Roman austral

A racist depiction of a Bahians. Such illustrations were a key part of the genre, which showed such cultures as savage.

The Roman austral, in Estmerish Austral Novel, was a genre of literature which arose in colonial era Euclea, particularly Gaullica which is regarded as the birthplace of the genre. As a genre, the Roman austral was centred on often exoticised stories depicting Coian cultures and wildlife, with the protagonists invariably being white Euclean adventurers. Such stories focused primarily on excitement and instilling a desire for colonial adventure among the Euclean populations, sacrificing realistic portrayal of cultures and peoples in favour of ones which would inspire Euclean imaginations.

The first Roman austral is generally considered to be Renée Daumec's 1830 work Au cour du roi des pygmées, which was set within the jungles of the Masamongo in modern day Mabifia. While Bahia was the dominant setting for such novels, given its perceived "primitiveness" compared to Euclea, such novels also explored Satria and the Great Steppe. The genre reached its high point during the late 19th century, as the Fatougole saw the rapid annexation of much of Bahia, before waning in popularity through the efforts of the Euclean Society of Austral and Oriental Anthropology and development of native Coian literature in Euclean languages which challenged the image painted by the pro-colonial Romanciers australs. In modern literary criticism, the genre is seen in a mostly negative light due to its role in the advancement of colonialism.

History

The first novel to be classified as a roman austral was Au cour du roi des pygmées (At the Court of the Pygmy King) which was written by Renée Daumec in 1808. While Daumec had never visited Bahia, he had heard stories about the subcontinent while working at the port of Maredoux which he used as inspiration for the story. Despite this lack of genuine knowledge about Bahia, this novel was touted as being based off true stories and was a major success. While tales of strange foreign lands had always been a staple of folklore and literary culture in Euclea, the expansion of print media and literacy during the 19th century had created a desire for stories which could entertain a working class audience tired of long-winded poetry and philosophy. This coincided with the expansion of colonialism by Euclean powers, which had exposed the common people of these states to Coian culture through the arrival of new products on the markets, the presence of people of different skin colours due to both slavery and indentured labourers, and the display of rich treasures and handicrafts taken from colonial possessions. These inspired the imaginations of many people living in Euclea, providing a sort of colourful escape from the mundane reality of life following the industrial revolution. Au cour du roi des pygmées had a simple plot; a Gaullican soldier travelled to Bahia in search of treasure, braved numerous hazards, and achieved prosperity beyond his wildest dreams. This appealed to its audience, who were enraptured by Daumec's depictions of cannibal tribes and wild beasts such as Hippopotami. Following this book's success, Daumec would write several other stories set in Bahia, each one attaining significant popularity.

The success of Au cour du roi des pygmées attracted the attention of other writers, who saw the interest in "exotic" cultures and adventures. Similar stories were soon written by other authors, who saw their own financial successes. Much like Daumec, these authors had no lived experience with Bahian culture and based their depictions on second or even third-hand reports of life in the subcontinent. This growing obsession with stories set in Bahia caught the attention of the Gaullican Colonial Office, who saw the value of influencing public opinion on Bahia and growing popular support for colonial efforts. A publishing house was established by the Masson family, descendents of the Gaullican explorer and colonial administrator Michel Masson, named Editions Masson, which worked in conjunction with the colonial office to publish books which featured negative depictions of Bahian cultures in a way which would give credence and support to missionary work by the Solarian Catholic Church. With the support of the colonial office, the genre also branched out to other subcontinents of Coius, with Honoré de Couillesac's Aventures mirables dans le pays des gourous (Marvelous Adventures in the Land of Gurus) set in Satria and portraying the region in a negative light. While the stories themselves changed, the themes of racial, cultural and religious supremacy of Eucleans were omnipresent, often involving misleading or completely incorrect depictions of Coian cultures.

While the genre started in Gaullica, its success swiftly spread to other Euclean nations involved in colonisation. A translation of La Periple d'Alain Brasset, caporal gaullois, aux forets sauvages baïens (The Periple of Alain Brasset, a Gaullican corporal, in the savage bahian forests) into Estmerish sold thousands of copies and led to a frenzy of similar works being published in Estmere. The simple and universal appeal of such fiction to the general populace of Euclea was such that newspapers began serial austral novels in order to gain readership. In Etruria, where Bahian colonialism was less present, Romanciers australs focused upon Satria. Here, unlike in other countries where the depiction of native cultures was almost entirely negative, there was a strong tendency to separate between the urbanised Satrians and Vanavasi. While the urbanised Satrians were often described as violent, manipulative and cruel, the Vanavasi attained the status of noble savages due to their peaceful and natural lifestyles. It is believed that this was due to the prevalence of pre-Sotirian Solarian beliefs within Etrurian folklore, as the Vanavasi were seen to be similar to satyrs in their livelihoods.

The genre reached its apogee during the 1840s, coinciding with the high point of Euclean colonial expansion in Bahia and the defeat of Kambou, the most powerful of the remaining Houregic states. In the years that followed, stories from the colonies remained popular, often focusing on sensationalised accounts of Bahian Secret Societies and the wildlife of Coius. Interest in the genre remained steady, peaking again with the Sougoulie. However, from the 1840s, Romans australs faced opposition from the Euclean Society of Austral and Oriental Anthropology. This society, which united academics from across the continent, aimed to preserve and research the cultures of the colonies and saw such inaccurate hearsay depictions of Coian cultures to be counterproductive to this goal. They published refutations of many popular novels, promoting ethnographic studies of such cultures instead. The development of native literature in colonial languages also damaged the literary credentials of the Austral Novel, as works such as L'aube sur la brousse by Pierre-Michel Diallo painted vastly different pictures of both pre-colonial and post-colonial life in Bahia. Despite this, the Roman austral remained relatively popular right up until the postGreat War era, when popular opinion of colonialism waned and Coian countries began to gain independence. The Roman austral was heavily criticised by many Aïibe ka Djâmanou authors, as well as Coian philosophers, who saw it as having undermined native voices and been a key part of colonial rhetoric.