Synopses & Reviews
Contestations over the meaning and practice of sexuality have become increasingly central to cultural self-definition and critical debates over issues of identity, citizenship and the definition of humanity itself. In an era when a religious authority can declare lesbians antihuman while some nations legalise same-sex marriage and are becoming increasingly tolerant of a variety of non-normative sexualities, it is hardly surprising that science fiction, in turn, takes up the task of imagining a diverse range of queer and not-so-queer futures. The essays in Queer Universes investigate both contemporary and historical practices of representing sexualities and genders in science fiction literature. Queer Universes opens with Wendy Pearson's award-winning essay on reading sf queerly and goes on to include discussions about 'sextrapolation' in New Wave science fiction, 'stray penetration' in William Gibson's cyberpunk fiction, the queering of nature in ecofeminist science fiction, and the radical challenges posed to conventional science fiction in the work of important writers such as Samuel R. Delany, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Joanna Russ. In addition, Queer Universes offers an interview with Nalo Hopkinson and a conversation about queer lives and queer fictions by authors Nicola Griffith and Kelley Eskridge.
Review
"Timely, smart, and innovative, this vital collection ensures that our conception of sf is fuller and healthier."--Science Fiction Studies
Synopsis
Disputes over the meaning and practice of sexuality have become increasingly central to cultural self-definition. It is hardly surprising, then, that science fiction, the province of new physical and psychological frontiers, has taken up the task of imagining a diverse range of queer and not-so-queer futures.
Queer Universes is a landmark investigation into these contemporary and historical representations of gender and sexualities—including Wendy Gay Pearsons award-winning essay on reading science fiction queerly, as well as essays discussing “sextrapolation” in New Wave science fiction, “stray penetration” in William Gibsons cyberpunk works, the queering of nature in ecofeminist sci-fi, and the radical challenges posed to conventional science fiction in the work of important writers such as Samuel R. Delaney, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Joanna Russ. In addition, this distinguished volume offers interviews with acclaimed science fiction writers and essays from scholars and science fiction giants alike.
“Timely, smart, and innovative, this vital collection ensures that our conception of science fiction is fuller and healthier.”—Science Fiction Studies
About the Author
Wendy Gay Pearson is Assistant Professor of English and Film Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Veronica Hollinger is Associate Professor of Cultural Studies at Trent University.
Joan Gordon is Associate Professor of English at Nassau Community College.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: Queer Universes
Wendy Gay Pearson, Veronica Hollinger, and Joan Gordon
Part I: Queering the Scene
Alien Cryptographies: The View from Queer
Wendy Gay Pearson
War Machine, Time Machine
Nicole Griffith and Kelley Eskridge
Part II: Un/Doing History
Sextrapolation in New Wave Science Fiction
Rob Latham
Towards a Queer Genealogy of SF
Wendy Gay Pearson
Sexuality and the Statistical Imaginary in Samuel R. Delanys Trouble on Triton
Guy Davidson
Stray Penetration and Heteronormative Systems Crash: Queering Gibson
Graham J. Murphy
Part III: Disordering Desires
‘Something Like a Fiction: Speculative Intersections of Sexuality and Technology
Veronica Hollinger
‘And How Many Souls Do You Have?: Technologies of Perverse Desire and Queer Sex in Science Fiction Erotica
Patricia Melzer
BDSMSF(QF): Sadomasochistic Reading of Québécois Womens Science Fiction
Sylvie Bérard
Part VI: Embodying New Worlds
‘Happy That Its Here: An Interview with Nalo Hopkinson
Nancy Johnston
Queer Nature: Close Encounters with the Alien in Ecofeminist Science Fiction
Helen Merrick
Queering the Coming Race? A Utopian Historical Imperative
De Witt Douglas Kilgore
Works CitedIndex