#27 – Feminist Science Fiction – A Reader's History of Science Fiction
Among the various social changes that accompanied the New Wave, this time period saw the rise of second-wave feminism. In this episode, we explore how that movement influenced the genre of science fiction. Book recommendation: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. Tor Books poll on women in speculative fiction. Eric Leif Davin's Partners in Wonder. Sable Aradia's review of "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" My blog posts on The Handmaid's Tale: Part 1, Part 2 Jan Misali/Conlang Critic on Láadan. Princeton article on Láadan. Mary Robinette Kowal on women in sci-fi. Other works discussed: "The Screwfly Solution" by James Tiptree Jr. "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" by James Tiptree Jr. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" by Ursula K. Le Guin The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin Kindred by Octavia E. Butler Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
Dystopian fiction has become a popular subgenre of sci-fi in its own right, but the earliest dystopian novels shared some unique elements in common, inverting the standard tropes of the hero’s journey. In this episode, we explore what has made these stories so enduring.
Book recommendation: Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.
My essay on the inverted hero’s journey.
Link to the Heroine’s journey.
Link to O’Brien’s speech.
Other books mentioned:
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
