Science Fiction As Political Texts: Examining How Critical Dystopian Narratives by Octavia Butler and Eleanor Arnason Undermine the System
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Science Fiction as Political Texts: Examining How Critical Dystopian Narratives by Octavia Butler and Eleanor Arnason Undermine the System By Nicole Lara Lajeunesse Bøe Master’s Thesis Department of Foreign Studies University of Bergen May 2018 Sammendrag Denne masteroppgaven undersøker hvordan science-fiction, i tekst form, kan bli brukt til å undergrave seksuell forståelse i amerikansk kultur. Ved å bruke Tom Moylan og Raffaelle Baccolini sitt teoritiske arbeid om kritisk dystopi, og Darko Suvin sitt arbeid om novum og cognitive estrangement som grunnarbeid, har jeg undersøkt Octavia Butler sine romaner Dawn (1987) og Adulthood Rites (1988), og Eleanor Arnason sin roman Ring of Swords (1991). Jeg har undersøkt hvordan de tre romanene er politiske reaksjoner mot den statlig håndhevede forståelsen av heteroseksuell identitet. I oppgaven argumenterer jeg for at Butler og Arnason utforsker den kulturelle forståelse av seksualitet ved å bryte ned trossystemet som holder det på plass. Det første kapittelet utforsker hvordan hver forfatter tolker det statlige trossystemet, og hvilket trossystem de mener ville være en bedre alternativ. Det andre kapittelet er delt i fire deler. Etter en kort gjennomgang, hvor den den første delen beskriver hvordan diskriminerende anti-homoseksuell lovgivning fører til forsterkning av heteroseksuell identitet, undersøker jeg hvordan opprettelsen av alternative seksualiteter og kjønnsforventinger av forfatterne fortsetter å undergrave den etablerte normen. Etter dette, har jeg analysert hvordan hver forfatter utforsker intimitet i hver av sine tekster. Masteroppgaven konkluderer med å undersøke de sosiale forandringer som har skjedd siden romanen ble publisert. i Acknowledgements I wish to thank my supervisor, Željka Švrljuga, for entertaining my crazy ideas, daring me to me to prove them, and demanding only the best from me. Your support and guidance are greatly appreciated. I wish to thank Susan Cummings for carving out time in her busy schedule to give extra guidance, advice, and a friendly word now and then. Your kindness has made a difference in more ways than one. Special thanks to my professors Lene Johannesen, Laura Saetveit, Miles, Mark Ledbetter, and Randi Koppen. Your instruction and insights have made my return to academia a phenomena experience. The deepest thanks from the bottom of my heart to my DNA-clan: Cato, Nikolai and Catherine. The three of you have sacrificed much to allow me to return to studies, and not once in two years has there been a single complaint. Your endless support as my own private fan base is greatly appreciated and I am truly a lucky woman. Finally, a special thanks to Sensei Kjartan Stornes and Sensei Christer Nilsen. Mentors often appear unexpectedly, and the skills you two share resonate beyond the dojo: analysing the situation in reference to the skills one has, trusting in one’s ability, shutting down doubt, and keeping your eyes on the prize. ii Table of contents Sammendrag …..…………………………………………………………………….i Acknowlegements ………………………………………………………………….ii Table of Contents ……...……………………………………………………….......iii Introduction …………………………………………………………………………1 I Systems of Belief that Shape Reality ………………………………………12 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………12 New Systems of Belief …………………………………………………………………13 An Overview of the Growth of the Conservative Right …………………………….14 Scholarly Response to the Growth of Conservativism ……………………………...16 Systems of Belief in Dawn and Adulthood Rites ……………………………………..17 The Resisters/The Conservative Right ………………………………………………17 Oankali Evolutionism …………………………………………………………………23 Systems of Belief in Ring of Swords …………………………………………………..31 Pseudosiphonophores/The Conservative Right ……………………………………...31 The Goddess Religion ………………………………………………………………….37 II Narratives Found in Systems of Belief ……………………………………..43 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………….43 Constructed Sexual Identity in the United States ……………………………………44 The Constructed Narratives of Sexuality in Ring of Swords ………………………...48 The Constructed Narratives of Sexuality in Dawn and Adulthood Rites ……….......60 Gender Expectations …………………………………………………………………...71 Gender Expectations in Dawn and Adulthood Rites …………………………….........72 Gender Expectations in Ring of Swords ………………………………………………77 Intimacy …………………………………………………………………………………86 Intimacy in Ring of Swords …………………………………………………………….87 Intimacy in Dawn and Adulthood Rites ……………………………………………….91 Conclusion: A Great Shift? ……………………………………………………….98 Works Cited ………………………………………………………………………….104 iii Introduction The most astounding fact is the knowledge that the atoms that comprise life on Earth, the atoms that make up the human body are