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{{Short description|Fictional flying island}} |
{{Short description|Fictional flying island}} |
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{{Primary sources|date=May 2024}} |
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[[File:Laputa - Grandville.jpg|thumb|right|Gulliver discovers Laputa, the flying island (illustration by [[J. J. Grandville]])]] |
[[File:Laputa - Grandville.jpg|thumb|right|Gulliver discovers Laputa, the flying island (illustration by [[J. J. Grandville]])]] |
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'''Laputa''' {{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|p|uː|t|ə|}} is a [[Floating cities and islands in fiction|flying island]] described in the 1726 book ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' by [[Jonathan Swift]]. It is about {{convert|4+1/2|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} in diameter, with an [[adamant]]ine base, which its inhabitants can manoeuvre in any direction using [[magnetic levitation]]. The island is the home of the king of [[Balnibarbi]] and his court, and is used by the king to enforce his rule over the lands below. |
'''Laputa''' {{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|p|uː|t|ə|}} is a [[Floating cities and islands in fiction|flying island]] described in the 1726 book ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' by [[Jonathan Swift]].{{sfn|Williams|1968}} It is about {{convert|4+1/2|mi|km|0|abbr=off}} in diameter, with an [[adamant]]ine base, which its inhabitants can manoeuvre in any direction using [[magnetic levitation]]. The island is the home of the king of [[Balnibarbi]] and his court, and is used by the king to enforce his rule over the lands below. |
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==Location== |
==Location== |
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Laputa was located above the realm of [[Balnibarbi]], which was ruled by its king from the flying island. |
Laputa was located above the realm of [[Balnibarbi]], which was ruled by its king from the flying island. Gulliver states the island flew by the "magnetic virtue" of certain minerals in the grounds of Balnibarbi which did not extend to more than {{convert|4|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=off}} above, and {{convert|6|league|km|spell=in|abbr=off}} beyond the extent of the kingdom,{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 157}} showing the limit of its range. The position of the island, and the realm below, is some five days' journey south-south-east of Gulliver's last known position, 46° N, 183° E{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 143}} (i.e. east of [[Japan]], south of the [[Aleutian Islands]]){{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 319}} down a chain of small rocky islands.{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 143}} |
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==Legacy== |
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The island of Laputa is described as being exactly circular and about {{convert |4+1/2 | mi | km|0|abbr=off}} in diameter, giving an area of roughly {{convert|10000|acre|ha|abbr=off}}.{{Efn |The text actually says "...its Diameter 7837 Yards or about four Miles and a Half, and consequently contains Ten Thousand Acres" (''Gulliver;'s Travels'' Pt III, Ch III): However, neither of these diameters gives an area of exactly 10,000 acres. It is unclear why Swift chose such exact values for diameter and area, while having them misalign in this way.}} The island was {{convert|300|yard|m|abbr=off}} thick, and comprised a bottom plate of [[adamant]] {{convert|200|yd|m|abbr=off}} thick, above which lay "the several minerals in their usual order", topped with "a coat of rich mould {{convert|10|or|12|ft|m|1|abbr=on|disp=sqbr}} deep". {{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 154}} |
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| ⚫ | On [[Mars]]'s largest [[Natural satellite|moon]], [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]], there is a feature named [[Planetary geology#Regio (astronomy)|regio]], ''Laputa Regio'', which is named after Swift's Laputa because of his [[Moons of Mars#Early speculation|'prediction']] of the two then undiscovered Martian moons, which his Laputan astronomers had discovered.{{sfn|USGS}} |
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In shape the upper surface sloped down from circumference to centre, causing all rain to form rivulets into the centre where four large basins {{convert|1/2|mi|m|sigfig=1|abbr=off}} in circuit lie {{convert|200|yd|m|abbr=off}} from the absolute centre. {{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 154}} In the centre of the island itself was a chasm 50 yards in diameter continuing down into a dome extending {{convert|100|yd|m|abbr=off}} into the adamantine surface. This dome served as an [[Astronomy|astronomical]] [[observatory]], and also contained the [[lodestone]] which enabled the island to fly and move above the realm.{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 155}} |
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==Inhabitants== |
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Laputa's population consists mainly of an educated elite, who are fond of mathematics, [[astronomy]], music and technology, but fail to make practical use of their knowledge. Servants make up the rest of the population. |
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== References == |
