Alien to Femininity


Book Description

This book offers a first step toward spanning the gap between the writing of male critics of speculative fiction, who do not devote enough attention to the contributions of new female voices to this genre, and feminist critics, who should study a genre that opens all possibilities to women. Although Barr clarifies speculative texts for those who may not be familiar with them, her study is neither a complete survey of speculative fiction nor an introduction to the recent concerns of feminist theory; it applies contemporary feminist theory to contemporary speculative fiction.




Alien to Femininity


Book Description

In science fiction




Representations of Femininity in American Genre Cinema


Book Description

The theme of female transformation informs the Hollywood representation of femininity from the studio era to the present. Whether it occurs physically, emotionally, or on some other level, transformation allows female protagonists to negotiate their own complex desires and to resist the compulsory marriage plot. A sweeping study of Hollywood from Now, Voyager, The Heiress, and Flamingo Road to Carrie, the Alien films, The Brave One, and the slasher horror genre, this book boldly unsettles commonplace understandings of genre film, female sexuality, and Freudian theory as it makes a strong new case for the queer relevance of female representation.




Meanings of Ripley


Book Description

Ellen Ripley of the Alien Quadrilogy has become an iconic female figure in the male dominated genre of science fiction/action/horror since her first appearance in 1979. This collection offers readers varied interpretations of Ripley that are grounded in the social context and theoretical perspectives that were dominant prior to and during the time the films were released. Specifically, the rise of Second Wave Feminismâ "and the backlash against itâ "provides a backdrop for this collection. Is Ripley a feminist hero? A patriarchal woman and mother? Does she embody de Beavoirâ (TM)s â oemyth of the feminineâ ? Does she exhibit sexual agency? Does she offer us a glimpse of individual autonomy that moves away from dichotomous gender roles? These are the primary questions explored in this collection. While the focus is clearly on Ripley, the arguments go beyond the confines of the films by examining the relationship between the individual and society in which both are product and producer of the other, and illustrate that social artifacts such as film can provide insights into the lived experiences of our world. The contributors come from a variety of backgrounds including Literature, Cinema Studies, Gender and Womenâ (TM)s Studies, Philosophy, Sociology, Theatre History, and reside in Canada and the United States. They represent a range from junior to senior scholars. While science fiction is clearly an interest of all these individuals, it is not the primary area of research for most of them. By bringing voices from multiple disciplines into the discussion about Ripley, this collection offers readers perspectives that deviate from and yet complement the current trend in film criticism and, thus, contributes to opening up discussions about such characters and the genre to a wider audience.




The Monstrous-Feminine


Book Description

In almost all critical writings on the horror film, woman is conceptualised only as victim. In The Monstrous-Feminine Barbara Creed challenges this patriarchal view by arguing that the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body.With close reference to a number of classic horror films including the Alien trilogy, T




Alien to Femininity


Book Description

This book offers a first step toward spanning the gap between the writing of male critics of speculative fiction, who do not devote enough attention to the contributions of new female voices to this genre, and feminist critics, who should study a genre that opens all possibilities to women. Although Barr clarifies speculative texts for those who may not be familiar with them, her study is neither a complete survey of speculative fiction nor an introduction to the recent concerns of feminist theory; it applies contemporary feminist theory to contemporary speculative fiction.




Lost in Space


Book Description

Archaeologists and anthropologists discover other civilizations; science fiction writers invent them. In this collection of her major essays, Marleen Barr argues that feminist science fiction writers contribute to postmodern literary canons with radical a




Frankenstein's Daughters


Book Description

Women Science fiction authors—past and present—are united by the problems they face in attempting to write in this genre, an overwhelmingly male-dominated field. Science fiction has been defined by male-centered, scientific discourse that describes women as alien "others" rather than rational beings. This perspective has defined the boundaries of science fiction, resulting in women writers being excluded as equal participants in the genre. Frankenstein's Daughters explores the different strategies women have used to negotiate the minefields of their chosen career: they have created a unique utopian science formulated by and for women, with women characters taking center stage and actively confronting oppressors. This type of depiction is a radical departure from the condition where women are relegated to marginal roles within the narratives. Donawerth takes a comprehensive look at the field and explores the works of authors such as Mary Shelley, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Anne McCaffrey.




Time Is the Thing a Body Moves Through


Book Description

W. G. Sebald meets Maggie Nelson in an autobiographical narrative of embodiment, visual art, history, and loss. How do the bodies we inhabit affect our relationship with art? How does art affect our relationship to our bodies? T Fleischmann uses Felix Gonzáles-Torres’s artworks—piles of candy, stacks of paper, puzzles—as a path through questions of love and loss, violence and rejuvenation, gender and sexuality. From the back porches of Buffalo, to the galleries of New York and L.A., to farmhouses of rural Tennessee, the artworks act as still points, sites for reflection situated in lived experience. Fleischmann combines serious engagement with warmth and clarity of prose, reveling in the experiences and pleasures of art and the body, identity and community.




Otherspace


Book Description

"Conceived at the National Air and Space Museum, in Washington D.C., in December 1990, and printed at Nexus Press in Atlanta, in October 1992"--Colophon.




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