#klingon culture

[dogwithapog]

op is right on the mark with this one! klingons were initially made to resemble earth societies that seemed "alien" to americans (namely the chinese). they were based in stereotypes and racist caricatures that they grew beyond in later iterations. i think there is so much potential in exploring their society further! future trek media should totally expand on the non-warrior side of their culture.

i'd like to offer another analysis of klingons: they represent toxic masculinity.

being a klingon (or being a man) is a complicated matter of identity that you can't boil down to biology or simple behaviors. fully understanding klingon identity requires cultural and historical context. but a large part of it is performance, and some klingons (and men) become obsessive about this performance; obsessive to the point that they would stifle their own desires, put others down for how they live their life, or even cause dangerous situations.

this toxicity may lead outsiders to judge the group as a whole. it is easy to dismiss klingons as naturally brutal, predatory, unintelligent, unemotional. obviously, this isn't true, but social expectations reinforce these ideas inside and outside of klingon society, and worsen the problem.

take worf, for example. he was raised by humans on earth, but devoted much study to traditional klingon customs. he probably knows more about what it means to "be klingon" than many of his peers on Qo'noS. yet, when he interacts with other klingons, he stands out. at several points, he is mocked by klingons for his human/federation behaviors. In "Redemption" he briefly serves on a klingon ship, where he feels very separated from the rest of his species due to his different approaches to his work. his behaviors might not seem "normal" to some klingons, because he was not exposed to the same toxic expectations. he still puts a great deal of effort into performing klingonhood, but sometimes he has to make tough decisions about how "klingon" he actually wants to be. while this *is* his true self, his true identity, there are some toxic social side effects. he sees his fellow klingons fail (behave dishonorably!!!) in some areas due to the rigidity in their toxic masculine performance.

worf does not want to be ruthless and violent, as the klingons around him sometimes are. but he cares VERY deeply about his honor and status among his species, so much that he would rather die (s5e16 "Ethics") than be seen as "half a klingon." he struggles between his need for klingon identity, his need for respect from other klingons, and his knowledge that some of these customs are just... wrong.

and this is affected also by his place in the federation. he has to navigate maintaining his status as "one of the good klingons" in humanity's eyes. he has to tiptoe to appear less threatening. refusing to give in to klingon toxicity also means avoiding negative judgement from outsiders.

wow this post got long. my point is; you can't make a whole species, or any large group, seem simple, as klingon-focused stories in Star Trek sometimes do. it can create and reinforce all kinds of problems. i hope this made sense haha

the thing is that when you look deep enough, Klingons and Klingon society is actually pretty well developed by Star Trek standards. we know the ideals of their society and the way their ideals are corrupted by classism and archaic tradition. we see how "warrior" and "honor" are complex terms that involve more than just warfare and fighting. but we also see Klingon scientists and lawyers who are proud of their work but are pushed aside for not living up to their society's standards. we see how their political relations change over time and how strategic alliances are formed and dissolved. we know their marriage customs and holidays and mythology and history. we see a variety of Klingon characters with varying degrees of attachment to their species and culture. we see how they're stereotyped and discriminated against in the Federation for being "too alien" when the Federation is supposed to be accepting of differences. we have an entire real, usable language for Kahless's sake.

the thing is also that 90% of Klingon stories choose to ignore all this complexity in favor of bioessentialism and racist takes on "warrior society".

[dykespirk]

human things I think klingons would be good at:

competitive mobile games where you build kingdoms (like FarmVille)

shotput

drinking beer out of a shoe (a shoey I believe it is called)

pissing off the TSA

being hazed in a fraternity (they think it’s awesome)

pushing a big tire

watching Coyote Peterson videos (which they immediately try to replicate; a very honorable warrior to them)

being extremely opinionated on Top Chef

getting radicalized on Facebook

bringing large containers to 7/11 on the 11th of July

January 6th

Jacksonville, FL

[jay-trekking]

During my TNG rewatch my Ukrainian partner exclusively referred to Alexander as either Sasha or Sanya as in their culture they never refer to someone with their full name outside of formal events, instead using a shortened version.

This made me curious and I asked if Worf's name could be shortened like this. It took them a minute but they figured they'd call Worf either Vova or Vanya.

Since no one in the Rozhenko family ever uses these shortened names I've come to two possible conclusions:

Helena and Sergey didn't want Worf to feel like they were trying to make him Human so always used his Klingon name.

The Rozhenko family is both the most overly formal and loving family in Star Trek.

[salvadorbonaparte]

Since my big Languages and Linguistics MEGA folder post is approaching 200k notes (wow) I am celebrating with some highlights from my collection:

Africa: over 90 languages so far. The Swahili and Amharic resources are pretty decent so far and I'm constantly on the lookout for more languages and more resources.

