John Burridge: Science Fiction

Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Navigating Literature

Last night at Wordos we were discussing Hugo nominees and invariably drifted into the "is it science fiction, fantasy, or literature?" realm. I think the answer to one story is "yes" -- but on the other hand, the science part of some of the stories was pretty soft. Sort of like if Dracula was a story with blood-sucking creature who could turn into a bat, but it focused more on the marital conflicts of the Harkers.

In any case, it seems like science fiction and fantasy are picking up more literary bits from magical realism or slipstream. This confuses the hard science fiction folks, and I'd have to admit, sometimes when I'm reading a story expecting it to be hard science fiction and it veers into literary territory, my initial reaction is to wonder why the author didn't do more research, because [dirigibles, water, computers, whatever] don't really do that. And then to realize, "Oh, dirigibles are a metaphor for sex--so that's why they look like that in this story" later.

After Wordos I spent about an hour editing a previously critiqued draft at a near-by bar and grill. I managed to snag the usual post-Wordos table and spread out with a salad and drink and manuscripts. There's something to be said for having a large round table to use, and I pretended I was an Inkling in a British Pub. There's a couple of places where folks indicated they were confused by what was happening, and I hope that I've clarified those.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Notes from Saturday CSWS 40th Anniversary Celebration

Summary of "A conversation with Ursula Le Guin."

If I could ignore the critics and the fixed opinions and the publishers' ideas, I would simply ... never think of genre. There's this kind of story and that kind of story (stories without genre). Some are more realistic, and more more imaginative. But they're all fish in the ocean of story. And I'll catch any fish that comes to my net. And all the rest in a sense is applied from on top by intellectuals trying to sort things out (OK) and by Capitalism (not so good).

Getting admiration from another writer is incredibly important to other writers It's why the Nebula Award is extremely important. That's really something. I got a fan letter from Andrea Norton which said, "I really liked your novel," and OH Boy, I walked on air for a week. The thing is--women got more of that kind of praise from women. And getting it from Tiptree... we thought, "Gee, that's a neat man." (The truth was confusing)

I'm a story teller who wants to tell a story. The story is going to be political, whether you want it to or not. It is going to reflect the politics of the time. How much you want to control that mess...you have to decide for yourself. With the caution that if you are perceived to be preaching by your readers, they will quietly go away (and they're right to do so).

A story is not a vehicle for a message, a story is itself. And what it tells you is what it tells you. The less the story is about the author, the more readers get out of it... but the author can over-direct... But on the other hand, if there is a message you want to get across, and the best way to to tell a story... then that's what you have to do.

Summary of "Feminists in the Archives" Panel.

Take-away messages. Feminist science fiction writers of the 1950-1970's had extended conversations with each other via letters; the community they formed created a forum of sorts for supporting themselves and also thinking about story and voice.

“Feminist Science Fiction as Political Theory,”Panel.Summary: Feminist Science Fiction has explored "Women's Ways of Knowing." (WWoK was suggested to be "intuitive" or "spiritual".) Feminist Science Fiction has moved from utopia as a destination to utopia as a process or conversation.

Just writing a female main character in the 60's-70's was a bold political act. Science Fiction in the last forty years has made progress in terms of numbers of female authors, characters, and subject matter; but there's still a long way to go ("Wow, she writes like a man").

Speculative fiction in general is dismembered into niches not by authors, readers, or editors, but by marketing divisions. Feminist science fiction is a cultural response to a political situation. The message of feminist science fiction is: "We are not satisfied with the status quo and we want it changed--and if we can get it , we will. And if we can nudge folks to bring the change, we will. Because change is needed for us to survive. "

The USA exports weapons and culture; it's important for us to write feminist (or rather, egalitarian) science fiction as a challenge to patriarchy world-wide... but for goodness sake, write a good story, not a political one. Write, not film, because Hollywood is still stuck in the male buddy story. Fantasy is mostly War Stories. The cultural process continues, and part of that process is for each and every one of us who is aware, to help others become aware.