Masaryk University Faculty of Arts
Department of English and American Studies
English Language and Literature
Hana Koutná
Feminism in Short Stories of Ursula Le Guin Bachelor‘s Diploma Thesis
Supervisor: Stephen Paul Hardy, Ph.D.
2014
I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primaly and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.
…………………………………………….. Author‘s signature
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank doctor Stephen Paul Hardy for supervision and assistance that enables me to finish this thesis. I also want to thank my family for support and encouragement during the writting. Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I: DAUGHTERS OF EARTH: LE GUIN AS A SCIENCE FICTION AND FEMINIST WRITER
1. SCIENCE FICTION, FEMINISM AND GENDER 1 1.1. GENDER IN HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE FICTION 1 1.2. REPRESENTATION IN MODERN SPECULATIVE FICTION 6 1.3. CHALLENGING THE STEREOTYPE 8 2. LE GUIN AS A WRITER 12 2.1. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND 12 2.2. LE GUIN‘S INFLUENCE 14 2.3.LE GUIN AND FEMINISM 17
CHAPTER II: FEMINISM IN LE GUIN'S SHORT STORIES
1. INTRACOM 21 1.1. ON PREGNANCY AND ALIENS 23 2. THE WIFE'S STORY 26 2.1. THE MATTER OF PROTAGONIST 27 2.2. IMAGES OF ABUSE AND EMPOWERMENT 31 3. THE COMING OF AGE IN KARHIDE 33 3.1. THE LANGUAGE OF THE GENDER 36 3.2. SEXLUALITY, RELATIONSHIPS AND GENDER STEREOTYPES 38 4. THE PORRIDGE ON ISLAC 41 4.1. CORN AND OTHER MINORITIES 43
CONCLUSION 45
WORKS CITED 50
PRIMARY SOURCES 50 SECONDARY SOURCES 50 INTRODUCTION
This work deals with the position of Ursula Le Guin‘s work from the view-point of feminist literature analysis with an emphasis on how her approach evolves through her career and how the analysis differs from the point of view of different waves in the feminist movement. While she originally did not consider herself to be a feminist writer and her early works tend to be more male-centered, themes connected with this movement started to appear in her works quite early in her writing career, as she ―began coming up against certain discomforts‖(White). In her later works, she explores and deconstructs gender, gendered expectations and sexuality. The intention of this work is not to be a biographical account and events of Le Guin's life will be considered only in the relation to her feminism. The main focus will be on the feminist analysis of the short stories from different periods of her career.
The first part of the first chapter will focus on how feminism is used in the genre of science fiction and how it changes this genre. Genres of speculative fiction, science fiction in particular, provides space for examining and challenging the norms of the civilization and for predicting their future development. But the norms of gender and sexuality tend mostly to conform the standards of the era. If there are some changes, the future sexuality often reflects ―male ideal‖ by being less constricted and monogamous, but still very heteronormative. The other approach is to eliminate the gender division and sexuality completely, but this is usually used to further reinforce the dystopian impression from the world. This is to a certain extent caused by a stereotypical perception of science fiction as a genre written predominantly by men and for men. But ―if we can't write diversity into science fiction, then what's the point? You don't create new worlds to give them all the same limits of the old ones.‖
(Broverman). The second and third part of this chapter will deal with the identity of Le Guin as a science fiction writer and as a feminist writer. It explores how these identities changed trough her career and how they are connected (if they are connected at all).
The second chapter will examine feminist analysis of Le Guin's short stories.
This analysis will not only be feminist in general, but will also focus on the differences between reading from the point of view of different feminist waves. The point of view of the first wave feminism will be mostly omitted, since although this wave had influenced the feminist movement till the half of the 20th century, its center is mostly late 19th century – early 20th century women's right movement. The biggest space will be given to the second and third wave. The second wave is connected with the late 60s and 70s of the 20th century, is more radical than the previous wave, and shares foundation in the left wing movement with other movement of this time, such as the anti-war movement, gay and lesbian rights movement and the civil rights movement. The third wave feminism then challenges the notion of ―universal womanhood‖ and focuses more on ambiguity and diversity in movement and policy.
It is also reclaiming and subverting some of terms and activities which were deemed oppressive by the previous waves (Krolloke 2). The fourth wave of feminism and its point of view will be also partially considered in the analysis.
To illustrate the changes in Le Guin's opinions and approach to these topics, the short stories used for the analysis will be chosen from the different points of her career, starting from ―Intracom‖ which was first published in 1973, till ―Porridge on Islac―, published as a part of the short story collection Changing Planes in the early 2000s.
The first subchapter, focused on the short story ―Intracom‖. It examines the metaphor of pregnancy and motherhood. The female body is depicted as a spaceship invaded by an alien. While the story is mostly humoristic, it raises the question of man‘s right to make decisions over the female body and how these decisions are influenced by the gender of the expected child.
In the second subchapter, ―Wife‘s Story‖ from the collection The Compass Rose
(published 1982) is examined from two connected points of view. The first is looking on the protagonist of ―Wife‘s Story‖ in connection to this protagonist‘s identity and the techniques Le Guin is using to conceal this fact. This is also linked to her tendency to mask in similar ways race of her protagonists in different works.
Finally, the general attitude towards so called ―minority protagonists‖ and their influence on reader‘s identification with said protagonist in examined.
The second part then interprets the images of the violence, especially in the context of domestic abuse, and of female empowerment present in the story.
The first part of the third subchapter examines the use of gendered language, pronouns in particular, in the story ―Coming of Age in Karhide‖. As the story takes place on the planet whose inhabitants are genderless for most of their lives, the pronouns used influences how the reader perceives the characters and shows how the author herself perceived them. This is also compared to the way Le Guin approached the same problematic in the novel The Left Hand of Darkness. The second part then examines how the perceived gender of these characters influence their sexuality and behavior. It also shortly looks into the issues of heteronormativity in Le Guin‘s stories.
The last subchapter is concerned with the short story ―Porridge on Islac‖ from the interconnected short story collection Changing Planes, which was published in 2003. It shortly examines the collection in general, looking at the problematic of the female traveler. The story itself is then explored from the point of view of privileges and intersection of feminism, class division and race. The terminology that will be used in the work is adopted from Mieke Bal's
Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. She approaches the problematic of narratology without deriving her terminology or ideas completely from any of the previous schools of narratology, though she borrows some of their concepts. CHAPTER I: DAUGHTERS OF EARTH: LE GUIN AS A SCIENCE FICTION AND FEMINIST WRITER
1. SCIENCE FICTION, FEMINISM AND GENDER ―Traditionally, sf has been considered a predominantly masculine field which, through its focus on science and technology, ‗naturally‘ excludes women and by implication, considerations of gender.‖ (Merrick 241). This claim includes both science fiction writers and the supposed target group and has lead to certain stereotypes in the depiction of genders and gender roles. The following section will look into these stereotypes and their changes through time, will examine whence this perceived masculinity stems, how is this stereotype present in the modern speculative fiction and also what are its real life consequences. It will also shortly examine how can gender stereotypes be disrupted.
1.1. GENDER IN HISTORY OF SPECULATIVE FICTION The origins of science fiction as a genre are not completely clear. Even in the oldest recorded literature we can find fantastic motives similar to those in modern science- fiction literature. Among the precursors of the genre can be counted the fantastical travelogues of Lucian from the second century, which, while mostly satirical, shares similarities in plot with modern space operas (Amis 28). Another important predecessor is utopia, a genre that describes an ideal society, with Plato's Republic as the oldest example. Both of these trends has been later followed up in literature of the 17th and 18th century, during the so-called ―Age of Reason‖ (Železný 12). From non-
European cultural space, the stories from One Thousand and One Nights (8th - 10th century CE) contains fantastical elements, such as ―the figure of a horseman sculpted in brass, which will swivel around at the touch of a hand and indicate the direction towards the City of Brass‖ (Hamori 11), a sort of prototype of a modern humanoid robot
1 There is no literary work that is ―officially‖ considered to be the first ―true‖ science fiction. The term science-fiction first appears in Wilson's A Little Earnest Book Upon a Great Old Subject published in 1851 (139), but some authors trace the first work of the science fiction genre as far back as to the 17th century to Kepler's Somnium (Bleiler vii).
In his book Billion Years Spree, Brian Aldiss mentions Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
(published 1818) as the first science fiction novella (Aldiss 15). This opinion is generally accepted and will be used for the purposes of this chapter. The other often used candidate is the third book of Jonathan Swift's Travels into Several Remote
Nations of the World by Lemuel Guliver (1726). But Brian Stableford rejects this possibility in his essay ―Frankenstein and the Origins of Science Fiction‖ disqualifying Swift‘s book ― on the account that its vitriolic parody of the activity and ambitions of scientists alienates it completely from the kind of proto-scientific world-view which Mary Shelley is ready to embrace.‖ (48).
Another important genre of speculative fiction – fantasy – begins to emerge earlier that science fiction. Its origin can be traced, among other things, to fairy tales (Pilinovsky 15), with later precursors in medieval romances and gothic novel.
The modern fantasy than appears in 18th century. The connection with fairytales, the literary genre that was primaly targeted at juvenile and female audience, is probably the reason why fantasy is perceived as a more feminine genre than science fiction, both from authors and readers perspective.
The 20th century brings the beginning of science fiction as a publishing category, with the first English-language science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories (Larbalestier
31). Some authors even argue for 1920s and 1930s to be the beginning of the science fiction genre, as opposed to the much longer genre history proposed by Aldiss.
2 In The Starboard Wine, Samuel Delany argues in favor of this pulp tradition.
―[by science fiction] I don‘t mean the 19th century didactic fables didactic fables…
―fayned historics‖ and ―fayned voyages‖ of the 15th, 16th and 17th century… I mean the first intrusion of the modern 20th century scientific imagination into the very texture and rhetoric of a preexisting fictive field in the pulp magazines of the ‗20s and ‗30s…‖
(165). This approach is however problematic. Firstly, it furthers the hegemony of the USA in the science fiction genre. Secondly, it not only excludes many works that are usually considered to be staples of the science fiction genre
(such as H.G. Wells‘s War of the Worlds, published in 1898), but also marginalize the crucial contribution of women to the formation of the genre. But it cannot be denied that in 1920s, science fiction become, for the first time, a social activity – the fandom is born (Larbalestier 32).