The Americas: over 100 languages of North America and over 80 languages of Central and South America and the Caribbean. Check out the different varieties for Quechua and my Navajo followers are invited to check out the selection of Navajo books, some of which are apparently rare to come by in print.

Ancient and Medieval Languages: "only" 18 languages so far but I'm pretty pleased with the selection of Latin and Old/Middle English books.

Asia: over 130 languages and I want to highlight the diversity of 16 Arabic dialects covered.

Australia: over 40 languages so far.

Constructed Languages: over a dozen languages, including Hamlet in the original Klingon.

Creoles: two dozen languages and some materials on creole linguistics.

Europe: over 60 languages. I want to highlight the generous donations I have received, including but not limited to Aragonese, Catalan, Occitan and 6 Sámi languages. I also want to highlight the Spanish literature section and a growing collection of World Englishes.

Eurasia: over 25 languages that were classified as Eurasian to avoid discussions whether they belong in Europe or Asia. If you can't find a language in either folder it might be there.

History, Culture, Science etc: Everything not language related but interesting, including a collection of "very short introductions", a growing collection of queer and gender studies books, a lot on horror and monsters, a varied history section (with a hidden compartment of the Aubreyad books ssshhhh), and small collections from everything like ethnobotany to travel guides.

Jewish Languages: 8 languages, a pretty extensive selection of Yiddish textbooks, grammars, dictionaries and literature, as well as several books on Jewish religion, culture and history.

Linguistics: 15 folders and a little bit of everything, including pop linguistics for people who want to get started. You can also find a lot of the books I used during my linguistics degree in several folders, especially the sociolinguistics one.

Literature: I have a collection of classic and modern classic literature, poetry and short stories, with a focus on the over 140 poetry collections from around the world so far.

Polynesia, Micronesia, Melanesia: over 40 languages and I want to highlight the collection for Māori, Cook Islands Māori and Moriori.

Programming Languages: Not often included in these lists but I got some for you (roughly 5)

Sign Languages: over 30 languages and books on sign language histories and Deaf cultures. I want to highlight especially the book on Martha's Vineyard Sign Language and the biography of Laura Redden Searing.

Translation Studies: Everything a translation student needs with a growing audiovisual translation collection

And the best news: the folders are still being updated regularly!

[worflesbian]

this is purely me reading into it and not at all the writers intentions but. scottish klingon post!

1. Rules of honourable behaviour

i can't find much reference to it online but in many of the stories i've read, particularly older ones set in the highlands, there are rules of hospitality meaning if someone wants to take refuge in your home, you are honour-bound to host them, which often causes problems and sometimes hauntings in these stories but nonetheless reminds me of klingons who are so easily manipulated by any threat to their honour

2. Superstition

in klingon religion the gods are dead and aren't really relevant in most of their mythology, but they still have very strong beliefs and spirituality. recent polls show that 58% of scotland is non-religious but almost everyone i know believes in a superstition of some kind or has a story about a haunting, and i'm fairly sure there was some poll that said a good majority of the population are open to the existence of the supernatural

3. Ceremonial weapons

you almost always see klingons carrying d'k tahgs and they're considered to have cultural and ceremonial value, much like the scottish dirk! traditionally you tuck the dirk into your sock when wearing a kilt (unfortunately when you hire a kilt for your high school leavers they give you a plastic one with no blade 😔)

4. Big cultural emphasis on music

scotland doesn't have a tradition of opera like the klingons but we do have a grand tradition of folk music! music features heavily in scottish folklore and there is a strong traditional/folk music scene in scotland today. music is also strongly linked to warfare as bagpipes were a military instrument played in battle.

5. Stereotypes

there's a lot of negative stereotypes about scottish people that involve being drunken, hairy and violent which is... i can't even say stereotype really cause star trek just kind of portrays the klingons as Like That but anyway. something we have in common! i could go into how these stereotypes tie into classism which also ties into the racial coding of the klingons and how the idea of a 'barbarian' can be used to dehumanise both rural/working class communities and racialised groups but this is a lighthearted post so.

