The captivity narrative is very, very, very old. So old, it even has its own number in the Stith-Thompson motif index!Basically the captivity narrative occurs when a member of one culture is seized and dragged into another culture.
Think of civilizations as having a common center. Despite what conspiracy theorists and angry Rousseauians try to get us to believe, this is normal. It is normal and inevitable for a stable culture to have a stable center of traditions and language and attitudes and beliefs.
Human nature being what it is, that stable center is surrounded by variations--those who adhere to the center but interpret it in their own way; those who debate the center; those who ignore the center; detractors, even rebels.
On the edges of all this response to the center lie Sondheim's woods--a person goes into the woods to explore the "outside," which is, by itself, is fascinating.However, here's what's even more fascinating. The woods are edged by the woods of another civilization, which has its own center.
How do we enter into that culture while still retaining our own?
If we merely go for a visit, we will still--and always--be perpetual outsiders. And it might not be a good idea anyway. Look what happened to Frodo.
If we're rebels, trying to search for another identity, well...first of all, that's kind of negates the "retaining our own center" aspect of the journey. The rebel has already shed the center, which makes the rebel somewhat less than interesting. (This lack of interest is evinced by the ones the rebel leaves behind and by the ones the rebel encounters: Benedict Arnold lost the respect of everybody, including the British.)
Because the real interest in the captivity narrative is the clash between the two centers. Captivity is both resisted and desired. What happens when a person, who is still holding onto a center, is forced to adjust to another stable way of being? What compromises ensue?
Some of the most classic literary/popular culture productions in existence utilize the captivity narrative, including Beauty & the Beast; Light in the Forest; a stunning number of nineteenth-century "captivity narratives" regarding Native Americans and religion (Mormons, Catholics); a large portion of all sci-fi, including Asimov's non-alien sci-fi (the human-colonized planets colonized are as culturally distinct from each other as any "alien" planet); alien/UFO narratives...
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It goes without saying that this happened in real life. Cynthia Ann Parker was abducted by the Comanche and forcibly returned to white society. On the other side, we had Indian children taken from their families to be raised by white people for longer than people think.
Hollywood has often turned to Japan as the setting for the captivity narrative, spanning the entertainment spectrum from Martin Scorsese's Silence (the tragic fate of Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Japan), to less serious, action-oriented melodramas like Shogun and The Last Samurai.
Silence and Shogun make for an interesting contrast, as Rodrigues in the former has to adapt on terms against his own will and values, while Blackthorne (their actual historical counterparts were contemporaries) in the latter ends up fully embracing his new role as the shogun's retainer.
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