In the magazine on its own, the female presence was marginal at the best. Women have been present at the cover of the first issue, but even here, they were overshadowed.
Among the audience, their presence was much stronger, prompting the then editor Hugo
Gernsback to mention in the sixth issue of Amazing Stories that there are (to his surprise) ―a great many women are already reading the new magazine‖ (483). But even while Gernsback is grateful for this readership, female science fiction readers still perceived as a curiosity. Larbaestier points out in her dissertation ―The Battle of Sexes in Science Fiction‖ that ―The editorial response focuses on the fact that this ―very interesting letter is from the member of the fair sex.‖ Marking the letter in this way makes it appear that it is ―interesting‖because it is by woman…‖ (41). This undermines Gernsmack‘s previous claim about the number of female readers and furthers the notion of the science fiction as a male genre, with women as an occasional curiosity. However,
3 despite this marginalization, female presence was crucial during these early years
(David 47).
The 1920s and 30s can also be seen as the first decades of fanfiction1, although its roots can be traced farther back (fanlore.org). However, its significant spread began with the media fandoms of 1960s, with Star Trek often cited as the first of them. Fanfiction is traditionally seen as a female domain – for different reasons. First, it is a reaction to the exclusion of women from male dominated fiction markets. Secondly, it allows commenting on the problems in mainstream culture, such as lack of representation. This does not mean that fanfiction is completely non problematic, but it still creates a space for voices that are usually underrepresented in the mainstream.
The 1960s and 1970s brought another change to the science fiction with the feminist movement. The influence of this movement is apparent not only in the science fiction texts themselves, but even more profoundly in the feminist critique of the science fiction genre as a whole. The most problematic was the obvious contradiction between the image of science fiction as an open-minded, subversive genre and its inability
(or even reluctance) to approach the gender and sexual roles in society in such a way. ―Science fiction writers are evidently satisfied with the sexual status quo‖ summarize Kingsley Amis in his New Maps of Hell (115) in 1960. Ten years later, when Joanna Ross investigates the situation from the woman‘s point of view in ―The Image of Women in SF‖, the situation is almost the same. This almost seems a failure of imagination, as if (male) science fiction writers were able to create any possible future, with an exception of that where men and women are equal.
1 Fiction written around previously established characters invented by other authors (―fanfic―)
4 It is almost ironic that a genre which is considered to be masculine was ―founded‖ by a female writer. But by choosing the male narrator for her story, Shelley also unintentionally established the standard of a male hero in science-fiction.
She writes in the Author's Introduction to Frankenstein that she did not chose ―herself‖
(a female main character) to be a hero of the story because her life ―appeared to (her) too common-place an affair as regarded (herself)‖ and she ―could not figure to (herself) that romantic woes or wonderful events would ever be (her) lot...‖ (Shelley
48).
Why could not Shelley see herself – or somebody like her – as a hero of her own story? In her essay ―What Can a Heroine Do? Or Why Woman Can't Write‖
(published in To Write Like a Woman: Essays in Feminism and Science Fiction, 1995),
Joanna Russ examines this as a result of a male-centrism of our society. There are no ―mythos‖, basic stories, where a woman can be a hero.
This does not mean that there are no female characters in the stories.
But they are not equal to the male characters. Beauvior sees woman as ―the Other‖– character defined and differentiated with the reference to the norm and serves to create opposition to it that has no mind on its own. ―Thus it is that no group ever sets itself up as the One without at once setting up the Other over against itself.‖ (12), says
Beaviour. This setting against a different group helps to create a sense of unity in the population creating this terms, but also dehumanizes the Other. When woman is defined as the Other, her behavior does not need to be explainable in term of human motivation or her own inner life. She acts in a certain way because she is that way –
like the stock character of ―the Noble Savage‖ that acts noble because he is Noble
(―What Can a Heroine Do? Or Why Woman Can't Write‖ 79).
5 James Davis in ―Frankenstein and the Subversion of the Masculine Voice‖ offers an alternative explanation for the exclusion of the female voice from the Frankenstein.
―Their virtual exclusion of female characters and perspectives purposefully enacts in the novel's from the misogyny that dooms the male characters to failure‖ (320).
Shelley thus could use the exclusively male voice to subvert the traditional concept of male hero. This, however, does not change the fact that females – even by themselves, as seen is Shelley's quote – has been seen and still are seen often as more of a living plot device than a protagonist in the science fiction genre.
1.2. REPRESENTATION IN MODERN SPECULATIVE FICTION As it was described earlier, the representation of women as writers and characters of speculative fiction has changed over time. But while the presence of females in those genres is becoming more visible, it is still far from equal. The rate of female and male characters in the fiction is 1:3, although in reality, the global proportion of females to males is 1:1.01 (Signorelli). The female representation is also often influenced by the Smurfette principle2, the tendency for the work of fiction to have exactly one female character. This character serves as a love interest
(to reinforce the group‘s heterosexuality) or as a token character to create an illusion of diversity, and is defined only by her gender.
This lack of representation of women in science fiction (and in speculative fiction genres in general) influences also their status in the real life. In fan communities of these genres, one of the most discussed phenomena is the so-called fake geek girl.
This term, while it has been very probably used before, appeared in print for the first time in Tara Brown's article Dear Fake Geek Girls: Please
Go Away (published on forbes.com, 26th of March 2012).
2 Named after the only female character of Belgian comics Les Schtroumpfs (The Smurfs), created by Pierre Culliford in 1958
6 The Fake Geek Girl is allegedly a woman who attends geek3 events not to participate in the culture, but to gain romantic/sexual favors in the environment of lowered beauty standards and lower competition than that of the mainstream society. This phenomenon is highly problematic. First, it furthers the misogyny which is already present in the community. There is no male counterpart of the Fake Geek Girl. There is a notion that only males are somehow congenitally able to be a geek, while females have to go trough a series of tests to prove the validity of her self-identification.
This leads to further alienation of females from this culture, which in turn strengthens the assumption that geek culture is strictly male space. But in reality, the number of female fans is much higher. In the 2001 NSF survey, there was only 3% difference between genders in the number of self-reported science fiction readers (NSF). Statistic from the computer and video games industry, which is considered to be a part of the geek culture, women represents about 45% of the game player, with women over 18 years representing greater portion of the gaming population than men of
17 years or less (category usually considered to be the target group of video gaming industry) (ESA). The female attendance of geek convention is rising (the percentage of female attendees of San Diego Comic Con is estimated to be over 40%). About 78% of the fanfiction authors are women (FF research), although the precise number is difficult to get due to the anonymous nature of online communities. This participation is however often disregarded as insufficient or denounced for being focused on the ―wrong‖ phenomenon.
But this gatekeeping in the geek spaces is not just a problem of the pop-culture.
Representation is an act of symbolism that not only mirrors an independent object world, but also constitutes the meaning of that which they purport
3 A person who has excessive enthusiasm for and some expertise about a specialized subject or activity (Unabriged). Here meaning science fiction, fantasy, comics, gaming or similar enthusiast.
7 to stand in for (Barker). The reader tends to perceive this mirror image as an exact image of the world. When the viewer is exposed to a certain stereotypical image of reality that more often than not presents females as codependent, weak and passive, these characteristics start to be seen as inherently feminine. These characteristics are traditionally perceived as negative – giving women no other choices that to either be seen as a lesser being, or to sacrifice her femininity completely. In science fiction, this influence is even stronger. Firstly, the heroes of the science fiction genre are depicted as possessing such qualities that are perceived as highly positive and desirable in our culture, while reinforcing the notion that these characteristics are strictly male. Secondly, there is a presumption that there is connection between a science fiction storytelling and attraction towards scientific and technologic fields.
Women are often discouraged from pursuing career and while there is no certain evidence for this connection, the larger presence of active females characters in science fiction could help to eliminate this disadvantage.
1.3. CHALLENGING THE STEREOTYPE While many works of science fiction and fantasy genre still enforce stereotypes of gender specific behavior, characteristics and position in society, there are some that uses the specific storytelling possibilities of these genres to comment on these stereotypes or to subvert them.
One of the ways to do this is to put the female characters to situations and social spaces that are traditionally deemed to be predominately male, or ascribe them masculine traits. In I’ll Make a Man out of You: Strong Women in Science Fiction and Fantasy Television, Anita Sarkeesian questions meaningfulness of this practice, as she found it to only further the notion that hero must be masculine – regardless of his/her gender. She also points out the fact that stereotypically feminine traits
8 are disproportionally framed in media as negative (while masculine ones are unreservedly perceived as positive) and that positive feminine traits – such as being dependent and nurturing – are seen as such only when present in female characters.
She than reassigns the values ascribed to these traits to the suit more anti-discrimination reading, where the imbalance in perception of the traits on gender basis and the difference in the values of these traits when present in different genders are removed (Sarkeesian 46). This conception can be seen as furthering the stereotypical division of attributes to masculine and feminine. But, it is important to realize that Sarkeesian does not claim them to be inherently gendered, only that they are perceived as such.
This ascription of characteristics that are traditionally connected with different gender can be clearly seen in the Young Adult novel trilogy Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins. The book follows fates of the young people in the post-apocalyptic, dystopian North America, who are forced to participate in the battle to death for amusement of the privileged class. The characteristics traits of the main heroine, Katniss Everdeen, are almost completely those stereotypically male. She is strong, independent and active, but very emotionally inexpressive.
In her family, she is the main breadwinner, after her father was killed and her mother is incapacitated by depression. The main male character, Peeta Mellark, have on the other hand many qualities which are perceived as feminine.
He is more emotionally open, romantic and talkative. He forms coalitions with other participants easily, but his position in those relationships are usually more passive/subordinate. In contrast with Katniss, who is primalily a hunter, his occupation is domestic – he works in the bakery (specializing on cake decoration).
In the book, this is never commented on as being unusual or out of order.
9 But, the reception of the main characters indicates how the stereotypically feminine qualities are perceived by the mainstream culture as inherently inferior or undesirable.
While Katniss is praised mostly for her masculine traits, Peeta is mocked for being effeminate and depicted as inferior to the more hegemonically masculine hunter Gale.