6. Being Massive Hypocrites

i think we all know how klingons Talk big about honour but for the most part act like absolute bastards, especially the ones in government, and my god do they have a lot of conflicting opinions on what makes 'true honour' and a 'real klingon'. well. not to say we invented that but we did put our name on it in the case of the no true scotsman fallacy! literally all the older scottish people i know are liable to double down this way when called out for talking shite. especially aberdonians which brings me to my final point

7. shit weather

almost every time we see Qo'noS in next gen it's dark and stormy, this is literally the sidebar image on its memory alpha page. looks like home!

on top of that there's the mountains you often see behind first city (scotland is like entirely mountains and coast), and the story kahless tells of a guy trying to fight the wind and, predictably, dying (trying to fight the wind is a weekly scottish experience).

in conclusion: klingons are scottish to me bc i'm scottish and i love them <3

one of the many, many reasons i love the klingons so much is bc (aside from my good friend scotty) there aren't really a lot of scottish characters in sci fi and the klingons are so scottish to me

[jonberry555]

Music & Klingon Culture - Star Trek Explain

In this video I will be taking a look at the relation between music and Klingon culture in light of the most recent episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We already know about Klingon Opera and what appears to be ballads, but what do they say about Klingon culture in light of their actions in the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

[isthereintruthnobeauty1968]

do other series at any point do anything with klingons who aren't warrior class. like it just makes sense that there have to be plenty of people doing other work to keep the fabric of the empire intact and there's tiny hints at it with the restauranteur on ds9 and worf's former nursemaid in sins of the father but their roles are tiny. lost opportunity for interesting stuff imo

[rainbowresurrection]

Still Thinking.

In TOS there was a lot of promise on fleshing out the Vulcan culture. You get phrases in Vulcan before you ever get any phrases in Klingon. Which makes it interesting that moving forward, you learn much more about the Klingon language.

As a language lover I'd be interested to know what the body of the Vulcan language would have looked like, had it been more officially explored. You know it would be filled with dichotomy, due to the ancient and ritualistic roots of the language versus the need for utmost logic, which would influence both grammatical structure and the writing system(s).

From what I've seen, the writing leans far more on the "ancient tradition" end of things. It's beautiful, yet it is lacking in terms of practicality.

I like to imagine that they would have multiple modes of writing- the loopy cursive writing for religious and cultural / ceremonial practices, and maybe a more standardized and phonetic script for daily use (likely to also be vertical and cursive, but can be written horizontally as well). Also I'm not sure how phonetic it is to begin with so I'm just making shit up here.

Well I know one thing for sure, they have at least 2 scripts, based on the writing seen on Spock's robes vs other scenarios (perhaps Old Vulcan or Ceremonial Vulcan).

Another fun thing I like to imagine is that perhaps Vulcan follows a root based system like Hebrew or Arabic. For example in the male names, the most common denominator is S----K or S--R--K.

SpocK, SaReK, SuRaK

Women, it is the letter T.

T'Pring, T'Pau

Both genders use the consonant P.

sPock, t'Pring

So, those consonants could be based on a certain shared notion, whereas the vowels change the nuance of the translation.

Arabic (Modern Standard) example, paying attention to the consonants:

KeTeBe = writing

KiTaaB = book

MeKTaB = desk

MeKTaBe = library

(sorry for the weak transliterations, it makes more sense looking at it in Arabic, you'll see the commonality in the consonants):

كتب

كتاب

مكتب

مكتبة

[gitzette]

Dive into the legacy of Kenneth Mitchell, the Star Trek icon who left an indelible mark with his unforgettable roles, courageous battle against ALS, and profound impact on the sci-fi universe. Discover his journey, from portraying Klingons with depth to inspiring with his real-life bravery. Celebrate the star that shines on. #KennethMitchellStarTrekLegacy

[ihavenomouthandimustyap]

Ok since vulcans have mating seasons (their pon farr) it means they have estrous cycles and not menstrual cycles which means that they don't have menses.

Imagine a vulcan learning for the first time that human women bleed from their vaginas for a week every month.

Just trying their best to master their emotions and be all calm, like "what a fascinating yet odd physiological phenomenon"

While inside they're like "what the fuck? What the fuck??? what the FUCK!? WHAT! THE! ACTUAL! FUCK! IS! WRONG! WITH! HUMANS!?!?"

Meanwhile a klingon would be like "BLEEDING IS THE SIGN OF A TRUE WARRIOR! THIS IS GLORIOUS!!"

[o0katiekins0o]

Klingons are a diaspora. They're an empire that span multiple planets with multiple environments. Their history is long and full of expansion and conquest- which inevitably creates cultural differences.

Included in their history are plagues and genetic and surgical manipulation that created physical differences.

That's how this guy is Klingon

And this guy is Klingon

And this guy is klingon

And this babe is also Klingon

Klingon identity as a diaspora is kind of the whole point of the story of the Klingons. What does it mean to be Klingon?

The rallying cry of the Klingon armies during the war with the Federation is "Remain Klingon".

What does that mean? Do they even know?

Is Klingon a racial or cultural identity?

Those are questions B'elanna Torres and Alexander Rozhenko are asking themselves all the time.

Can you convert to Klingon?

