Ecofeminist Science Fiction

International Perspectives on Gender, Ecology, and Literature
1. Auflage 2023
ISBN: 978-0-367-72022-3
Verlag: Routledge

Buch, Englisch, 232 Seiten, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 346 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in World Literatures and the Environment

Ecofeminist Science Fiction: International Perspectives on Gender, Ecology, and Literature provides guidance in navigating some of the most pressing dangers we face today. Science fiction helps us face problems that threaten the very existence of humankind by giving us the emotional distance to see our current situation from afar, separated in our imaginations through time, space, or circumstance. Extrapolating from contemporary science, science fiction allows a critique of modern society, imagining more life-affirming alternatives.

In this collection, ecocritics from five continents scrutinize science fiction for insights into the fundamental changes we need to make to survive and thrive as a species. Contributors examine ecofeminist themes in films, such as Avatar, Star Wars, and The Stepford Wives, as well as television series including Doctor Who and Westworld. Other scholars explore an internationally diverse group of both canonical and lesser-known science fiction writers including Oreet Ashery, Iraj Fazel Bakhsheshi, Liu Cixin, Louise Erdrich, Hanns Heinz Ewers, Larissa Lai, Ursula K. Le Guin, Chen Qiufan, Mary Doria Russell, Larissa Sansour, Karen Traviss, and Jeanette Winterson.

Ecofeminist Science Fiction explores the origins of human-caused environmental change in the twin oppressions of women and of nature, driven by patriarchal power and ideologies. Female embodiment is examined through diverse natural and artificial forms, and queer ecologies challenge heteronormativity. The links between war and environmental destruction are analyzed, and the capitalist motivations and means for exploiting nature are critiqued through postcolonial perspectives.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vakoch, Douglas A.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Prosa, Erzählung, Roman, Prosaautoren
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literarische Gattungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Feminismus, Feministische Theorie
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft: Nachschlagewerke
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface Douglas A. Vakoch

Introduction Patrick D. Murphy



I. Female Bodies: Plants and Animals, Cyborgs and Robots

1. "Mothered by the Arid Sand": Hanns Heinz Ewers’ Alraune with an Ecofeminist Twist Melissa Etzler

2. The Runa and Female Otherness in Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow Lesley Kordecki

3. Reproduction, Utilitarianism, and Speciesism in Sleep Dealer and Westworld Imelda Martín Junquera

4. The Living Spaces of Robots: An Ecofeminist Reading of The Stepford Wives Katja Plemenitaš



II. Queer Ecologies

5. An Ecofeminist Reading of Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods Asli Degirmenci Altin

6. Speculative Sex: Queering Aqueous Natures and Biotechnological Futures in Larissa Lai’s Salt Fish Girl Sarah Bezan

7. Queering Doctor Who and Supernatural: An Ecofeminist Response to Bill Potts and Charlie Bradbury Meghna Mudaliar



III. War and Ecoterrorism

8. No Easy Answers: Karen Traviss’s The Wess’har Wars Series Patrick D. Murphy

9. "The Force Is Strong with This One": A Material Feminist Approach to Star Wars Basak Agin

10. Chinese Science Fiction and Representations of Ecofeminists: Mad women or Women Warriors Peter I-min Huang



IV. Capitalism and Colonization

11. Hegemonic Masculinity and Tropes of Domination: An Ecofeminist Analysis of James Cameron’s 2009 Film Avatar Lydia Rose and Teresa M. Bartoli

12. Eco-Heroines and Saviors in Iraj Fazel Bakhsheshi’s Men and Supertowers and The Sun’s Sons Zahra Jannessari Ladani

13. Rethinking Resistance: An Ecofeminist Approach to Anti-Colonialism in Louise Erdrich’s Future Home of the Living God and Oreet Ashery and Larissa Sansour’s The Novel of Nonel and Vovel Benay Blend

14. The Road to Sinshan: Ecophilia in Ursula K. Le Guin’s Early Hainish Novels Deirdre Byrne

Über Autor(innen)

Douglas A. Vakoch is President of METI, dedicated to Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence and sustaining civilization on multigenerational timescales. As Director of Green Psychotherapy, PC, he helps alleviate environmental distress through ecotherapy. Dr. Vakoch is editor-in-chief of the book series Space and Society (Springer), as well as general editor of Ecocritical Theory and Practice (Lexington Books). He has explored ecofeminism in six of his other books, including Dystopias and Utopias on Earth and Beyond: Feminist Ecocriticism of Science Fiction.