The Hunger Games trilogy managed to break the stereotype by having a female lead in a science fiction setting without over focusing on the ―feminine aspects‖ of the story, such as heroine choosing between the two potential love interests. Collins comments on this stereotype by having the fictional audience focusing on the (fabricated) love story of Katniss and Peeta while ignoring the slaughter of the teen-aged children, that was mainly orchestrated for them to watch.
Some settings also enable to disrupt the traditional power structure and to complete invert the gender roles in the whole society. The two most frequent outcomes of this role reversal stands on the opposite sides of the symbolic scale: either the female- led society function as virtually utopian, or is almost dystopian, with men seen as inferior or even enslaved. As Linda Wight writes in her dissertation
Talking About Men: Conversations About Masculinies in Recent „Gender-bending“
Science Fiction ―Revealing the lingering fears inspired by first-wave feminism, these stories warn that women will not be content with equality, but will instead seek to dominate men, or eradicate them completely.‖ (57). Nevertheless, the ―happy ending‖ of these stories does not ensure any equality – only return to the ―natural‖, men-ruled state. As the extreme version of these matriarchal societies, there exist fictional worlds where either a complete separation of genders/sexes is observed, or where men are non-existing.
The female-only and female-led utopic civilizations – also called gynotopias – have appeared in the literature throughout the history. Among the oldest written examples
10 of this genre is Christine de Pizan‘s The Book of the City of Ladies, written on the beginning of the 15th century, which depicts an egalitarian, female-only society.
But the surge of gynotopias begins in 1960s and 1970s with second wave of feminism.
While male-only words exist in literary space, they are much less common that their distaff versions. Because are world is build as mainly androcentric, these fictional worlds do not imply any greater freedom than reality and as such are not as attractive (Romaine 329).
The stories of the female-dominated societies of the second kind are not reserved only for the modern science fiction genre, but appear already in the mythology.
The idea presented is that in order to dominate in the society, the group has to possess a certain ―badge of power‖, that allows this group to justify its dominance. In older versions of those stories, especially in non-Western societies that are less focused on physical differences between sexes, this badge is represented by a sacred object, song or ritual and men presents themselves as keepers of this objects (Bamberger 274).
When stolen by women, the badge loses its power as it is ―tainted‖, which allows men to reestablish their superiority. In later, Western versions of the story, the badge becomes part of the male body (usually symbolized by the genital – the character literary ―must have balls‖ in order to participate on this dominance). Biology itself functions as a seemingly rational justification of the power balance (―Amor Vincit
Foeminam: The Battle of the Sexes in in Science Fiction‖ 3). Women are ―naturally‖ weaker, less capable, unfit to lead. The badge is also subconsciously made more difficult to steal.
The depiction of these female societies only furthers the notion that this arrangement is unnatural and harmful. They are often totalitarian, which shows firstly the idea that women cannot hold such a power without being corrupted and, secondly,
11 that only this massive force is keeping things from the natural order. The inhabitants of these societies often paradoxically depicted as masculinized (i.e. small breasted, overtly muscular, with facial hair), to further the point that in order to rule, woman have to become man. Men, on the other hand, are weak and effeminate – castrated, deprived of their biological badge of power. But the foundations of those societies are often so fragile that it only takes a few ―healthy men‖ to re-establish the norm.
2. LE GUIN AS A WRITER This section will look at the position of Ursula Le Guin among the science fiction writers of her era, from the beginning of her writing career to the perception of her writing in the context of 21st century literature. The focus will be on the innovations that Le Guin brought into the genre and how these innovations influenced modern literature.
2.1. THE CULTURAL BACKGROUND Le Guin published her first prosaic works (not counting ―Folksong from the Montayna Province‖, a poem published in 1959) during the 1960s. This decade
(culturally more loosely defined as beginning in the 1963 and ending in mid-1970s) is an era of important cultural changes. The Afro-American Civil Rights Movement was at the height of its activity. The second wave feminism emerges, focused on questioning and changing the cultural and social norms that influence the position of women in society. Around the end of the era, the gay rights movement symbolically begins with the Stonewall Riots of 1969. The antiwar movement strengthens in the reaction to the development of the Vietnam war and the Cold war.
Literature, both factual and literature of fiction, reflected these changes in the society
– especially the literature of the counterculture. Mainstream science fiction in the end of the 1950s was represented by John Wood Campbell (who since 1937
12 had been the editor of the Astounding Science Fiction magazine) and the generation of writers around him. This so called Golden Age of science fiction stemmed from the pulp tradition of the previous are, but was more mature in style. Sub-genre- wise, the biggest emphasis was on the ‗Hard‘ science fiction – a subgenre that uses known scientific principles as the ground rules (Wolfe 51). Stylistically, they were more traditional, with linear narration, focused on the conflict of hero versus antagonist or hero versus circumstances.
But around the mid-sixties, this style was becoming increasingly stilted and predictable.The new generation of science fiction writers tried to overcome the limitation of the genre by adopting new narrative strategies (http://www.sf- encyclopedia.com). It is widely accepted that this literary movement, called New Wave, started in the United Kingdom around the magazine New Worlds and its editor, Michael
Moorcock (Luckhurst, 141). In the United States, it was quickly popularized by Harlan
Ellison‘s anthology Dangerous Vision4.
Stylistically, the New Wave literature was characterized by experimentation in narrative structure and language and by attempting to import the imagery of literary fiction in science fiction. It also inclines more towards the ―softer‖ end of the genre spectrum. In the general feel of the stories, there was a distinct decline of the optimism that was present in the older science fiction literature. But the differences between the New Wave and the previous era was not in style only. Many of the works of the Golden age were traditional in a sense of worldview of the Euroamerican culture
– as Claude Lalumiere puts it in his article ―Fear of Fiction: Campbell‘s
World and Other Obsolete Paradigms‖, ―The subtext of Campbellian SF is the dogma of the twentieth century's emblematic religion, the scientific worldview
4 New York: Doubleday. 1967
13 of white Christian European/Euroamerican culture: the sanctity of "progress", anthropocentric domination, and the dichotomic opposition of nature and culture that perpetuates the alienation of humanity from its environment‖. The inventors of the New
Wave movement were more inclined towards socials (in the USA, there are connection between New Wave authors and the New Left), which led to the rejection of these values and the right wing tradition of the Golden Age science fiction (―A Political
History of SF‖). In was also an issue of generational differences – most of the ―classic‖ writers of the Golden Age began to write before the beginning of the Second World
War, the New Wave writers were born during or after the war, beginning their career in the time of the biggest cultural changes (Edward 167).
One of the important changes that the New Wave brought into science fiction was the raise in the number of the women that gained prominence in the genre, not only as writers, but also as editors. Moreover, the transgressive nature of the New Wave literature allows these authors to discuss and criticize sexual, gender and social norms in ways that were not possible before.
2.2. LE GUIN’S INFLUENCE There are several things worth mentioning when discussing Ursula Le Guin.
These had a major influence both on her style and narrative methods, as also her general worldview. Apart from these influences, writers that have been in turn influenced by Le
Guin will be discussed in this part, as well as her legacy in the science fiction and fantasy genre.
Le Guin‘s parents, Alfred L. Kroeber and Theodora Kroeber, were both anthropologist that devoted their whole life to the study of the North American Indigenous people. The presence of the alien cultures during her childhood has likely shaped Le Guin‘s worldview and approach to different
14 civilizations. This has later been manifested in the structure of alien worlds of her works. The most important feature is the rejection of the norms of the white
Western culture-centric worldview. Her created cultures reflected the mostly non-white make up of the population of the Earth (Schnelbach). This is in contrast with the tradition of the speculative fiction, that presented world as mostly
European/white. This even more prominent in the genre of fantasy, especially when taking place pseudohistorical/pseudoEuropean setting. The anthropologist attitude is also present in many of the Le Guin‘s heroes. Mona Elnamoury notes in her dissertation The Alien in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Science Fiction ―
The more the anthropologist is involved in the culture he is studying, the more alien he becomes from his own culture.‖, (3). Le Guin‘s heroes are therefore left between cultures without being completely part of any of them
Other great influence of Le Guin‘s writing was Taoism, which is connected with her favoring of the non-Western culture and probably also with the rise of popularity of the eastern philosophy during the 1960s. From Taoism, she adopts the sense of connection between everything in the world, the relativity of good and bad and the feeling of the constant change (that are closely tied with Le Guin‘s attitude towards anarchism) (Elnamoury 4).
Concerning literary influence, Le Guin herself does not like to give a specific list of authors as she believes that there is so many people that she is sure to forget somebody and that is easier, as she mentions in her interview with Larry McCaffery and Sinda Gregory5 ―to say whom (she) don‘t like‖ (35). Nevertheless, several names keep appearing, notably Virginia Woolf, Jorge Louis Borges and J. R. R. Tolkien or Philip K. Dick, to mention some authors of speculative fiction.
5 Published in Conversations with Ursula Le Guin, 2008
15 The influence of Ursula Le Guin on the contemporary form of the genre is several and connected with the greater changes initiated by the New Wave movement. Firstly, the introduction of the deeper psychology of characters into science fiction. While the stories of the Golden Age were focused on the technological advances and ―stage properties‖ of the genre, the New Wave shifted its focus to the characters involved. The source of conflict is inner, psychological or sociological, rather than driven by the outside enemy.
Secondly, there is a shift towards the softer end of the scale of the science fiction genre, which is once again connected with the development of the genre influenced by the New Wave and the transfer of literary methods from mainstream literature.
This also leads to the postmodern blurring of the boundaries between genres and subgenres and between ―highbrow‖ and ―lowbrow‖ literature.
The third, and probably the most important contribution of Ursula Le Guin to the genre of science fiction are how the way marginalized groups are represented in the literature has changed. Racially, the cast of her stories is much more diverse than in traditional speculative fiction, undermining the traditional ―white is good, dark is bad‖ dichotomy that is present especially in fantasy. But that is not everything.
Important also is the representation of the female characters, especially in the active roles. Lastly, the presence of the non-binary and genderqueer6 characters is distinctive in Le Guin‘s work (for example The Left Hand of Darkness), which is considered to be ahead of its time. Alex Macfarlane even claims in ―Post-binary Gender in SF: Introduction‖ (published 2014) that ―Nothing written in the decades since has got the same traction in mainstream SF discourse‖.
