Future Females: A Critical Anthology

by Marleen S. Barr (Editor)

“A justification for paying serious attention to science fiction may by now be necessary only for other literary critics and scholars. Still, the question of why a book addressing itself to science fiction has to be faced briefly.” This comment, the opening statement of Darko Suvins’ recent book, is of concern to Professor Barr, editor of this volume, since Future Females is addressing itself to women in science fiction. Metaphorically speaking, if the mere mention of the genre causes a ruffling of academic feathers, then, relating to women is analogous to placing all those simply ruffled feathers in front of a wind machine.

Everyone will not welcome a volume where science fiction is viewed in terms of women, but Professor Barr felt such a volume is needed. As Roger Schlobin’s bibliography indicates, women are certainly contributing continuously to the science fiction field. This collection of essays illuminates some of this fiction.

200 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 1981

Reviews

[Linda Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The copyright date on this book is 1981. One of the essays discusses the Star Trek episode "Turnabout Intruder," the last original episode of the series, in which Dr. Janet Lester takes over both Kirk and the Enterprise. The wikipedia listing mentions cultural theorist Cassandra Armesley, noting that fans agree this is one of the worst episodes of the original series. It sticks in my head that way. Shatner acting like a whiny creepy insane woman was...well, not too far removed from the over-the-top Kirk generally, but to portray an insane woman as whiny was weird. There is a personal riposte critique from Arthur Asa Berger, who admonishes the previous reviewer to add some modern muscle to his TV reviews. Including a bad example of a Star Trek episode is odd, but perhaps Barr wanted some television and at the time, there was only Star Trek. Le Guin's Left Hand of Darkness is mentioned in more than one criticism, and was published in 1969. Many of the SF stories mentioned are older than that. Barr, in the introduction, states this book hopefully would demonstrate it is possible to take judgment and personal anger out of the SF criticism realm. Barr took on a massively fraught task - she wanted to publish, but also to establish what an anthology of critical essays about women and science fiction would look like. The authors are feminists, not feminists, SF writers, media specialist, political scientist. What this book does accomplish is to start a dialogue, even if it's just in your head, even if it's somewhat old news. There's enough mention of the misogynistic SF writing world, without it clobbering you over the head again. I particularly enjoyed Norman Holland's "You, U. K. Le Guin" and his admitted difficulty in separating the fiction from the author. He is the scholar who is connected to transactive criticism - the idea that it is not possible to take the reader out of the equation. His discussion of The Left Hand of Darkness, what it may mean in terms of dualism, doubling and relatedness (excellent word choice to replace connectedness) is superb. As a thought experiment, Barr's collection is outstanding, her choice of contributors covers the subject comprehensively. It's as though we attended a conference in 1981. Ray-gunning the myth that women didn't write science fiction, there is an 11 page bibliography in the back. Now I want to find the same well done book with a more recent publishing date.

[Neslihan Cangöz · Rating 2 out of 5]

İçinde Joanna Russ’ın “Recent Feminist Utopias” adlı makalesi olduğu için peşine düştüğüm bir derleme. İlginç bazı makaleler vardı. That’s it.