Queer Universes Sexualities in Science Fiction

by Pearson, Wendy Gay; Hollinger, Veronica; Gordon, Joan

• ISBN13: 9781846311352
• ISBN10: 1846311357
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-07-15
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Summary

Disputes over the meaning and practice of sexuality have become increasingly central to cultural self-definition. It is hardly surprising then that science fiction, the province of new physical and psychological frontiers, has taken up the task of imagining a diverse range of queer and not-so-queer futures.Queer Universesis a landmark investigation into these contemporary and historical representations of gender and sexualitiesincluding Wendy Pearson's award-winning essay on reading science fiction queerly, as well as essays discussing "sextrapolation" in New Wave science fiction, "stray penetration" in William Gibson's cyberpunk works, the queering of nature in ecofeminist sci-fi, and the radical challenges posed to conventional science fiction in the work of important writers such as Samuel R. Delaney, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Joanna Russ. In addition, this distinguished volume offers interviews with acclaimed science fiction writers, along with an array of essays from scholars and science fiction giants alike.

Author Biography

Wendy Gay Pearson is assistant professor of English and film studies at Wilfrid Laurier University. Veronica Hollinger is associate professor of cultural studies at Trent University. Joan Gordon is associate professor of English at Nassau Community College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. ix
Notes on Contributors	p. x
Introduction: Queer Universes	p. 1
Queering the Scene
Alien Cryptographies: The View from Queer	p. 14
War Machine, Time Machine	p. 39
Un/Doing History
Sextrapolation in New Wave Science Fiction	p. 52
Towards a Queer Genealogy of SF	p. 72
Sexuality and the Statistical Imaginary in Samuel R. Delany's	p. 101
Stray Penetration and Heteronormative Systems Crash: Queering Gibson	p. 121
Disordering Desires
'Something Like a Fiction': Speculative Intersections of Sexuality and Technology	p. 140
'And How Many Souls Do You Have?': Technologies of Perverse Desire and Queer Sex in Science Fiction Erotica	p. 161
BDSMSF (QF): Sadomasochistic Readings of Quebecois Women's Science Fiction	p. 180
Embodying New Words
'Happy That It's Here': An Interview with Nalo Hopkinson	p. 200
Queering Nature: Close Encounters with the Alien in Ecofeminist Science Fiction	p. 216
Queering the Coming Race? A Utopian Historical Imperative	p. 233
Works Cited	p. 252
Index	p. 272
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