Saorlaith Ní Curnín
Saorlaith Ní Curnín | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Saorlaith Ní Curnín by Barbara Schwinn | |
| Born | 2 February 1920 |
| Died | 27 May 2022 (aged 102) Velouria, Nerveiík-Iárus-Daláyk, Gylias |
| Occupation |
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| Known for | Author of the Good Practices Code |
Lady Saorlaith Ní Curnín (Ossorian: Bhantiarna Saorlaith Ní Curnín; Gylic transcription: Serla Nikurnin; 2 February 1920 – 27 May 2022) was an Ossorian noble turned Gylian cultural theorist, public intellectual, activist, and writer. She campaigned for the promotion of good taste, elegance, and delicacy in Gylian public life, advocating a synthesis of social liberation with conservative standards of appearance and manners.
Her best-known achievement was writing the Good Practices Code, which accomplished an enduring influence on Gylian tastes and popular culture. The National Inquirer described her as "an outstanding woman who dedicated her career to raising Gylians' level of refinement to that of her native Ossoria, with remarkable success."
Early life
She was born in Tíne on 2 February 1920. She comes from the Ó Curnín family of the Barony of Tíne, a landed noble family of the Kingdom of Ardliss. She had two older brothers.
She was raised on the family's country house. Her parents were devout practitioners of Págánacht, and her education instilled in her the importance of the suáilcí and noblesse oblige. She attended a private secondary school for noble children, which complemented her instruction at home.
She attended university in Ardliss, where she completed a degree in philosophy. She contemplated joining the Druidic Circle, and undertook training as an Initiate, but was dissuaded from continuing by her Priestess, who told her she didn't think the monastic life was her true calling.
She moved with her husband to the Daláyk islands in 1948, due to his work there as part of Ossorian efforts to support the Gylian constitutional monarchist faction in control. Through proximity to the Liberation War, she gained knowledge of the Free Territories, and found herself fascinated by their social revolution.
She moved with her family to the Free Territories in 1952. There, she worked with various cooperatives, and built up a local reputation, attending communal assemblies, writing letters to local newspapers, and hosting a salon at home.
Career
Saorlaith found herself working as a consultant for the National Cooperative Confederation after it was established in 1958. She benefited from her positive reputation in her town, and was a known quantity, with a noted interest in popular culture.
Good Practices Code
The NCC confronted the task of reconciling greater coordination with preserving the radical legacy of the Free Territories. In the cultural industries, both it and the General Council of Workers' Unions and Associations recognised that some degree of self-regulation was desirable, to prevent clashes caused by conflicting community standards. Saorlaith entered the debate and quickly established herself as a leading voice on the subject.
She instigated the formation of a committee of all Gylian film studios to research what material provoked hostile relations, and hold public hearings regarding film standards. The hearings showed that members of the public were largely suspicious of censorship, but frustrated at the lack of sufficient information with which to make decisions. She began drafting a code, seeking to reconcile the stimulation of high artistic standards with moderate action on "material injurious to Gylian sensibilities".
With several provisions already approved as NCC and GCWUA resolutions in 1959–1961, the final version of the Good Practices Code was approved in 1962. Initially specific to filmmaking, it was quickly adopted by other cultural industries, including television production, publishing, comics, and much later, video games.
The code was set apart from other Tyranian censorship codes in several crucial ways: it was purely voluntary, and avoided labeling content as acceptable or unacceptable, instead containing general guidelines, phrased as suggestions. Philosopher Margot Fontaine described the code as "a singular text, exuding a sense of timeless wisdom and responsibility that made it a powerful pole star for artists and artistic souls."
As a result, the code made a great impact on Gylian popular culture, which endures into the present. It is embraced as a cherished foundation of Gylian creative works, and helped "set Gylian tastes in stone", as Radix put it. All of Saorlaith's biographers identify the code as her greatest achievement.
Media influence
Saorlaith gained immense prestige among the Gylian public as the author of the Good Practices Code. Her word carried great weight, and she knew how to employ her reputation. L'Petit Écho wrote in 1968 that she was "unanimously recognised as one of the most powerful voices in the Gylian media."