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The Laputans have mastered magnetic levitation. They also are very fond of astronomy, and discovered two moons of Mars. (This is 151 years earlier than the [[Moons of Mars|recognized discovery of the two moons of Mars]] by [[Asaph Hall]] in 1877.) However, they are unable to construct well-designed clothing or buildings, as they despise practical geometry as "vulgar and mechanick". The houses are ill-built, lacking any right angles,{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 151}} and the clothes of Laputans, which are decorated with astrological symbols and musical figures, do not fit, as they take measurements with instruments such as [[Quadrant (instrument)|quadrants]] and a [[Compass (drafting)|compass]] rather than with [[tape measure]]s.{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 150}} They spend their time listening to the music of the spheres. They believe in astrology and worry constantly that the sun will go out. |
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Many of them have heads angled to one side, and they often suffer from [[strabismus]]: one eye turns inward and the other looks up "to the zenith", conditions that Swift uses to mock the microscope and the telescope. Laputans are described as becoming so lost in thought that they cannot focus their attention on a conversation or avoid running into a tree or falling into a ditch unless periodically struck by a bladder full of pebbles or dry peas carried by one or two "flappers" or, in their native language, "climenoles", hired for the purpose. {{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 148}} |
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Laputa is a male-dominated society. Wives often request to leave the island to visit the land below; however, these requests are almost never granted because the women who leave Laputa never want to return. The Laputan women are highly sexed (having "an abundance of vivacity") and adulterous, and, whenever possible, take on lovers out of visitors from the lands below. The Laputan husbands, who are so abstracted in mathematical and musical calculations, might assume their wives are adulterous, but so long as they have no flapper around, they won't notice the adultery even should it occur right before their eyes.{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 153}} |
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==Nearby lands== |
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The land beneath the floating island, within the region the Laputa can travel, is known as Balnibarbi. Balnibarbi is controlled by the king of Laputa; its ground capital is the city of [[Lagado]]. |
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Laputa's king is able to control the mainland mostly by threatening to cover rebel regions with the island's shadow, thus blocking sunlight and rain, or by throwing rocks at rebellious surface cities.{{Sfn | Swift | 2008 | p = 159}} In extreme cases, the island is lowered onto the cities below to crush them, although this is not successful every time, notably in the case of [[Lindalino]]. |
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The Balnibarbian language, spoken on both Laputa and Balnibarbi, is described by Gulliver as sounding similar to [[Italian language|Italian]]. |
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==Symbolism== |
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Lindalino's relationship with Laputa was intended as an [[allegory]] of Ireland's relationship with England, and the [[Whigs (British political party)|Whig]] government's foreign and internal politics (as [[Jonathan Swift]] was a Tory). The Laputans' absurd inventions mock the [[Royal Society]]. As "la puta" means "the whore" in [[Spanish profanity#Puta|Spanish]], some Spanish editions of ''Gulliver's Travels'' use "Lapuntu", "Laput", "Lapuda" and "Lupata" as [[bowdlerisation]]s. It is likely, given Swift's education and satirical style, that he was aware of the Spanish meaning. (Gulliver claimed Spanish among the many languages in which he was fluent.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World|last=Swift|first=Jonathan|publisher=D.C. Heath & Co., Publishers|year=1900|location=Boston; New York; Chicago |at=Part I, Chapter II}}</ref>) |
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==Legacy== |
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=== Citations === |
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| ⚫ | On [[Mars]]'s largest [[Natural satellite|moon]], [[Phobos (moon)|Phobos]], there is a feature named [[Planetary geology#Regio (astronomy)|regio]], ''Laputa Regio'', which is named after Swift's Laputa because of his [[Moons of Mars#Early speculation|'prediction']] of the two then undiscovered Martian moons, which his Laputan astronomers had discovered. |
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{{reflist}} |
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=== Sources === |
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The British indie rock band [[Panchiko]] included a song named "Laputa" on their album ''[[DᐳEᐳAᐳTᐳHᐳMᐳEᐳTᐳAᐳL]]'' released in 2000. |
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* <!-- Miyazaki 2009 --> {{Cite book |title=Starting Point: 1979–1996 |last=Miyazaki |first=Hayao |authorlink=Hayao Miyazaki |publisher=[[Viz Media]] |year=2009 |orig-year=1996 |isbn=978-1-4215-6104-2}} |
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== Explanatory notes == |
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* <!-- Napier 2018 --> {{Cite book |title=Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art |last=Napier |first=Susan J. |authorlink=Susan J. Napier |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-300-22685-0}} |