6 A group of people who reject heteronormativity, the traditional two-gender role system (―Genderqueer‖)
16 Today, she still influence the style and narrative strategies of many authors, both of speculative literature and other genres. She was mentioned as a source of inspiration by such authors as David Mitchell, Neil Gaiman or Ian Banks.
2.3.LE GUIN AND FEMINISM As was already mentioned before, the 1960s were also the time of the second wave of the feminist. This movement continued in the efforts initiated at the end of the 19th century by first wave of feminism, which was focused mostly on the women‘s suffrage and gaining fundamental equal rights. The second wave then opened a debate about a wider range of issues, dealing with the inequality of genders both legal and such that is incorporated in the culture itself. Its roots can be divided into two, based on the place of origin. In the US, it shares a common foundation with the other civil rights and counter-culture movements. To end the women‘s inequality, it claimed, is necessary to reform radically the society and overthrow the patriarchy. The movement in the UK was much more strongly connected with the socialist and Marxist tradition, arguing that not only patriarchal society, but above all capitalism is the source of women‘s inequality (Hollows 4).
Le Guin herself mentions that her introduction to feminism was relatively late and slow. In her beginning, most of her stories were male centered, sometimes with no female characters or only a marginal ones. She was still writing as a part of the tradition that allowed only men to be part of the heroic narration – the same tradition that stretches back to Mary Shelley and male heroes of her stories. Only later she began to work against this tradition. The first book she identifies as a feminist text is The Left Hand of Darkness, which she begins to write in 1967 and was published in 1969 (White). Here for the first time appears a motive that is present throughout
Le Guin‘s whole literary career – androgyny and different gender structure in general
17 and how this difference from the human standard influence the whole society.
It is strongly implied that due to this absence of the sense of duality and otherness
(which is a necessary component for nationalism) the civilization depicted in the book has no history of armed conflicts.
Though is The Left Hand of Darkness considered to be one of the first feminist science fiction novels, Le Guin mentions that in the time of writing, she was not yet familiar with the feminist theory. It was later, during the writing of The Eye of the Heron, when she discovered feminist criticism. „It taught me that
I didn‘t have to write like an honorary man anymore, that I could write like a woman and feel liberated in doing so,― say Le Guin in the interview with Jonathan White.
It is reasonable to say that from this moment, it is possible to observe Le Guin‘s involvement with the feminist movement.
It is worth mentioning that Le Guin was never a part of the separatist branch of the feminist movement that gained popularity in the 1960s and 70s. This form of radical feminism is defined by Marilyn Frye in ―Some Reflection on Separatism and Power‖ as advocating a complete separation ―of various sorts or modes from men and from institutions, relationships, roles and activities that are male-defined, male- dominated, and operating for the benefit of males and the maintenance of male privilege—this separation being initiated or maintained, at will, by women‖ (407).
On the contrary, she considered ―The alienation, the separation of yang from yin
(and the moralization of yang as good, of yin as bad) ‖ (16) to bet he biggest problem of our society.
Le Guin‘s alienation from this part of movement can be also influenced by the fact that she experienced quite a privileged life. With tolerant family background, successful marriage and also the privilege of health and economical stability, that allowed
18 her not to be forced to choose between career and family, she was spared some of the experience that fueled the more radical ideas of some of her contemporaries
(Elnamoury 5). This does not mean these motives does not appear in her works at all.
In ―The matter of Seggri‖ she describes a separatist society. This setting allows her to expose the destructiveness of the male ―warrior‖ ideal and, ironically, to further her idea of reconciliation and lesser separation of the genders.
In the early 1990s, the feminist movement developed into the so called third wave.
More than an united movement, the third wave of feminism is a global term for several strains of feminist activity. It criticized the focus of the previous wave on the experience of the white, upper-middle women while failing to include women of color, queer women and women of different social backgrounds. The essentialist definition of femininity, which excluded the experience of transgender women, was also seen as problematic.
The changes in the feminist movement from the 2008 onwards is usually called fourth wave of feminism. This wave is characterized by its intersectionality with other forms of equal rights movement, involvement of the modern technologies (especially global social networks) and by emphasizing the choice in many aspects of life and self- expression.
From the multiple sub-movements that are part of the third wave feminism, Ursula
Le Guin is, besides other things, connected with the ecofeminist movement.
This movement, whose name was first used by Françoise d'Eaubonne, connects the experience of women and nature (Merchant 184). The connection between issues of ecology and feminism are, as Gregg Garrard argues in Ecocriticism, ―that these two arguments (for humanity/nature and man/woman dualism) shares a common Logic of domination, or underling master model‖ (23), that allows to present one model
19 or entity as superior. The ecofeminist philosophy can be seen, for example, in Le Guin‘s novel The Word for World is Forest. From the two civilizations introduced in the novel, is the one functioning in harmony with nature that also treats both genders as equal.
20 CHAPTER II: FEMINISM IN LE GUIN'S SHORT STORIES
1. INTRACOM First published in 1973 in the anthology Stopwatch, ―Intercom‖ belongs to Le Guin‘s more ―hard‖ science fiction stories. The story itself seems almost Campbellian in style, at least at the first sight, following the small crew of the intergalactic spaceship on an important mission, dealing with an alien infiltrator aboard. However, since
Le Guin is part of the New Wave movement, which have been trying to overcome this style, ―Intercom‖ is a parody of these space adventures. The story is also written in the form of script, which furthers the similarities with a classicalscience fiction movie or episode of television series.
One of the sources of inspiration for the story is Star Trek: The Original Series7
(Star Trek:TOS). This is most visible on the character of the first mate – Mr. Balls.
His logic and mostly unemotional demeanor, tendency to rely on exact science –
―CAPTAIN: What makes you so sure of that, Mr. Balls? FIRST MATE: Mathematics.
Simple addition of real numbers.‖ (―Intracom‖ 188) – clearly mirrors the character of the first mate of the USS Enterprise, Commander Spock. However, these mathematical skills are not used to save the world, as it would normally be, but to count the five members of the crew without making a mistake. Moreover, the first mate from the story is without exception addressed with the honorific ―Mr.‖, which is also commonly used when addressing Commander Spock. There is also a direct reference to Spock‘s distinctive physical traits. ―I‘ve seen First Mates with funny ears elsewhere, but that isn‘t this one‘s problem.‖ (―Intracom‖ 183). The Chief Engineer Bolts is a reference to Star Trek:TOS and the character of Lieutenant Commander
7 American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenbery, following the adventures of the crew of the spaceship USS Enterprise, which was broadcasted on NBC from 1966 to 1969 (naj9t citaci)
21 Montgomery Scott. Both characters share a Scottish ancestry, which is manifested in text by a frequent use of the word ―Aye‖8.
Compared to the crew of USS Enterprise, the gender composition of the ship‘s crew in the ―Intracom‖ is completely reversed. In Star Trek: TOS, the crew is predominantly male, with only regular female characters, Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Ensign
Christine Chapel. In the ―Intracom‖, the reader learns fairly quickly that majority of the crew is identified as female. Most of them is revealed as such through the speech of the Captain, and the Captain identifies herself through her opposition to being addressed as ―Sir‖, thou it is traditionally used in works of military science fiction/space opera genre – ―Will you please not call me ―sir‖, Mr.Balls. It estranges me.‖
(―Intracom‖ 187). The only male character in the crew is Mr. Balls, identifiable as such from the use of a male honorific. It is also interesting that the stock character of the ―redshirt‖9 is missing, albeit it is probably caused by the technical limitations of the short story.
To identify the characters in the text, two different sets on names/denominations are used. The name used to identify the character speaking signifies this character‘s position on the ship - Captain, First Mate, Chief Engineer, Communications Officer and (Insane) Second Mate – even after the reader learns their names. This mirrors the tradition of Soviet era Russian science fiction to name the characters according to their occupation. The names used in the direct speech serves a similar function, only in a less formal manner. For example, the name of the captain, Cook, can be reference to the naval captain James Cook, but it also refers to the captain‘s secondary occupation as a ships cook.
8 Scottish, meaning yes, yea or an affirmative answer (―aye‖) 9 Usually nameless character that appears in the plot only to be killed shortly after
22 1.1. ON PREGNANCY AND ALIENS While the setting of ―Intracom‖ seems to be a traditional space ship in a vein of Star
Trek‘s Enterprise, it is evident from almost that this ship is mean to represent something different. ―…the spaceship Mary Jane Hewett Class F, b-1951, Type 36-25-38, Size
13,…‖ (―Intracom‖ 184). While are those informations presented as technical specification of the space vessel, they can be read as characteristics of a person.
F is used in English speaking countries to designate a female gender on legal documents. This gives the reader the gender/sexual identity of the person/ship.
The b in the ship‘s identification number represents the word born, which in connection with the publication date means that the ―ship‖ is around 22 years of age. As the median age of the first marriage of an American woman in 1970s was 20.8 (Clarke 20), this puts the ship into an age bracket where she could be already married, thou fairly recently. Type number is structured in a way that resembles how proportions of the body are usually written, putting the ship little over the western female ideal of 36‘-24‘-36‘. This is further supported by the mention of the size, as the female clothing size thirteen corresponds with the aforementioned measurements.
It is interesting that the description of this ship/person is focused only on her physical appearance. Physical and mental aspect of this entity are strictly separated. The physical part, represented by the ship, is only a vessel for transportation of the real person.
Individual crewmembers than represents a facets of the ship‘s personality, explaining the prevalence of women among the crewmembers. Mr. Balls could be than explained as a ―masculine‖ part of the ship‘s personality. This reading is slightly problematic.
Mr.Balls is presented as the most intelligent and logical crewmember (similarly to his model, Commander Spock). His characterization thus furthers the notion that only a man could have these qualities and to have them, a woman must became more masculine.
23 Mr. Balls is, however, also characterized as ―…in a sense, an alien presence on this ship.‖ (―Intracom‖ 196). He is also the only crewmember that is not influenced by the presence of an alien onboard. From this viewpoint, Mr.Balls can be read as an incarnation of an outside person – probably a husband or male family member – that has a significant influence on her life, but is not an inseparable part of her personality.
Another masculine entity, besides Mr. Balls, is the cruiser that the ship encountered during her flight and that probably allowed the alien to enter the ship (―Intracom‖ 197).
