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Faramir -> RE: Fictional Literature (5/30/2007 9:21:49 PM)
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Every explicitly BDSM text I have ever read pretty much sucked balls from a critical perspective. Limited in language and imagery, lacking in poetic language, and most damning to me in an artistic sense, lacking in truth. Not capital "T" Truth, which I am not so sure of my ability to spot, but truth, resonance on a personal level.
I have found instead that many great works of art have powerful D/s themes that give them special resonance for me as a D/s oriented man. A perfect example would be Jack London's Call of the Wild, a book about Master/slave relationships, and what makes for a healthy Master/slave relationship. The text examines three models for slavery--the first two are one, a transactional, mechanical and unemotional Master/slave modality, and second an M/s model that emphasises naked power and the ability to compel obedience from brutal training. The last model is a love based slavery, where a slave is able to surrender not in a transactional sense, nor by being beaten into submission, but rather by being folded into a loving embrace in which the slave is able to surrender in full dignity and safety, their slavery accepted as precious and joyful.
That last model for slavery is very resonant with me, speaks to me in the deepest sense, and so Call of the Wild for me is both a paradigm for M/s, and a paradigm example of an artistic work that is truthful, contains poetic langauge (my rubric for worthwhile literature) and speaks directly to our BDSM concerns.
I don't get much out of the explicit BDSM texts out there, but even if you do, those are the lay-ups. They are easy to spot. What may take more work, but be worth the effort, is a thoughtful reading of canon work that speaks to power and intimacy. Read with an open eye.
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