Curzon Dax and the alternate timeline "Sons of Mogh" seem to indicate you potentially can.

The planet of integrated Romulan and Klingons managing to strike a balance between both cultures was such a shock to Worf because hate and mistrust for Romulans had been such an integral part of his concept of Klingon identity that it made him ask new questions about himself.

If hating Romulans is not essential to Klingon identity, then what is Klingon identity?

Worf being biologically Klingon and culturally Jewish, I think, was meant to drive home the point that, like the Jewish people, Klingons are a diaspora and not a monlith.

And arguing about which Klingons are "real" ones is kind of funny because it's replicating the same debates the Klingons are having amongst themselves without even realizing it.

[grayrazor]

My headcanon for the Klingons is that, just like with the vikings and samurai that they're based on, the honor-obsessed warrior elite are maybe 10% of the population at most. If you visit a Klingon planet and go anywhere other than the castles of the great houses you see farmers, industrial workers, scientists, engineers, etc.

Maybe in times of relative peace they start giving the more prestigious bureaucratic and clerical jobs to the warrior class, like Edo-era Japan did, to give them something to do so they don't make mischief, that's why you see "warrior-lawyers" like Colonel Worf, Ch’Pok, and Kolos.

Another data point is Martok, who was a commoner--relegated to being cleaning staff on a starship because of Kor's prejudice--but became a warrior after proving himself in combat.

[what-even-is-thiss]

If you’re having trouble picking a language to learn you might want to evaluate why you want to learn a language in the first place

Do you want to do it to connect with your relatives? Because you’re moving to a country where you don’t speak the language? Then you already know what you have to do. Get out there and start watching YouTube videos and bothering your grandma to teach you, silly. Just do it.

If you just want to speak a second language for its own sake and don’t really care what, just pick a language that’s common in your region and/or will help you in your career. These types of languages will likely have local news stations in the language, local people to talk to, local language exchanges, a presence on streaming services in your country, etc. In the US this is almost always gonna be Spanish. Sometimes it might be something like German or Chinese but it’s usually Spanish. I give this suggestion because then your motivation is always staring you right in the face at the library when there’s a whole section you can’t read and motivation can sometimes be the hardest part of language learning. And if there’s a lot of stuff to watch and a lot of people to talk to that can also keep you from getting bored.

If you wanna be quirky or different but still want something easy just pick a language with a lot of speakers that isn’t spoken much near you that preferably also has a large presence online so you can watch and read content in that language. So if you live in the US likely something like Mandarin, Japanese, Portuguese, Arabic, Hindi, Russian, Korean. These languages also have a lot of monolingual speakers so they have a lot of tv, books, and movies made for them and they’re writing in their own language on social media websites.

If you want to learn a dead language decide which ancient culture you’re personally most abnormal about and pick that one. If you’re doing it for spiritual reasons to read a holy book then again you already know what you’re supposed to be doing, silly. Get reading. Find a quirky teacher on YouTube.

If you want to learn an endangered language and/or are interested in language preservation see what endangered languages live near you and if they’re open to outsiders learning them. Local universities often work with minority language groups to make dictionaries and they may have a program locally to help preserve the language you might be able to participate in. If that’s not possible where you live for whatever reason, I’d suggest finding one that you just really like and whose speakers are happy to teach to outsiders. If you’re looking for ones with a lot of resources available to you then something like Hawaiian or one of the Celtic languages would likely be your best bet, but look around. There’s a lot of people out there doing the work to make endangered languages more accessible.

If you wanna play on hard mode then pick a language that’s spoken in a country where almost everyone speaks English because you’ll have to defeat the locals in 1v1 combat before they’ll let you speak to them in their own language. So basically learn a Scandinavian language.

If you want to learn a conlang (why?) then decide which kind of nerds you want to make friends with. If you want to make friends with regular nerds, learn something like elvish or Klingon. If you want to make friends with people that just like conlangs, learn Esperanto. These are generally the most active conlang communities. If you want to just learn a language in a week and only sort of approximately say what you mean then learn toki pona.

If you’ve fallen hard in love with a language then pick that one. It doesn’t matter if it’s impractical or you don’t have a concrete reason. If you know that your love for that language and its culture is enough to keep you going then it’ll keep you going. You’ll find resources if you’re determined enough. Go. Be free.

[shitacademicswrite]

I want an absolutely TERRIFYING alien race whose language sounds exactly like Beaker from The Muppets.

[firstroseofspring]

looking into reading the final reflection because it's cited as a big influence on the depiction of klingons in star trek from tng onward for looking past the warrior stereotype and fleshes them out really well and look at this.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Two people on a small bipartisan science station gently fall in love.