The description of this cruiser – ―Sleek and slim and tapered, and power enough to rattle my pipes.‖ (―Intracom‖ 197) – evokes a phallic imagery. The cruiser thus can be read as another aspect of the same person that is represented by Mr.Balls or as the husband/boyfriend (with Mr.Balls as another male relative of the ―ship‖).
The second alternative is supported by the fact that while still in contact with the ship -
―Jammed the radio with a lot of sentimental nonsense for a week. Kept signaling us as ―Honey Pot‖.‖ (―Intracom‖ 197) – they are physically separated for a long time.
When considering the time of publishing and that the ―male‖ ship is identified as a cruiser – a military vessel -, the reason for this separation could be a military deployment.
There are also allusions that the alien‘s stay on the ship is unintended and unwanted.
The alien was able to enter the ship only because the insane second mate ―failed to activate the hatch forcefields‖ (―Intracom‖ 198). Generally, the whole situation resembles a pregnancy scare caused by a failed contraceptives. Mr. Balls, despite being male and as such unaffected by the alien influence, is trying to dominate the situation.
First, he tries to accuse the rest of the crew of letting the alien onboard on purpose.―You deliberately invited to happened,…‖ (―Intracom‖ 198).
24 Then, he suggests to get rid of the alien.There is a distinct sense of urgency in the way
Mr.Balls promotes this alternative.―Get rid of it! Now! Quick! While we still can!
Before it gets any bigger!‖ (―Intracom‖ 199). As this story was published at the time of the abortion laws reformation, this hurry can be caused by the necessity to divest of ―the alien‖ before the end of the legal period. This is further supported by the fact that the alien is on the ship ―about fifty days (ship time)‖ (―Intracom‖ 199) – around seven weeks. This would put the ship/person roughly to the half of the legal period set by the Roe vs. Wade.
While published in 1973, the story was, however, written before this change in legislation. This provides a different explanation for Mr.Balls‘s behavior. He is trying to solve this ―alien problem‖ while there is still a chance that it was not noticed by the others. ―-the rest of the Fleet won‘t even know-‖ (―Intracom‖ 199). Getting rid of the alien relatively early would ensure that no one was aware of its existence in the first place. The ship/person would be then able to avoid legal problems and also the social rejection connected with this issue.
Mr.Balls generally sees this alien as a burden.―…when we finally get rid of this monster, when it gets to big for the ship and breaks its way out…you intend to turn back, take this mindless, helpless thing in tow and limp on after the Fleet at half speed…‖ (―Intracom‖ 203). His opinion on the alien however changes drastically when he is informed about the possibility that the alien could be male. ―Another male?
Of course it would [make me feel better]. Strength! Sanity! Logic! Cleanliness!
Godliness! Virility!‖ (―Intracom‖ 205). The double standards of behaving towards different genre is clearly visible here. As long as the alien is perceived as the other – genderless or female – it is described as useless and potentially dangerous animal.
25 When the alien starts to be identified as male, it is suddenly described in significantly more positive way and generally treated as a male human child.
For the second wave feminism, abortion was an symbolic central issue, connected with the notion that the liberation of women starts with the right to control their own bodies. This issue is also a part of the third and especially the fourth wave of feminism, where it is reaction, besides other things, to increasingly strict abortion laws in the United States. That does not mean, however, that the feminist movement is focusing merely on the right to have an abortion. The situation is equally problematic of the mother that, as in ―Intracom‖, decides to keep the baby against the will of society.
Such a person is then perceived as a burden of the society. As legislators dealing with this issue tends to be predominantly cissexual male, Mr.Balls serves as their avatar in the story. Despite being unaffected by the alien – not able to get pregnant – he tries to force his opinion on the rest of the crew.
It is interesting that while the majority of the crew is contended with the presence of an alien onboard, it is the Insane Second Mate who ensured its access to the ship and kept its existence secret until the beginning of the story. She is also ―acquired tremendous strength - … - and a driving sense of purpose.‖ (―Intracom‖ 201).
This could be read as a simple quip on the idealized view of the pregnancy as such.
However, there is also an implication that the Insane Second Mate is only perceived as such because she rebels against the norm and the control of Mr.Balls.
2. THE WIFE'S STORY ―The Wife‘s Story‖ was published in year 1982 in the short story collection
The Compass Rose. Unlike many of Le Guin‘s science fiction and fantasy stories, it is not connected to neither the Hainish Cycle, which is concerned with founding of the interstellar confederacy, nor to the Young adult fantasy of the Earthsea. Genre-
26 wise, the story can be classified as fantasy/supernatural, but it subverts the rules of those genres and expectations of its readers.
The use of the character-bound narrator in ―The Wife‘s Story‖ enables her identity to be kept secret until almost the end of the story. While there are some additional characteristics – reader knows as what gender the main character presents herself and also knows her social position as a mother – the character description is intentionally left very vague. This allows readers to identify more easily and deeply with the character, but also cause them to assume some characteristics.
Without a specification, readers assume that the hero have either their characteristics or the characteristics of some ―cultural default‖ based on certain traditions and stereotypes. In the speculative fiction setting serves human as a default of the race – in contrast with an alien or a mythological being.
Under the influence of such assumption thus the reader envisions the main hero in ―The Wife‘s Story‖ as a human, and her husband is ―the other‖ – a werewolf.
2.1. THE MATTER OF PROTAGONIST As was already mentioned, the overwhelming number of fictional characters is male.
This percentage is even higher when concerning the protagonist of the work – 71% of all movies (Lauzen 1), for example. The situation is similar when concerning other
―minority‖ groups, differentiated by ethnicity, sexuality, gender identification, disabilities or social status. Put simply, anything that is not white, heterosexual, cisgender, middle-class man. The reasoning behind this is a presumption that the aforementioned set of traits is somehow neutral or unmarked. Each characteristic in which the protagonist differs from an average makes it proportionally harder for the reader/viewer to identify with this protagonist.
27 This worse marketability of the so called minority protagonist is presented as a consequence of the inability of the audience to identify with the hero. However, the fossilized idea of the target group, seems to affect the situation much more significantly. This can be illustrated on the example from the gaming industry, which is also presented as a male-dominated space. While it is true that female-lead games or games with optional female hero seems to sell worse that male-centered titles, it was also found out that this games also received less than 40% of the marketing budget (Kuchera).
The biggest problem lies in the presentation of such protagonists.
If their characteristics differ from the aforementioned ―neutral‖, there is a tendency to label this work based on this difference. It is either seen as targeted on a special audience – e.g. female protagonist in ―women‘s literature‖ – or as a ―special issue‖ work. In the second case, the difference from what is perceived as a norm becomes the whole plot, instead of just a character trait. This further alienates the reader/viewer from the story and the protagonist, and the lowered interest in the work caused by this alienation is seen as confirmation of the original assumption.
In the genre of speculative fiction (and the geek culture in general) is this argumentation connected with the idea of speculative fiction as a male genre.
For female participants of the culture, there are basically two options. First is to identify with the male hero. This is a more common approach, as the male characteristics and roles are commonly seen as more desirable. On the other hand, when a male viewer is identifying with a male hero, he is perceived as lowering his position. The resulting preference for the male hero is than interpreted as a confirmation of his neutrality.
Second is to cease to participate in the culture at all, which however only confirms the masculinity of the genre and renders the female hero unnecessary. This self-
28 referential logic is then used to keep the gender structure of fictional characters skewed towards masculine majority. Similar reasoning is also used when considering any group that differs from the pseudo-neutral traditional idea of protagonist.
In the works of Ursula Le Guin, there are many protagonists (and supporting characters) that defies this notion of the ―neutral‖ hero, both in gender and race.
Le Guin, however, uses the limitations and specifics of the written narration to conceal those facts until the further point of the story. As she mentioned in her interview with Victor Reinking and David Willingham (in 2008 published in Conversation with
Ursula Le Guin): ―And so I put the children who are going to read [The Wizard of Earthsea] into a brown skin, although at the time fantasy was almost exclusively read by white children. After they get used to being Ged, they find out that their skin‘s brown…‖ (149). Initial ambiguity of the protagonist appearance, however, was one of the reasons why the main character was repeatedly depicted as pale skinned
European (both on cover illustration and in the television version). This can be also caused by the publishers/producers assumption that a non-white character on the cover or make this character as a protagonist of a movie would repulse potential audience.
In ―The Wife‘s Story‖, Le Guin uses similar literary techniques to disguise the true identity of her protagonist. Until about two thirds of the story, there are no evidence that the protagonist (or any other character) could be anything else than human.
The language used is strictly human-centric. ―He hadn‘t got any game at all…‖
(―The Wife‘s Story‖ 327). The use of the word game for hunted animals is relatively late (around 13th century) and its etymology implies that the animals are hunted for sport
(‗game‖). This does not correspond with the idea of an animal hunting only for food, while it strengthens the image of the human sports hunter. ―Lodge Meeting nights, more and more often they had him to lead the singing.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 328).
29 There are references to activities that are connected with at least rudimental civilization.
The word lodge can be in this context read as term for a social or religion group, which is further supported by the reference to singing.
The human identity of the protagonist is fortified by putting her husband into the position of the other – the werewolf. ―It was the moon, that‘s what they say.‖
(―The Wife‘s Story‖ 329). The influence of the moon on the protagonist‘s husband, as well as the reference to ―the curse in [the husbands] blood‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 328) connects the story with the werewolf lore. Other facts, however, differs drastically from the tradition. ―Always it happens in the dark of the moon.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖
328). This marks an inversion against the norm. Traditionally, the werewolf transformation is triggered by a fool moon. Here, it is the dark moon (the phase when the moon is invisible against the backdrop of the sun).
The scene where the husband‘s true identity is reveled is a mirror image of the traditional werewolf transformation from the horror stories. It is also the first moment when it is hinted on the no human identity of the protagonist. This is done by first describing her husband ah human, even though in a slightly alienated manner -
―…each foot got longer, stretching out, … The hair begun to come away all over his body. … . He was white all over then, like a worm‘s skin.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖
331) – then explicitly identifying him as ―the other‖ – ―My own dear love, turned in the hateful one.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 331).
