Stories to Make Us Human: Twenty-First-Century Dystopian
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MELISSA CRISTINA SILVA DE SÁ Stories to Make Us Human: Twenty-First-Century Dystopian Novels by Women BELO HORIZONTE 2020 MELISSA CRISTINA SILVA DE SÁ Stories to Make Us Human: Twenty-First-Century Dystopian Novels by Women Tese de doutorado apresentada ao Programa de Pós-Graduação em Estudos Literários da Facul- dade de Letras da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, como requisito parcial para obtenção do título de Doutora em Letras: Estudos Literários. BELO HORIZONTE 2020 To the ones who dare to dream new worlds. Acknowledgements Research as extensive as the one required for a Ph.D. dissertation cannot be done without the support of many people and institutions. I want to express my gratitude to all the ones that were part of this process for their patience and unconditional dedication. Without any particular order, I recognize the importance of the following: Instituto Federal de Minas Gerais – IFMG – for the eighteen-month paid leave that allowed me to do my research. I also thank my fellow professors at the institution, namely Anderson de Souto and Thadyanara Martinelli, who spent their time talking to me about the crazy new worlds I studied between classes. Professor Julio Jeha, my advisor, who helped me to refine all my arguments and consider diverse viewpoints. I thank you for making me a better and more mature researcher. Also, the meetings at Intelligenza were quite memorable. Diego Malachias, my husband and colleague, whom I met at the beginning of this journey. What a story we have to tell! Thank you for being such a fantastic companion – both in life and academia. Your patience and love remind me that what I have to say is important. Karen and Felipe, friends who understood so patiently my absences and processes. Thank you for your love and friendship. The members of Neufic (Núcleo de Estudos de Utopismos e Ficção Científica), especially Amanda Pavani, who ventured into this world with me. Jean Costa, who heard me talk about this work for so many hours without being an academic of the literary field. Thank you for helping me organize my thoughts. Glaucia Renate and Valéria Pereira, who were attentive readers in my qualification exam and helped me shape this work for the best. My parents, Eugênio e Carminha, who always – always – believed I could do whatever I wanted to do. Who taught me the value of education and empathy. Words cannot say how grateful I am for your love and support, and for understanding the demands of a life in the academic world. Jéssica, my little sister, who became such an unexpected companion in this Ph.D. journey. You are so smart and dedicated. I admire your work ethics and the beautiful woman you have become. My three dogs, Ben, Madalena, and Sauron, who were always with me during the writing process. Bellow my desk, staring at me from the armchair, or quietly sleeping at my feet. Also, because they are cute. “Let's start with the end of the world, why don't we? Get it over with and move on to more interesting things.” ― N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season Abstract Dystopian novels written by women in the twenty-first century tend to bring storytelling to the center of their narratives. The importance of telling stories in dystopias is nothing new: it is present in classics of the genre like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (1951). Nonetheless, women writers have associated this discussion on storytelling to the matter of being human. In the last decades, several novels have presented this trend, such as the ones by Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood, and Octavia Butler. These texts rework science fiction’s traditional conventions such as male protago- nists, the dichotomy of technology being either purely good or catastrophically evil, and a west- ernized view of humankind. This dissertation investigates a trend in twenty-first century dystopian novels by women that thematizes storytelling and the sharing of experiences in narratives in which the act of telling stories humanize what is initially considered non-human. In the selected novels, storytelling is used by aliens, robots, and genetically engineered creatures to challenge what it means to be human, debunking traditional definitions of humanity and proposing alternative ways of living that point to other possibilities of social arrangements outside the current biological, evolutionary, and cultural view of humanity. In this context, traditional humanity is defined based on the idea of humans in opposition to animals, having intellect and creativity, being able to create cultural products. From the dystopian novels by women read for this research, I chose three to triangulate common topics