, and paint a picture of a future where all people are specifically bred and selectively disabled, rendering them perfectly suited for their roles, like bees in a hive.
As a small hope spot at the end, members of the subversive organization are shown in a hideout, raising the young child of Svetlana (fathered by Johan, during his brief time with their now-deceased mother). The inquisitive infant is shown exploring the hidden house, and coming across a stash of its fathers paintings, running its hand along the canvas, smudging paint on its fingers as it does so.
Samuelssons novel has kicked up a renewed political debate in Vinland, with supporters of teknokrati working hard to counter the books arguments, and opponents of all political stripes lauding
Kugge as a masterful critique of many different things, from the relentless pursuit of mechanical efficiency, to the present government, to the perceived marginalization of art in modern society.
A photograph of the author, ca. 1926.