Saorlaith consistently advocated for high artistic standards and a sense of sophistication in Gylian culture, meeting regularly with the nation's foremost creative people — directors, actors, writers, artists, and musicians. One area which roused a particular interest was that of clothing. She applauded the ideal of socialised luxury, forging lifelong friendships with its promoters, but still believed the public needed to be swayed towards universal adoption.
She used her stature in a personal campaign to "beautify" the media. She encouraged film and television productions to ensure that at least their lead actors were well-dressed, especially in Levystile fashions. She similarly encouraged newspapers and magazines to publish only well-dressed images of celebrities, and to provide free styling and photography to those about to appear in the media. In this way, she hoped to subtly raise the average clothing standards by shaping the public's impression that "everyone deserves to be beautiful in public". Her ultimate aim was to produce a society where "the idea of looking your best when you walk out is as natural as breathing."
One important ally in Saorlaith's personal campaign was Gylian Television, whose Director Eija Nylund already favoured hiring presenters with refined or aristocratic-tinged images, and whose Head of Programming Estelle Parker and Cecilia Parker also set an example for always being fastidiously-dressed in public and on screen.
In one interview, she summarised her vision as "a Gylias where every day is Election Day. Wouldn't that be beautiful?"
Activism
Saorlaith enthusiastically campaigned for promotion of the good taste, elegance, and delicacy in Gylian public life. She used all the tools at her disposal to advance her vision, ranging from private meetings with eminent Gylians, to consistent media appearances and interviews, to writing. She wrote columns and essays for various publications, letters to the editor of various newspapers, and books and pamphlets that set out her worldview.
She championed the "Golden Woman" beauty ideal, and styled herself in accordance with it.
She was a close ally of Jenny Ford, considering her a "kindred spirit", and enthusiastically supporting the Prudence Foundation's campaigns.
Public image
Saorlaith had an elegant and refined personality, befitting an Ossorian noble. She lived her life by the ideal of noblesse oblige, believing she had a duty to set an example for others. A close friend, Isabel Longstowe, said that she could "speak eloquently on the importance of duty and responsbility at the slightest prompt".
Her trademark appearance consisted of purple Levystile skirt suits and hats, and sometimes fake fur stoles. Purple was her favourite colour, and she liked how easily people recognised her as a result.
Saorlaith embraced her noble origins, and made sure they defined her in the public's mind. She was commonly known as "Lady Saorlaith", and often encouraged people to refer to her simply as "Lady" or "Milady".
Views
Saorlaith was a conservative, and credited her beliefs with giving her comfort and peace of mind. She fit in perfectly with Gylian conservatism in both image and spirit: her activism to promote elegance and sophistication in Gylian life mainly concerned itself with aesthetics and sense of community. She avoided dictating fashions, recognising that being "well-dressed" is inherently subjective, and supported the androgynisation and experimentation of Gylian clothing.
She remained aloof from politics, and often joked "A lady is above such base things" in order to avoid uncomfortable subjects. She repeatedly asserted that "elegance knows no politics", and that there was no connection between one's politics and one's appearance. She saw no contradiction between the spirit of a permissive society and the maintenance of conservative standards of appearance. She believed the Golden Revolution's greatest achievement was "liberating decency from the shackles of authoritarianism and prudery", allowing good taste and sophistication to be promoted through positive example and their own inherent appeal.
Saorlaith was recognised as Gylias' most influential Ossorian, and High King Nevan III once likened her to Gylias' unofficial Archdruidess. She lamented the mutual incomprehension that affected relations between Ossoria and Gylias, and proclaimed that Gylians are "joyful and lively", and also "sober and serious in their responsibilities".
Death
She died of natural causes at her Velouria home on 27 May 2022, aged 102. She was given an official funeral by the Lena Haidynraix government.
Private life
Saorlaith married Niall in 1945, who took her surname. They were married until his death, and had four children. They had a happy and loving marriage, leading their friends to quip that "Branwen could not have arranged a better marriage." Niall shared Saorlaith's intellectualism and dapper sense of fashion, and in public he was happy to defer to his wife, introducing himself as "Saorlaith Ní Curnín's husband".
Both Saorlaith and Niall were devout practitioners of Págánacht, and raised their children accordingly. Ludmila Canaşvili marveled at Saorlaith's children, describing them as "impeccably mannered and eternally well-dressed", and her as "a wonderful and loving mother whose word her children obey without comment or challenge."