inside the pattern of using storytelling to discuss and challenge what being human means: Le Guin’s The Telling (2000), Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods (2007), and Atwood’s MaddAddam (2013). I also refer to other novels to illustrate points and present conver- gences and divergences. I consider the concept of dystopia and its relation to storytelling from a feminist point of view drawing mainly on Raffaella Baccolini’s and Tom Moylan’s debates in the field of utopian studies. Storytelling is analyzed in the novels in relation to Walter Benjamin’s text, “The Storyteller,” Paul Ricoeur’s Time and Narrative, and Brian Boyd’s On The Origins of Stories. The matter of knowledge present in these dystopian novels by women is considered by examining the proposed alternative communities formed in the texts. Finally, humanity as a category is discussed using mainly Boyd’s considerations on evocriticism in contrast to the post-human perspective usu- ally taken. The pattern observed in these dystopian novels by women reveals the many preoccu- pations of the twenty-first century through the bleak lens of dystopia, but with a critical twist that provides reflections on possible alternatives to humans’ current ways of living. It is by telling sto- ries that these alternatives are proposed. Keywords: dystopian literature; storytelling; women. Resumo Romances distópicos escritos por mulheres no século 21 tendem a trazer o ato de contar histórias para o centro de suas narrativas. A importância de contar histórias em distopias não é novidade: está presente em clássicos como Fahrenheit 451 (1951), de Ray Bradbury. No entanto, escritoras têm associado essa discussão sobre o ato de contar histórias com o significado de ser humano. Nas últimas décadas, vários romances apresentaram essa tendência, como os das escritoras Ursula K. Le Guin, Margaret Atwood e Octavia Butler. Seus textos ressignificam as convenções da ficção científica tradicional tais como protagonistas masculinos, dicotomia entre tecnologia ser pura- mente boa ou catastroficamente má e uma visão ocidental da humanidade. O presente trabalho investiga esse padrão nos romances do século 21 escritos por mulheres que tematizam o ato de contar histórias e o compartilhar de experiências em narrativas em que contar histórias humaniza o que é inicialmente visto como não humano. Nos romances selecionados, a narrativa é usada por alienígenas, robôs e criaturas geneticamente modificadas para questionar o que significa ser hu- mano, desbancando definições tradicionais de humanidade e propondo modos de vida alternativos que apontam para outras possibilidades de arranjos sociais fora da atual visão biológica, evolucio- nária e cultural da humanidade. Nesse contexto, a humanidade tradicional é definida com base na ideia de humanos em oposição a animais, dotados de intelecto e criatividade e capazes de criar produtos culturais. Das distopias lidas para essa pesquisa, escolhi três para triangular temas comuns dentro do padrão de usar o ato de contar histórias para discutir e questionar o que é ser humano: The Telling (2000), de Le Guin, The Stone Gods (2007), de Jeanette Winterson, e MaddAddam (2013), de Atwood. Faço também referência a outros romances para ilustrar pontos e apresentar conver- gências e divergências. Considero o conceito de distopia e sua relação com a narrativa de um ponto de vista feminista, baseando-me principalmente nos debates de Raffaella Baccolini e Tom Moylan no campo dos estudos utópicos. Analiso o ato de contar histórias nos romances em relação ao texto “O narrador”, de Walter Benjamin, e os livros Tempo e narrativa, de Paul Ricoeur, e On the Origins of Stories, de Brian Boyd. Abordo o debate sobre o conhecimento nesses romances ao exa- minar as comunidades alternativas propostas neles. Finalmente, discuto humanidade como cate- goria usando as considerações de Boyd sobre o evocriticismo em contraste com a perspectiva pós- humana comumente utilizada. O padrão observado nesses romances distópicos escritos por mu- lheres revela as muitas preocupações do século 21 através das lentes sombrias da distopia, mas com o viés crítico que traz reflexões em alternativas possíveis aos modos atuais em que os humanos vivem. É através de histórias que essas alternativas são propostas. Palavras-chave: literatura distópica; narrativa; mulheres. Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 16 Chapter 1: A Genre of Survival and Storytelling ............................................................................ 24 1.1 The Conventions of Dystopian Narrative ............................................................................ 24 1.2 Narratives of Hope .................................................................................................................. 36 1.3 Radicalized Storytelling