Animal Alterity: Science Fiction and the Question of the Animal

by Sherryl Vint

Animal Alterity uses readings of science fiction texts to explore the centrality of animals for our ways of thinking about human. It argues that the academic field of animal studies and the popular genre of science fiction share a number a critical thinking about otherness and the nature of human being; desiring communication across species difference; and interrogating the social and ethical consequences of changes in science and technology. We are living in a complex set of contradictory and conflicting relations with non-human animals. This book maps this complex terrain, arguing that we are better able to perceive options for a transformed politics if we perceive our various material relations with non-human animals within a deeper understanding of the functions of the category 'animal'.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Theory, Philosophy

256 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 2010

About the author

Sherryl Vint is Professor of Media and Cultural Studies and of English at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of Bodies of Tomorrow, Animal Alterity, and Science Fiction: A Guide for the Perplexed, coauthor of the Routledge Concise History of Science Fiction, and coeditor of The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction.

Reviews

[Stephanie McGarrah]

Humanity somehow believes we are better than the rest of the creatures, land, air and sea. We are somehow the most destructive creature, and yet we don't call ourselves an invasive species. No other animal on earth rivals our viciousness, and yet when we are vicious we are denigrated as 'animals.' Perhaps we just think too highly of ourselves?

The author seems to me a bit too optimistic about sci fi's ability to change peoples perceptions about this false boundary that is human exceptionalism, even if there are plenty of challenges to it in the genre. These stories are no match for myths that have driven humankind since our tragic evolution. That being said, some of the stories mentioned in Animal Alterity sound interesting.

Well I guess I should get around to reading some Derrida.

[David Agranoff]

I don’t do long reviews for non-fiction, especially those that I use for research for articles and books. Spoiler alert for the blog I quoted this author and book multiple times in an upcoming article on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I also have recorded an interview with the author for Dickheads coming soon-ish. So there is that.

As a life-long Science Fiction nerd and an animal rights person for the majority of that life, this book is like a combination of my passions in an interesting way. Vint as a researcher is always interested in how technology and life co-exist, but this book extends beyond our bodies to those of non-human animals. In fact, the human-animal boundary is a huge part of the text. Vint doesn’t share her personal feelings on the page but I suspect the ideas will still be challenging for the average researcher.

From Pulp SF to modern novels Vint looks at how SF books and stories played with the question of animals. It is a rare book, I can think of no other that discusses the ideas Of Walter Miller Jr., Cordwainer Smith as it does Carol Adams and Peter Singer. The conclusion rightly lands on Clifford Simak’s classic novel City, which I feel is the most beautiful SF novel to address animal issues. The one book she didn’t write about that I wish was addressed is Neal Barrett Jr.’s Through Darkest America but that is a lost novel that should be but is not considered a classic. (I reviewed it here if you are interested in my thoughts on why it fits here)

Animal Alterity is an important book for anyone interested in the history of smart, ethical Science Fiction. As a non-fiction text, it will now take a valued spot in my Science fiction Non-fiction shelf.