traceable to the crucibles that cooked… under extreme temperatures and pressures. These stars… they collapse and then explode scattering… across the galaxy… [spreading] the fundamental ingredients of life itself. These ingredients then become… those planets [that] now have the ingredients for life itself. So when I look up at the night sky and I know that yes, we are a part of this universe, we are in this universe, but perhaps more important than both those facts is that the universe is in us. When I reflect on that fact… I feel big, because my atoms came from those stars. There’s a level of connectivity. That’s what you want in life, you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant, you want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings on of activities and events around you. That’s precisely what we are, just by being alive. (Neil Degrasse Tyson 2012) In 2012, Time Magazine asked Neil DeGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist and current director of the Hayden Planetarium to share his opinion concerning the most astounding fact in the universe (Orwig). Tyson’s answer, a succinct version which is quoted above, was one he had clearly thought about in depth. His answer has since been made into a YouTube video, created by Max Schilkenmeyer, complete with computer-generated images of exploding nebulas, exotic creatures feeding in an ocean of life, panoramic mountainous views, and dotted with silhouetted human figures – all of which are set to ethereal music. This video currently has almost 12 million views, a popularity that rivals many celebrities. I argue that the popularity of “The Most Astounding Fact,” as it has now become known, is that Tyson’s contemplative words, combined with the said images and music, present a new and attractive way of looking at reality. By using science to examine the environment that surrounds humans, constructed narratives of understanding begin to lose credibility. “The Most Astounding Fact” displays for its audience varieties of physical life forms, existing together in no particular hierarchy. The cultural narratives, created by society, which objectify life, also place humans into hierarchies based on the categories of, for example, sexuality and gender. These cultural narratives do not exist in “The Most Astounding Fact.” Instead, Tyson 1 tells every member of his audience that she or he has a right to be relevant within her or his own environment. The same message is carried forward by some subgenres of science fiction (henceforth SF). But whereas “The Most Astound Fact” simply represents an inspirational idea, well written SF novels display possible environments in which all humans are relevant. They do this through the techniques of novum and cognitive estrangement. These techniques are especially effective when combined with critical dystopia, a literary genre that allows authors to examine their observable environment and presents new frameworks of how society could function better. Darko Suvin’s Metamorphoses of Science Fiction is one of the most important theoretical studies of SF to date and defines novum and cognitive estrangement and how they work together. A narrative novum can be a character, the setting, and/or the context that surrounds that character. Within SF, the novum will be significantly different from the norm in “naturalistic” or empiricist fiction (Suvin 2). Suvin uses the term “empiricist fiction” to describe fiction that is, or is close to, “an ideal extreme of exact replication of the authors’ empirical environment” (Suvin 4). I too will be adopting this definition of the word empirical to refer to the observable, historical environment that was experienced by the author. Suvin explains that the author’s use of novums in their work causes estrangement in the readers: new characters/ideas/environments confront the set of norms that have already accepted. Suvin maintains that cognitive estrangement is found in SF. It differs from the estrangement created by novums found in the narratives of myths or fantasy; they introduce novums that are anti-cognitive and do not abide the cognitive laws of the empirical environment. Dilemmas in myths and fantasy narratives are solved through the introduction of novums based on magic or supernatural forces that cannot be cognitively understood by the reader. These narratives present environments which are “closed and collateral world[s] indifferent 2 to cognitive possibilities” (Suvin 7-8). Narratives of myths and fantasy do not offer environments that can change and cannot be used as a literary force for change. In contrast to these narratives, Suvin notes, “SF sees the norms of any age, including… its own, as unique, changeable, and therefore subject to a cognitive view… [Whereas] myth [and fantasy explains] once and for all the essence of phenomena, SF… posits them as problems and explores where they might lead”