• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

ACTS OF GENESIS: A FEMIMST LOOK AT THE CHANGRVG FACE OF THE MOTHER IN SELECTED WORKS OF SCIENCE FICTION BY WOMEN A Thesis Submitted to the Fanilty of Giaduaie Snidies In Mal Fulfillment of the Requirements br the Degree of Master of Arts Department of bglish University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba National Librafy Bibiiîthëque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services seMces bibliographiques The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distri'bute or seîl reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic foxmats. la fome de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la proprieté du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. TEE UNlVERSFIlt OF MtUWïOBA COPYRIGET PERMISSlON PAGE A ThesWPmcticum submitted to the Facdty of Graduate Studies of The University of Mimitoba in partiai ftilnllmeat of the requinmeab of the degret of MAs~OPbPTS 1997 (c) Permission has kmgrantcd to the Libmry of The Univenitp of Maaitoba to Iend or sel1 copies of this thesirlpracticum, to the National Library of Canads to microfilm tblr thais and to Iend or sel1 copies of the mm, and to Dissertatioas Abtracts Internationai to publish an abstract of this thesis/practicam. The author reservcs otber pubücrition rights, and neither this thesidpracticum nor extensive estracts trom it may be printed or othede reprodiced without the author's written permission. This thesis examines the role of the mother in selected works of science fiction written by women. Believing that society's perception of the mafedmie ba9 cbanged greatiy in the last few decacies. I set out to explore how this change is reflected by diiferent female au thors of scienœ fiction. Fmm a fdstperspective, 1 have considend how the mother is depicted in three novels: Frankentein by May Shelley, Ine Gaie To Womn's Cotui~ryby Sheri S. Tepper and He, Skand It by Marge Piercy- The nineteenth cennuy view of rnother as "Ange1 of the House" had an impact on her fictional representations, in which she was sentimentalized and relegated to the back- ground. Matemal representations experienced their greaiest change after the growth of feminist belicfs in the 1960s- Science fiction has long ken a male-dominated genre. but it has aiso displayed an intcrcsi in the reproduction of lire, especiaily involving alien species. The Women's Movcmcnt. as well as the growing number of female authors. bdenedthe mpe of scicncc fiction. and lemale charactcrs and their concems kgan to receive greater attention. Despite Victor F&cnstcinTs usurpation of the matemal rde. the mother may be abjeç t in Frcz~zke~~~ei~t.but she is never absent; even the authw herself acts as surrogate mothcr. In TkGate fo Worneri's COIIII~,women have taken control in order to punue a thcorctical drearn of pcc, but is this "radid feminist dystopia" a warning or wish- fui fil lmcnt. Mage Piercy embnces techndogy in derto challenge gender stemtypes and cncouragc the tmsgressing of boundaries in Hc. Skand It. 1 wish to acknowledge those individuais who played instrumental mles in the compilation of this projecr 1 cvish to thank, first of ail, my thesis advisor, Dr. John I. Teuni-sen. for his patience, diligence and devotion to duty. I would also like to ihank the other members of my thesis commitke,Dr. Evelyn L Hinz and Professor Anne McGiilivary for their time and effat 1 also give hearty thanlcr to the West Region Tribal Cdl,whose financial support enabled me to obtain an edudon, and gave me the fdomto concentrate on academic mattets. Thanlc you to the counsellors then. and a special tbnks to Roberta McLcnnui-dways a cheery voice on the other end of the telephone- for her genuine intercst and concem. Thanb also go to Marianne Hamish and Lucia Flynn in the Department of English officc for always having the anwers; to my friend Leslie Busse11 who always believed I could; and to my fellow studcnts. Christine Mazut. Mary M~ZUT.Julie Dueck and Claire Macldey. friends who made the joumey enjoyable. And. especially, I thank my parents: my lathcr. Donald Harris; and my mother, Irene Harris. for her neverending support and confidence. For my Angel - I will never forget how you walked across my heart with such small sort steps CONTENTS Introduction ......................................................................................... 1 Chapter One: Repressîon of the Mother in Frankmtein...................................... 9 Chapter Two: Sheri S. Teppe r. Dystopian Motherhood and nie Gate to Women's Counhy ............................................................ 34 Chapier Three: Breaçhing the Boundaries: Future Mom and Marge Piercy's He. She and 1............................................. 