By this late revelation of the protagonist‘s identity, Le Guin managed to ―trick‖ the reader into identifying with the character that is so different from the perceived norm that she could be seen as unrelateble. This, however, undermines the aforementioned argument that audience is not able to identify with a ―minority‖ protagonist, which reduces the marketability of the product. It can be argued that
30 the reader tends to lose interest after learning the identity of this protagonist, but this does not explain the popularity of such works as The Wizard of Earthsea. The question is how to explain this discrepancy. If the reader is able to identify with such a protagonist when the connection is made before the difference of the protagonist is revealed. The second explanation, however, is that this inability is learned and promoted as way to maintaining the cultural status quo.
2.2. IMAGES OF ABUSE AND EMPOWERMENT ―The Wife‘s Story‖ can be divided into three parts that mirrors Labov‘s elements of storytelling. Each of these segments is distinctive in the atmosphere and attitude of the protagonist. They also strongly mirror psychological state of a mother coming to terms with the fact her child is being abused by a family member.
The first part of the story (orientation, according to Labov), comes back to the protagonist‘s first encounter with her future husband and to the beginning of their marriage. The general mood of this part is a mixture of nostalgia and sadness that is a consequence of contrast between the idealized past and the present.
The protagonist is retrospectively trying to find any signs that there is something wrong with her husband and if there was a way to prevent the current situation. ―He was a good husband, a good father. I don‘t understand it. I don‘t believe in it. I don‘t believe that it happened. I saw it happen but it isn‘t true. It can‘t be.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 327).
The very beginning of the story could be a quotation from domestic violence/child abuse case file. The abuser is often described by the outsiders or a unaffected family members as a ―nice person‖ that could be never capable of such acts. Even the victims often describes their abuser in a similar way, stressing the sudden change in the abusers personality.
31 The complicating action begins when the protagonist first notices the odd behavior of her husband. ―He‘d come back late and worn out, and pretty near cross for one so sweet-tempered.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 329). This sudden changes in the mood and character are often cited as one of the warning signs of an abusive relationship (―Domestic Violence and Abuse‖). ―I said, ―What is that —those smells on you? All over you!‖ And he said, ―I don‘t know,‖ real short, and made like he was sleeping. But he went down when he thought I wasn‘t noticing, and washed and washed himself.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 330). In the beginning, his behavior can be explained by him having an affair – hence the unwillingness to talk and also the repetitive washing, that can be interpreted as way to get rid of the evidence.
Protagonist‘s comments about her husband‘s weird smell is than fulfills the trope of the wife who finds out her husband is unfaithful to her because she can smell a strange perfume from him.
The situation escalates when the behavior of protagonist‘s daughter begins to change.
―Our youngest, the little one, my baby, she turned from her father. Just overnight.‖
(―The Wife‘s Story‖ 330). She is described being scared of her father. In the story, it is probably caused by her witnessing her father‘s transformation.
Without the supernatural motive, it could be explained as a reaction to being abused by her father. In is further supported by the daughters inability to talk properly -
―She didn‘t yet talk plain‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 330) – which leaves the reason of her fear very vague.
― ―Guess she just waked up dreaming,‖ and passed it off that way. Or tried to.
And so did I. And I got real mad with my baby when she kept on acting crazy scared of her own dad.‖ (―The Wife‘s Story‖ 330). Reactions of both the protagonist and her husband are also similar to those real-life abuse cases. Husband – the abuser –
32 is claiming that his daughter is not able to distinguish dream and reality, in an effort to appear innocent. The protagonist suspect that something is wrong, but she does not want to admit it. For her, it would mean she failed both in choosing a suitable partner and in protecting her child. Also, as the setting of the story is described as a close-knitted community, she might be afraid she would be ostracized by others.
It is thus easier to deny any problem and blame everything on the child being ―acting crazy‖ (―Wife‘s Story‖ 330). This denial characterizes the atmosphere of the whole second part and also prevents the protagonist from taking any action.
This denial is abruptly ended when the protagonist witness her husband‘s transformation. In the third part of the story, which is started by this occurrence, the behavior of the protagonist drastically changes. ―The mother anger come into me then, and I snarled and crept forward‖ (―Wife‘s Story‖ 332). She is finally able to take action. The stimulus for this action was almost stereotypically feminine – mother‘s instinct to protect her offspring - and her action is hindered by the love to her husband
(―I was last, because love still bound the anger and the fear in me.‖ (―Wife‘s story‖
332). Nevertheless, the ending is empowering both for the protagonist and for her sister.
―I saw her running at the man with her head low and her mane high and her eyes yellow as the winter sun.‖ (―Wife‘s story‖ 332). It is also important that the identity of the protagonist is revealed in the moment when she finally admits what is happening.
This gives her the power to fight this problem, symbolically changing her into a more powerful creature – a wolf.
3. THE COMING OF AGE IN KARHIDE The long story ―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖, first published in 1995, shares the world, an glacier covered planet called Gethen, with the novel The Left Hand of Darkness. Technically, it is a science fiction - mainly defined as so by connection
33 with the Hainish Cycle, which has elements of „harder― science fiction (such as space travel, nterstellar colonization and genetic manipulations). The setting of the story itself is on the softer end of the genre scale – the civilization described is surprisingly low- tech, with a radio being the most advanced technology mentioned, and with only a passing references to the alien races.
The most precise sub-genre would be an Anthropological science fiction. This sub- genre is characterized by depicting future/alien society ―as a real, self consistent, and organic thing‖ (Dozois 14), with anthropology as the fundamental science used to extrapolate into speculative visions, and often also with the ―lone anthropologist‖, experiencing the culture from the position of an outsider, as a protagonist (Walton). Le Guin‘s interest in this sub-genre is influenced by her upbringing – her father was an anthropologist Alfred Kroeber and her mother is writer and anthropologist Theodora Kroeber. Unlike traditional anthropological documentary, no outside commentary is present to interpret the facts provided. Instead, she lets the alien culture speak for itself, allowing reader to draw conclusion without distorting it by reinterpretation (Fayad 62). The stress which is put on fleshing out those fictional cultures is in a sharp contrast with the depiction of the alien worlds in the pulp tradition. Here, the descriptions were very vague, either some sort of technologically advanced future world, or, in the case of fantasy, feudal society of the European style
(Samuel). This lack of deeper interest in the different cultures is connected with the function they have in the pulp literature. Alien societies in pulp science fiction occupy mostly the position of enemies/invaders which are than defeated by heroic
Earthmen.The description thus must only be detailed enough to allow reader to imagine the aliens – with focus mostly on the physical differences. This, together with the often
34 used trope of a single-characteristic race, creates a sense of otherness, which is crucial for the formation of the nationalistic feelings against those aliens.
When creating the Gethen culture, Le Guin drew inspiration from the indigenous cultures of the North- West cost of the United States and from the Inuit-Yupik cultures, partially from the Far Eastern cultures. Her choice is once again connected with her childhood – both of her parents studied North American tribes of native
Americans, most importantly the last surviving member of the California Yahi tribe.
In the „Coming of Age― itself is this fact not so noticeable due to its limited length, but in the novel The Left Hand of Darkness is it is much more distinctive, both in character descriptions and the structure of the society. For Le Guin, this is an conscious attempt do disrupt the tradition of the fantasy characters (because while The Left Hand of Darkness is ―officially‖ classified as soft science fiction, it has many traits of fantasy genre) to be predominantly white.
The story of ―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ describes the life and growing up of a teenaged child named Sov on the planet Gethen. All Gethenians are androgynous and hermaphrodites without an active sexual drive, who leaves their neutral state and take on a gendered shape only during a regular periods of fertility - kemmer. The ―Coming of age‖ mentioned in the title of story is then the first time when the child became able to change its gender and become sexually active. It examines the way gender stereotypes are embedded in our language and life.
The novel The Left Hand of Darkness will be mentioned throughout the text, as some of the issues which are addressed in „The Coming of Age in Karhide― are present in the novel, too, and the approach towards them can be contrasted.
35 3.1. THE LANGUAGE OF THE GENDER The way we are naming things is influencing the way were are perceiving them.
This is the so-called Whorf-Sapir hypothesis. The androgynous nature of the Gethenians creates a certain difficulty when translated into a gendered languages. ―I have already had some trouble trying to tell this story in a language that has no somer10 pronouns, only gendered pronouns‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 6) mentions the narrator, hinting that the ―original‖ Genthenian language is more suited for a gender neutral narration. But the story is narrated in English, forcing Le Guin to work around its limitation. The choice of the gender ascribed by a language used to refer to the character affects the way readers perceive this character and identify with this character.
The choice of character narrator allows the author to limit this problem at least partially by removing the need to refer to the main character using gendered pronouns
(this problem reappears when the story is translated into a language which distinguish feminine and masculine grammatical gender of the first grammatical person).
When talking about other characters, the narrator is in most cases able to avoid gendered language, by using either plural pronouns or personal names instead.of third person gendered pronouns. Pronouns he/his and she/her are used in four occassions.
Firstly, during the scenes in the kemmerhouse (place where Gethenians meet to have sex during their fertile periods). Secondly, when describing the person in kemmer – in the story about the truck driver who got caught in the snow. Even here, the gendered pronouns are used only after mentioning what gender had the driver chosen – ―went into kemmer as a male....he was big and strong‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 9).
When talking about the driver‘s cab-mate or about the driver in non- fertile phase, the sentences are structured in a way that removes the need for gendered pronouns –
10 Gender neutral
36 ―And then the driver came out of kemmer and committed suicide‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 9). Thirdly, male gender is used for the character of Ebbeche, who is one of the few people with fixed gender. The only androgynous character that is addressed by a gendered pronoun is a sibling of the narrators mother, Dory, and even here, it chosen for the convenience of the English speaking reader.
―Dory's kemmers had been male for over a year, so I'll call Dory "he", although of course the point was that he would never be either he or she again― (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 5). The expectations about the appearance of Dory provoked by this choice pronoun are contrasted with the previous description, where it is mentioned that
Dory ―had bigger breast that (alien women that are supposed to be very big breasted)‖
(―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 2). This works against the image produced by the masculine pronouns, and also against the traditional image of an androgynous person being devoid of such a strong sexual markers.
