Guest Post #1
This post was written by Bradley Cisternino. I chose this blog post from the same prompt I wrote my first blog post on. The reason I selected this post in particular was because it discussed other ideas found in Delany’s essay, and touched upon aspects I talked about as well.
Question 1- Delany’s “About 5,750 Words”
At first, I was a little confused by Delany’s terminology, as he uses the term “Speculative Fiction,” however I believe that term is either synonymous with or encompasses science fiction. He outlines Speculative Fiction in a number of ways. The key points are (to me) as follows: Speculative Fiction deals with things that have not happened (with accompanying subcategories.) It is not the style or the content which makes SF, but the information itself and how it is presented as an image to the reader. Content as a concept is misunderstood: the words do not create content necessarily, it is the meaning of words when strung together which create the image and story for the reader. I found the following quote to be incredibly striking: “A sixty-thousand word novel is one picture corrected fifty-nine thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-nine times.” I consider this, together with the earlier point, to be Delany’s definition of Science/Speculative Fiction. He goes on to explain this point by constructing a sentence word-by-word, noting the large difference between the image of the sentence as each word is added. He also notes differences between styles and how they can entirely change the meaning/effect of a sentence when referencing the Gurney/Trench translations. Each is a translation of the same text and each sentence should theoretically be about the same thing. However, in practice, they appear entirely different and one is far more effective than the other.
The advantage of this approach (to me) is that it forces one to look both holistically and engage deeply with a given text simultaneously. While you still get the broad image and concepts of the story effectively, you can trace back individual images and points to specific individual WORDS rather than paragraphs or chapters. I can’t say I’m an avid SF reader, however I have read my fair share of it as well as other fiction types, and I’ve never even thought about or tried doing that. With Delany’s approach, it seems not only possible, but easy. Something I disagree with, though, is the narrowness of a story that Delany creates. Does a sixty-thousand word novel really have to be just one picture continuously updated? I can agree that each word has a significant contribution to a larger image, however I’m not sure it’s all the same image they’re contributing to. Instead, I think it would be better presented as a series of different images (or a collage, if you will) that are interconnected in sequence, each building off of the image before it. I think it may narrow the story down too much if it is constrained to a single individual image, as it may cut out or confuse other concepts or themes that are in the novel. This is especially important because most novels, including Science Fiction, will almost always have multiple themes, settings, and overarching concepts.
Guest Post #2
This post was written by Masato Hirakata. I chose this blog post because of how well Masato connects an alternate example of The Dispossessed to real life parallels. This can be viewed in conjunction with my own blog post; two posts highlighting examples of a science fiction novel connecting to reality.
In the context of the Cold War, the societies of Anarres and Urras as explored through Shevek’s perspective in The Dispossessed are Le Guin’s critical analyses of our own real world societies. Despite the setting being placed in an indeterminate future, the languages spoken not any language of Earth, and the locales fantastical owing to the science fiction genre, it is precisely because they are similar and recognizable to what has passed in Earth’s history that they become critiques. Much like how Roadside Picnic depicts a world tilted slightly off of its axis, The Dispossessed then shows a possibility in which Earth’s history has seen fit to repeat itself, enabled by science fiction.
One of the first victims of a reborn, revolutionary society is its language. In the society of Anarres, the splintered but “glorious utopia” that freed itself from Urras as the great Odonian experiment, the language of Pravic was created and utilized to reflect their ideology of anarcho-syndicalism. Through using Pravic, the people of Anarres believe they cultivate an anarchistic view of the world and universe around them, which therefore distinguishes them from Urras, which they see as the antithesis of their values and virtues. In the Soviet Union, the overthrow of the Tsar and the end of Imperial Russia signalled an end to Tsarist influence on Russian lives. Perhaps the most recognizable examples would be the changes to the names of Russian cities. The city Petrograd, formerly Saint Petersberg, became Leningrad, after Vladimir Lenin in 1924. The city Tsaritsyn was in turn renamed to Stalingrad in 1925, after the leader of the USSR, Joseph Stalin. Many other places were renamed, such as Stalinogorsk, and Stalinsk. Furthermore, beyond the renamed cities, the most recognizable item of Soviet language would be the title “Tovarisch” or “comrade.” Popularized by caricatures and parodies even in the present day, the term was a very real effort made by communists to tailor language such that a classless, equal society would be created in which everyone would work for the common good. As the Anarresti adopted the language of Pravic, so too did they adopt Anarresti names, which are short two or three syllable words, assigned by a computer at birth. In this way, the titles, or names, bestowed upon one another are equal before each other, and in the eyes of the society.
Through these similarities to one another, Le Guin allows the reader to develop the understanding that while Anarresti society is not one to one with the Soviet Union, there are similar elements, which then develop into similar issues. As the Soviet Union was unable to uphold the core tenets of their founding believes and allowed a powerful upper class to develop and dominate into an oligarchy, the same has happened to Anarres, in spite of their attempt over six generations at a true anarchic, classless, beneficial society that worked to the greater good of all peoples, equally.
Guest Post #3
This final post was written by Stephen Cooney. I selected this blog post because it is a much more opinionated take on the article I read and discussed.
I found Amy Wallace’s “Sci-Fi’s Hugo Awards and the Battle for Pop Culture’s Soul” to be a very impactful and informative read. The article stresses how the right has taken advantage of and abused the loopholes in the voting system that determines the winners of the Hugo awards. Conservative activists and members of the so-called puppy organization made it a goal to rig the process with selective nominations and lobbying specific pieces of literature. Considering the importance of the awards to fans and members of a very influential and mainstream industry, it is necessary for the awards to avoid this type of control from the conservative organizations. I believe that as the article stated political ideas and opinions will likely be included in most science fiction whether it is intended or not. However, I think it is ridiculous to outcast specific science fiction works due to political motives and the fiction is what should be considered important. The outrage and disgusting responses from the right organizations after more diverse selections for Hugo awards began is alarming. In my opinion having diverse and innovative ideas should be encouraged in the science fiction industry which is one that includes unlimited possibilities in all of it’s literature. When we read science fiction we should think about how it reflects and influences both the present and the future as a way of learning more about mankind and the society we live in. The ideas and values of science fiction should not be held to the likes of white men who wish to dominate and control the industry. Not only is this wrong but in my opnion can lead to the industry and genre being very narrow-minded and full of identical ideologies. Much of the science fiction we have observed as a class has included plenty of diversity whether it comes to people of a multitude of races or people with varying gender identifications. I felt as though this was an oppurtunity to learn from authors such as Samuel R. Delany, who is an African-American and homosexual man. I can learn how they can portray their own personal expierence with discriminations and what is wrong with society from someone who has had to face oppressions I have not.