62 Conclusion ........................................................................................ û6 Notes ............................................................................................... Works Citcd ....................................................................................... 93 While Mary Shelley's nove1. Frankenstein, or the Modern Prontetheus (1818) is now, at least, generally acknowledged as the fiwork of science fiction (Meilor 244), the genre had some of its mots in the adventure fiction of a œnauy eariier, when fictionai men began to dimb aboard sailing ships to lavecimon-aad the civilipng influence of ihe domestic sphere- behind. Wohsuch as RobUrron Cnrsoc (1719). Gullivcr's Traveh (1726), and Moby-Dick (1851) corne to mind As Brian Aldiss has noted, both Gulliver and Robinson Crusoe are gdexamples of the "masculine intellect at work". as they "[sketch] in character with economy, not wncerned with ambivalences of human refation- ships" (86). But neither authors nor cri tics of the pend amidered how Urs. Gulliver fel t about raising hcr famil y by herse1f. yeûr after year, while Lemuel was off sailing the seas (or Mrs. Crusoe, or Mrs. Ahab). While Shelley's early effort cvas a brand-new type of ricton, science fiction proper did not rdly"taE;e off' until the late nineteenth cenhuy, wiîh authors like Jules Vemc and H. G. Wclls. Malc authors wvere still sending lheir male pmtagonists on fatastic adven- turcs (in 1705 one of Daniel Defoe's works featured a machine that would mnvey a mm to the moon [Aldiss 261); but now. they were sending them in rocket ships and timc machincs. Science now berne the driving force as weli as the explmation behind the advcnturc. As the gem entcrcd the twentieth centuryv for the fint couple of dccades. at lest, thc trcnds in science fiction continuai. As in gened fiction. "[n]ovelists wrote of cowboys and adventure. anything to escape mom's domain" (Thurer 335). During the 1930's and 40's. sciencc fiction's emphasis was still on "extemal action". nther than i nicrnal dcwlopment (Clareson 76). The "pulps", so named for the cheap papa the- werc printcd on. cmphasized the main ingredicnu of science fiction-"spaa flighis" and "galactic ~~7ariarc"(Clarcson 22). The gnre continued in the same gened fashion up until the 1%0*s, when the times began to change* and a number of events affeçted science fiction. During ia history, science fiction was, as Judith A. Spectm says, 'notably hostile toward rvomen" (21). A dance through Aldiss's TbiI.nYeur Spnc. Hbtoory of Scieirce Fiction will give evidence of the ~lative-*ty d fedemes withîn its pages; but women authors began to m& significant contributions to the genre by the end of the I96û's. and many of thern broadened the stop of science fiction by writing about topics of concern to women. Science fiction has often reflected current concerns and anxieries. In the 195û's, as space tnvel became a reality, the popular tlireat was the linle pnman from Mars, in the 1960's and 70's conam shifted to global annihilation through an atomic explosion, or problems caused by overpopulation. In the 1980's and beyond. pollution and the ecologi- cd fu turc or EartIi has often been at the fore front of science fiction. Good science fiction is spccu1;iuve. cautionuy and heuristic. A writer of science fiction will not just \Mite a story about tirne travel, for instance; s/he will most likely also consider the eihiui implications of c hangïng pstor future events. In lodring at biotechnology (as wi th other issues), Vderie Broegc statcs that many scicncc-fiction authors ;ire "concemed with the politid and mord impact of ihis knowlcdp on the individual and the stafe" (197). Whethcr thqf endorsc or condcmn thc sciencc, good writen will urge caution in its use. As womcn, puticularly ferninisis. began to write science fiction, their amcems were. undeamdabl y. rclatcd to issucs of gendcr. At its very basis, feminist theory is mncerned with the eelationship between thc sescs. According to Arne K. Meilor, "Meminist theory is grounded on the assumpiion of gcndcr cquality". and "scelis to analyzc and eliminaie disnimination on the basis of gender" (243). Thcrc have, or coursc. been historid ens of puerand lesser ngh~for wmcn. Thcrc was a wavc of resisting womcn's fiction at the tm of the century during "fencnt xti~ity for women's sulf'mgc.. .rvomen's education refon. and contmception" Specific xcas of conccm in the 1W's included "equal py, reproductive righis, wider acccss to both professional and non-traditional jobs, shared housework, chilciaim. and the removal of cultuml stereotypes" (ffaelzer 282-83). Because many of these issues are nlated to mothering, the very definition of morherhood came uidcr question. Depictions of the mother are o#Pssarily relatexi to ha actual statu in society.

Load more

  104

Copy Link