Gendered nouns, such as expressions for family members, are replaced by a neutral alternative - wombsib instead of brother/sister, (parent)sib for aunt/uncle.
The only exception are mother/father, which are however used in the meaning
―the parent who gave birth‖ and ―the other parent‖ without indicating a potential gender of the person.
This gender neutrality in the use of language is a reaction to the criticism that was raised by the use of pronouns in the novel The Left Hand of the Darkness.
Here are masculine masculine pronouns used to refer to the androgynous character of Estraven, causing readers to perceive this character as predominantly male.
This, of course, works the other way around, too – use of feminine pronouns can skew the readers perception of the character and make the character to be read as a women.
There are several options how to avoid this issue. First is to write the whole story
37 without using gendered pronouns – as in ―The coming of Age in Karhide‖ itself – but can be tiring in the long run. The other option is to use feminine and masculine pronouns in alternation or the singular ―they‖, but this can cause confusion, especially with higher number of characters. Probably the most used alternative is to use gender- neutral pronouns One can argue that this invented words sounds unnatural and are dysfunctional as part of the language. On the other hand, Le Guin herself invented many new Gethenian words describe objects, situations and relationships that are not present in the English culture, but non raised such a discussion..
The issue of gender neutral pronouns is apparent not only in the literature, but also in the real life. These pronouns are created and used primalily by people whose gender identity does not adhere the traditional gender binary. The counterparty argues, however, that pronouns are a closed word group and for this reason, newly created pronouns are not able to became a natural part of the language. Also, there is a tradition of use of the pronoun ―he‖ as a neutral. This argument, though, ignores the historical existence of a singular, gender neutral pronoun in the English language, namely the singular ―they‖ (Huddleston, Pullum 493). The problem is less in the language and more in the fake neutrality of the masculine, the way men is perceived as a ―basic setting‖, while feminine or anything else is derived from it and marked. This approach also renders women invisible.
3.2. SEXLUALITY, RELATIONSHIPS AND GENDER STEREOTYPES The origin of gender and gender roles can be viewed from the essentialist or social constructionist point of view. Essentialists assume that the differences between men and women innate. This can be used to rationalise unequal approach to people based on their gender (―Essentialism‖). Social constructivism, on the other hand, claims that people‘s understanding of the reality is socially constructed (―The Social
38 Construction of Gender‖). While non of these theories can completely explain the differences between genders and origin of the gender roles, biological influence on the gender role formation tends to be highly overestimated. The androgyny of the Gethenians should mean that gender roles should be nonexistent, as the characters are, in their neutral state, biologically undistinguishable. But in the presentation of the characters of the ―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖, the roles are still partially visible.
The most noticeable it is in the position of the ―mothers‖ of the Thades clan
(the family of the main character) ―The Thades always kemmer as women and always get pregnant…And they never keep kemmers‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 3).
As the primal home and children caretakers are presented those who are able to carry a child – an ability usually limited to women (ignoring the experience of the transgender men). It is also remarkable that they, despite the ability of choosing the sex during their fertile periods, they tend to adhere to one of them.
On the other hand, the stereotypical function of father/man as a family provider is non-existing, as the ―male‖ parent does not participate in the family and are unknown to their offspring. The tradition of the monogamous relationship as a social standard is disrupted, too. ―If young people fell in love and started talking about keeping kemmer or making vows, Grandmother and the mothers were ruthless. "Vowing kemmer, what do you think you are, some kind of noble? some kind of fancy person?
The kemmerhouse was good enough for me and it's good enough for you,"‖
(―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 4). The norm, at least for the Thades clan, is to have different partner for each period of fertility. There is no difference, due to the androgyny, in the perception of the sexual behavior of the genders, where
39 men are encouraged to have more partners, while women are scorned for doing the same.
In the depiction of sexuality in ―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ changes with the progress of the story. At the beginning, the characters themselves see kemmer and the idea of the sex itself as something undignified and outright uncivilized.
―"It's a primitive device for continuing the species. There's no need for civilized people to undergo it. People who want to get pregnant could do it with injections. It would be genetically sound. You could choose your child's getter. There wouldn't be all this inbreeding, people fucking with their sibs, like animals. Why do we have to be animals?"‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 10) expresses his opinion in the matter of sexuality one of the supporting characters, Sether. This attitude mirrors the 1980s radical feminism view of the sexual behavior. This fraction of the feminist movement perceived heterosexual relationship as a tool of male domination through sexual objectification. The ideal relationship, in their point of view is without polarizing roles, with emphasis on the emotional connection (Ferguson 106). This corresponds with the way how Sov describes entering the kemmerhouse. ―I felt totally defenseless, helpless, humiliated. I struggled to get free, broke loose, and tried to pick up and put on my shirt. I was shaking and felt terribly weak, I could hardly stand up.‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 16). Sexual relationship feels, for Sov, as a complete loose of the bodily integrity, There is also a strong indication that this behavior is hindering the advancement of the Gethenian society, or at least the Thade clan. ―We Thades sit here in our Hearth and breed like pesthry. Is that enough? It'd be a good thing if some of you got your heads out of the bedding.‖ (―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 11).
This attitude towards sexuality is, however, mostly presented by the juvenile characters and as such can be interpreted as a manifestation of fear from the oncoming adulthood.
40 Last issue that is mentioned in connection with The Left Hand of Darkness and ―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ is the heteronormative depiction of sexual relationships. It seems problematic that even though Gethenians are genderless, when taking on sexual identities during the fertile period, their relationships tend to be predominantly heterosexual. The biology itself is pushing this norm onto the characters. ―If you come to the kemmerhouse in thorharmen, ready to gender, and the first person you meet is fully male, his pheromones are likely to gender you female right then, whether that's what you had in mind this month or not.‖
(―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 15). This tendency is even more noticeable in The Left Hand of Darkness. In ―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖, Le Guin tried to address this criticism by depicting sexual relationship of the main hero (in female shape) with another female-bodied Gethenian. But the couple is separated shortly after and hero‘s first ―fully-fledged‖ sexual experience is with a male-bodied person
(―The Coming of Age in Karhide‖ 19). Even Le Guin herself have later perceived the insistence that the sexual relationship must be heterosexual as naïve (White).
4. THE PORRIDGE ON ISLAC The short story ―The Porridge on Islac‖ has been published in 2003 as a part of an interconnected story collection Changing Planes. This collection follows
Le Guin‘s tradition of an anthropological science fiction, describing cultures of different planets or parallel dimensions – Le Guin herself uses world ―plane‖, but actual physical location of those worlds is unclear. These worlds are accessible only by the so called
Sita Dulip‘s method, a vaguely described technique of personal interplanary travel.
This method, however, require ―a specific combination of tense misery, indigestion, and boredom‖ (―Sita Dulip‘s Method‖ 6) to function. These conditions can only
41 be fulfilled while waiting on the airport, which explains the second meaning of the name of the collection.
The overall structure of the book imitates travelogues of the 19th century.
The tradition of Caucasian (Anglosaxon) men as a hero and explorer is nevertheless already broken in the opening/framing story of the collection, ―Sita Dulip‘s Method‖.
Sita Dulip is never physically described in the story, but her name can reveal more about her identity. The name Sita is Hindi in origin, appearing in Ramayana.
Her surname is probably based on Hindi given name Duleep, Altogether, her name indicates Indian or mixed ancestry. This is further supported by Beddow‘s illustrations.
While Dulip‘s face is hidden in the illustration, her clothes can be identified as Churidar11 under some sort of dress or long tunic (―Sita Dulip‘s Method‖ 3).
The narrator, who also serves as a protagonist of some of the stories and symbolic collector of the rest of them, is also a woman.
The gender of the protagonist/narrator, however, does not influence the course of the story. Stories with a female (or another ―minority‖) protagonist sometimes have tendency to focus on the difference of the protagonist from the traditional ―neutral‖ and to make it central for the plot development. This allows commenting on the real-life disadvantages that those groups face. When not handled with caution, however, this approach can lead to a problematic characterization and storytelling. The characters are one-dimensional – only characterizes by their difference – or stereotyped. Changing
Planes avoids this problem completely. Its narrator/protagonist is a woman because she can be, and her femaleness is treated as one of many character traits.
The importance of the protagonist‘s gender is in the way it subverts the traditional
―solo female travel‖ cultural narrative. These narratives are structured as a cautionary
11 Fitted pants with deliberate snugness around the calf and ankle, traditional garment from India (Maitra)
42 tales. Any harm inflicted on a female traveler is depicted as a direct consequence of violation of the social law. The lesson is that woman is supposed in the company of man, or not travel at all. This, however, has less to do with an actual concern about somebody‘s safety, and more with maintaining status quo in gender roles. Le Guin‘s protagonist travels alone and her gender is never depicted as a factor of her safety.
4.1. CORN AND OTHER MINORITIES ―Porridge on Islac‖ brings the reader to the plane of Islac, which a the first glance resembles the traditional setting of the ―space bazaar‖, with inhabitants of different shapes and colors. It is, however, soon revealed that this heterogeneity is a consequence of a world-wide genetic modification. These modification led to a complete break-up of the ecosystem, global extinction, changes in heredity to the point where it is impossible to predict the qualities of the next generation – ―When we plant maize, it comes up weevil-repellent clover that smells like chlorine.‖ (―Porridge on Islac‖ 16) – and subsequent economical crisis. Here, the narrator/protagonist meets an ex-scientist waitress Ai Li A Le, who herself is an transgenic organism12 - part of her genome originates from maize.
As in many Le Guin‘s stories, the heroes of ―Porridge on Islac‖ differs from the traditional image of science fiction protagonists. Both are women. The narrator remains undescribed, at least in this story. In the case of Ai Li A Le, on the other hand, there are several facts that hints on her non-Caucasian appearance. ―…corn-colored hair cascading in braids from a topknot.‖ (―Porridge on Islac‖ 15). In connection with Ai Li
A Le‘s genetic difference, this seems like a wordplay on the traditional African style of hair-grooming called ―cornrows‖ – hair braided flat to the scalp. Her name could also suggests an non-European source of inspiration, as Ai is a Japanese feminine given
12 An organism whose genetic characteristics have been altered by the insertion of a modified gene or a gene from another organism using the techniques of genetic engineering. (The American Heritage Medical Dictionary)
43 name and Li the second most common Chinese surname. On the other hand, the names used can signify an general ―alienness‖ of the place, without any connection the perceived race of the character.