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{{Notelist}} |
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| ⚫ | * <!-- Swift 2008 --> {{cite book | first = Jonathan | last = Swift |author-link=Jonathan Swift | title = [[Gulliver's Travels]] | series = Oxford World Classics | edition = reprint | year = 2008 |orig-year=1726 | others = introduction by Claude Rawson, explanatory notes by Ian Higgins}}{{ISBN needed}} |
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* <!-- Williams 1968 --> {{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=Kathleen |editor1-last=Brady |editor1-first=Frank |title=Twentieth Century Interpretations of Gulliver's Travels: A Collection of Critical Essays |date=1968 |publisher=Prentice-Hall |isbn=9780133715675 |pages=60 & ff. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Twentieth_Century_Interpretations_of_Gul/jN8IAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=swift+laputa+essay&dq=swift+laputa+essay&printsec=frontcover |chapter=Gulliver in Laputa}} |
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* <!-- USGS --> {{cite web |url=https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/14868 |title=''Laputa Regio'' |website= Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature |publisher=[[USGS]] |access-date=2024-05-29 |ref={{harvid|USGS}} }} |
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== Further reading == |
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{{Reflist |64em}} |
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== General sources== |
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* {{cite book | last1 = Page | first1 = Michael | last2 = Ingpen | first2 = Robert | author-link2 = Robert Ingpen | title = [[Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were]] | publisher = Penguin Studio | location = New York | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-14-010008-3 | pages = 94, 150–1}} |
* {{cite book | last1 = Page | first1 = Michael | last2 = Ingpen | first2 = Robert | author-link2 = Robert Ingpen | title = [[Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were]] | publisher = Penguin Studio | location = New York | year = 1998 | isbn = 0-14-010008-3 | pages = 94, 150–1}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{NIE Poster}} |
{{NIE Poster}} |
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* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/829 ''Gulliver's Travels'' |
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/829 ''Gulliver's Travels''] at [[Project Gutenberg]] |
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{{Gulliver's Travels}} |
{{Gulliver's Travels}} |
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Latest revision as of 20:01, 6 June 2024
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| Laputa | |
|---|---|
| Gulliver's Travels location | |
 Map of Laputa and Balnibarbi (original map, Pt III, Gulliver's Travels) | |
| Created by | Jonathan Swift |
| Genre | Satire |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Flying island |
| Characters | King |
Laputa /ləˈpuːtə/ is a flying island described in the 1726 book Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift.[1] It is about 4+1⁄2 miles (7 kilometres) in diameter, with an adamantine base, which its inhabitants can manoeuvre in any direction using magnetic levitation. The island is the home of the king of Balnibarbi and his court, and is used by the king to enforce his rule over the lands below.
Location[edit]
Laputa was located above the realm of Balnibarbi, which was ruled by its king from the flying island. Gulliver states the island flew by the "magnetic virtue" of certain minerals in the grounds of Balnibarbi which did not extend to more than 4 miles (6.5 kilometres) above, and six leagues (29 kilometres) beyond the extent of the kingdom,[2] showing the limit of its range. The position of the island, and the realm below, is some five days' journey south-south-east of Gulliver's last known position, 46° N, 183° E[3] (i.e. east of Japan, south of the Aleutian Islands)[4] down a chain of small rocky islands.[3]
Legacy[edit]
On Mars's largest moon, Phobos, there is a feature named regio, Laputa Regio, which is named after Swift's Laputa because of his 'prediction' of the two then undiscovered Martian moons, which his Laputan astronomers had discovered.[5]
The 1986 Japanese animated fantasy film, Castle in the Sky, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, derives its name and basic premise from Swift's novel.[6]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ Williams 1968.
- ^ Swift 2008, p. 157.
- ^ a b Swift 2008, p. 143.
- ^ Swift 2008, p. 319.
- ^ USGS.
- ^ Miyazaki 2009, p. 252; Napier 2018, p. 88.
Sources[edit]
- Miyazaki, Hayao (2009) [1996]. Starting Point: 1979–1996. Viz Media. ISBN 978-1-4215-6104-2.
- Napier, Susan J. (2018). Miyazakiworld: A Life in Art. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22685-0.
- Swift, Jonathan (2008) [1726]. Gulliver's Travels. Oxford World Classics. introduction by Claude Rawson, explanatory notes by Ian Higgins (reprint ed.).[ISBN missing]
- Williams, Kathleen (1968). "Gulliver in Laputa". In Brady, Frank (ed.). Twentieth Century Interpretations of Gulliver's Travels: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice-Hall. pp. 60 & ff. ISBN 9780133715675.
- "Laputa Regio". Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature. USGS. Retrieved 29 May 2024.
Further reading[edit]
- Page, Michael; Ingpen, Robert (1998). Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were. New York: Penguin Studio. pp. 94, 150–1. ISBN 0-14-010008-3.
External links[edit]