In reaction to destructive consequences of genetic changes, all manipulation have been banned and the so called Purity Clauses has been enforced. This law ―restricted jobs in the professions and government to those who tested 99.44%‖ (―Porridge on Islac‖ 17). Due to this, Ai Li A Le is unable to find any other job that very low-end one, despite of her high education – ―She had a degree in plant pathology – but was lucky, she said, to have a job as a waitress.‖ (―Porridge on Islac‖ 11).
This ban is depicted as having a much greater impact on women. Albeit there are genetically altered male characters, those depicted as low-end workers are women – besides Ai Li A Le, there is the street sweeper, eight feet tall, with ostrich genes
(―Porridge on Islac‖ 10). Men, on the other hand, are obviously able to hold more prestigious jobs, regardless of their genetic status. ―Next came a businessman striding along,… He came up to my waist.‖ (―Porridge on Islac‖ 10). The most prominent example of this inequality is the Premier of the Islac. He is obviously considerably genetically modified – ―He‘s ninety now and looks thirty and he‘ll go on looking thirty and being premier for four more centuries.‖ (―Porridge on Islac‖ 15). He is allowed to work on such a position because he is an Healthie/GAPA (Genetically Altered
Products Approved by the Emergency Government). Conditions for acquiring this status are, however, never specified. They just seem to be vague enough to allow the genetic disadvantages to be outweighed by other privileges, such as gender or wealth.
44 CONCLUSION
The influence of the feminist movement and its theories is evident in the works of Ursula Le Guin. Work of much bigger size and depth would be needed to realize fully its extent and importance. Even the limited selection of stories used for the analysis is, however, able to confirm Le Guin‘s connection with the movement a certain shift in her ideas during her career, as well as themes that are persistently present in her works. Among them, most distinctive is the emphasis on the deconstruction of the traditional idea of the science fiction/fantasy hero as a heterosexual, cis-sexual, white/European men. This corresponds particularly with the effort of the third and forth wave of feminism to make the movement more intersectional with perspectives of other strains of the civil rights movement. The first two waves of feminism tended to put emphasis on the experience of the Caucasian, middle class women in the setting of Euroamerican tradition. Le Guin‘s choice of protagonist then enabled to comment on the feminist themes without limiting its discourse on the group that is relatively privileged. This does not include only questions of racial inequality and relationships. Another topic that is present greatly in Le Guin‘s is the deconstruction of the gender identity and gender stereotypes.
To explore those topics, Le Guin employs the androgynous inhabitants of the planet
Gethen, where some stories of the Hainish Cycle are set.
Le Guin‘s approach towards speculative fiction does not exist in a vacuum, but is ifluenced by her upbringing and the literary movements in which she participated in the beginning of her literary career. One of the fundamental influences that formed
Le Guin‘s literary style was anthropology. Both of her parents were anthropologists and Le Guin was thus in contact with foreign, non-European cultures during her whole
45 childhood. This influenced depiction of such cultures in her later works, as also the way she creates fictional worlds.
Le Guin begin her literary career, together with other influential writers, as a part of the New Wave in science fiction. This movement appeared during 1960s in the United kingdom around the writer Michael Moorcock and was later popularized in the United states by Harlan Ellison. As this movement emphasized experimentation and rejection of the pulp tradition of the previous era, it allowed the emergence of different voices, including, but not limited to the female writers. It also helped
Le Guin to became more universally known, as the New Wave movement allowed science fiction to at least partially abandon the reputation of the low genre.
The feminist aproach was not present in Le Guin‘s work from the very beginning.On the contrary, her early stories were more traditionally focused on male heroes. Her transition towards more female-centered narration was self-educated, initiated by the feeling of discomfort that stemmed from the inability to write as a woman and about women. From the moment she realized this limitation, she begin to employ ideas from feminist theory in her works. From many variants of feminism, she was influenced the most by ecofeminism, strain of the feminist movement that connects the feminist ideas with similar concepts in ecology. This is very apparent in the novel The Word for World is Forest. Apart from this, Le Guin can be also connected with feminist movement in its intersection with the racial and class problematic.
In the second chapter of the thesis, selected stories of Ursula Le Guin are analyzed from the feminist point of view. Each subchapter is focused on one of the four story and analyzes it with an emphasis on a different issue of feminist concern that
46 is prevalent in the story in particular. This is prefaced by the short introduction that helps to put the story into a wider context of Le Guin‘s work.
One of the topics that are addressed are different ways in which women control their bodies and how they are denied this autonomy. This is most distinctive in the story
―Intracom‖. Here, the conflict between the first mate, the sole male member of the crew of the space ship, and the rest of the crew is used to mirror the real life situation where a man (usually in a sense of male-identified, chromosomally male person) tries to seize control over pregnant female body. In ―Intracom‖, the goal of the male character is to get rid of the alien (embryo), ignoring the voices of the female majority. The story also comments on the inequality arising in the situation where the life and rights of the potentially male embryo is perceived as more important that life and rights of the mother. Here it is shown in the scene where the first mate is not willing to change his opinion until there is a chance that the alien is also male.
This topic is also discussed in ―Wife‘s Story‖, in the context of domestic abuse and female empowerment. The protagonist is willing to deny that anything wrong is happening in fear of social repercussion that are connected with this issue..
Only when she admits the situation, she is able to use her power to combat the problem.
The second topic discussed is the position of the female protagonist in speculative fiction. This is already addressed in the first chapter of the thesis. Speculative fiction, particularly science fiction, is perceived as being predominantly written and read by men. This leads to an inequality in gender representation in fiction. The claim that reader is unable to identify with protagonist that differs in any important aspect
(such as gender) then cause even greater prevalence of male character and, together with male focused marketing strategies, reinforces the original claim. In this context, ―Wife‘s story‖ can be read as a comment of this claim. Le Guin makes the reader to identify
47 with the female protagonist by putting her against character which is universally seen as ―the other‖. When she reveals protagonist‘s true identity, she is putting readers into position where they have to either accept the identity of ―the other‖, or to identify with the antagonist of the story.
In ―Coming of Age in Karhide‖, the traditional perception of speculative fiction as a male centered genre is avoided by using a gender neutral language. This is also a reaction to the criticism of her earlier novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, where the use of male pronouns for androgynous characters reinforce this tradition. This lack of gender should, in theory, render the characters completely unidentifiable, as only a minority of people identify as agender. The lack of gender in ―Coming of Age in Karhide‖ also allows to comment on gender stereotypes and constructed nature of the gender, as menditioned in the second part of the analysis. In this subchapter is also discussed the heteronormativity of the sexual relationships depicted in Le Guin‘s works. Le Guin herself later commented that she unnecessarily ―locked the Gethenians into heterosexuality‖ (―Is Gender necessary? Redux‖ 14), marking her shift towards less heterosexual-centric third wave of feminism.
The last major theme that appears in analyzed stories is the intersectionality of feminism and race/class issues. This theme is present in le Guin‘s work in general, as many of her characters are non-Caucasian, in contrast with traditional image of the protagonist of the speculative fiction. In ―Porridge on Islac‖ is this topic explored to greater extend, as the characters trapped in low-end jobs are predominantly female and, in the case of the main character, of the non-Caucasian race.
The objective of this thesis was to observe the changes in Le Guin‘s approach to feminism. While the perceived changes can be skewed by the limited number of stories, there is apparent shift towards more intersectional, similarly to the changes
48 in the whole movement. The differences between readings from second and third wave of feminism were less distinct than anticipated, as the problematic that appear in Le Guin‘s stories was argued to be more universal. Nevertheless, it can be more confidently claimed the goal of this thesis – to show Ursula Le Guin as a feminist writer that is still important today – was achieved.
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56 ENGLISH RÉSUMÉ
The concern of this thesis is the position of Ursula Le Guin‘s in the context of the speculative fiction and the influence of the feminist movement on her work.
The thesis objective is to evaluate how and if her approach changed during her career.
The first chapter focuses on the depiction of the gender in the science fiction in general and its changes during the history of the genre. It shows the stereotypes employed in the texts and how these stereotypes are challanged. The second part of this chapter is focussed on Ursula Le Guin and her works. In explores the cultural background that has influenced her, how she stands in the context of the New Wave movement and her influence on the science fiction genre. The main focus is then on Le Guin‘s position as a feminist writer.
The second chapter examines the feminist themes in Le Guin‘s work and how her approach changes. This is achieved by analysing four short stories published in the different points of her career, from 1970s to early 2000s. Female bodily integrity (in connection with reproduction rights), the position of female protagonist in science fiction and perception of gender stereotypes in connection with constructed nature of gender are among themes discussed here.
ČESKÉ RÉSUMÉ
Náplní této práce je pozice Ursuly Le Guinové v celkovém kontextu žánru science fiction a vliv feministického hnutí na její dílo. Hlavním cílem je pak ohodnotit jak se její přístup k těmto tématům změnil v průběhu její kariéry, pokud tedy k změnám došlo.
První kapitola se soustředí na zobrazení genderu a rozdílů mezi pohlavími v literatuře science fiction obecně a jak se toto zobrazení změnilo v průběhu historie
žánru. Ukazuje stereotypy používané v těchto textech, a jak jsou tyto stereotypy zpochybňovány a zkoumány. Druhá část této kapitoly se pak soustředí na Ursulu
Le Guinovou a její dílo. Zkoumá vliv jejího kulturního pozadí na utváření jejích názorů a přístupu, jak si stojí v kontextu hnutí Nové vlny, a jaký je její vliv na žánr science fiction. Největší důraz je pak na Le Guinovou jako feministickou autorku.
Druhá kapitola zkoumá feministická témata v díle Ursuly Le Guinové a zněny v přístupu k těmto tématům. Toho je dosaženo rozborem čtyř dovídek z různého období její kariéry, od sedumdesátých let minulého století po první desetiletí 21. století.
Mezi témata, která se v těchto povídkách objevují, patří právo žen na tělesnou integritu
(zejména ve spojitosti s reprodukčními právy), pozice ženské protagonistky ve science fiction a vnímáni genderových stereotypů ve spojitosti s vnímáním genderu jako sociálního konstruktu.