Science Fiction and American Culture » April 3rd: Catch Up and Start Octavia Butler

April 3rd: Catch Up and Start Octavia Butler

New Due Date: Essay #2 is due Monday, 4/07, 11:00pm, on Canvas.

Announcements

  • Braver Angels Debate: Is the American Dream Still Achievable?
    • Wednesday, April 9th, 3:30pm-5:30pm
    • Food is at 3:30pm; event starts at 4:00pm
    • Student Union Room 200
    • Food!!! Registration link
    • I will give you extra credit for attending. If you’ve missed (or plan to miss) more than four (4) classes,* it would be VERY good for you to show up.
  • American Forensics Association Nationals
    • April 4, 5, and 6th

*Please review the syllabus Attendance policy for more information on absences.

Plan for the Day

  • Discuss Major Themes from Inception (2010) and Interstellar (2014)
  • What does Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” (1729) have to do with a post-nuclear war world?
  • Reading Media
    • Celebrating Ignorance
    • Gender Analysis in Fantasy
  • Move onto Octavia Butler’s Dawn

Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”

This famous piece of satire shows up in many English classes. What value does it have for our class on Science Fiction and American Culture?

I desire those politicians who dislike my overture, and may perhaps be so bold to attempt an answer, that they will first ask the parents of these mortals, whether they would not at this day think it a great happiness to have been sold for food at a year old, in the manner I prescribe, and thereby have avoided such a perpetual scene of misfortunes, as they have since gone through, by the oppression of landlords, the impossibility of paying rent without money or trade, the want of common sustenance, with neither house nor clothes to cover them from the inclemencies of the weather, and the most inevitable prospect of intailing the like, or greater miseries, upon their breed for ever.Swift, Jonathan. “A Modest Proposal” 1729, The Gutenberg Project.

Obviously, Swift isn’t serious about selling kids for food, but he’s very serious about agitating that the British government do something about poverty. I know it’s hard to imagine that a country, an empire, as strong as Great Britain circa 1729 would have poor people. I mean, could you imagine there being poverty in the United States, the richest country in the world today? Wouldn’t happen. If you’re still missing the point, re-read Asimov’s “A Cult of Ignorance.”

Celebrating Ignorance

Let’s discuss how these texts reflect anti-intellectualism and trite, nationalistic ideology. In addition to the links below, if you have time, you can read a short piece about “American Contradiction” from a rather interesting book (opens as a PDF).

Gender Analysis in Pop Culture

Images of Gender vs. (normal) Behavior

It seems we live in binary worlds, the feminine and masculine, the gay and straight, the liberal and conservative, the red and the blue. While there are more complex arrangements in the “real world,” our menus for gender and sexuality are usually dualistic. Those spheres (and their duality) are socially constructed–they are made up of what is considered normal, and any deviation is considered abnormal. Some say media influence our understanding of what it means to be a man or woman, but others point out that it merely reflects what is already considered normal, or, more importantly, ideal. That’s fairly easily seen with images of men and women–we’ve discussed the limited standards of beauty that are simulated and repeated throughout media–but it’s not as easily seen when we analyze behavioral patterns.

What are normal behaviors and where do they come from?

He-Man and She-Ra

Compare the two introductions to He-Man and She-Ra. Are they the same–meaning no difference in the portrayal of the masculine character vs. the feminine character?

Are the representations congruent with your understanding of masculine and feminine roles? Don’t forget your psychoanalytic hat either: What’s going on with the ways the two hold their swords?

Octavia Butler’s Dawn (1987)

I’m pretty sure we won’t get too far along, so let’s begin this discussion by checking out the book covers for Dawn:

Next Class

Remember, Essay #2 is Due on Monday, 4/07. Don’t forget to do this week’s Discussion Post #11.

We’ll definitely discuss the first half of Dawn (1987) on Tuesday (4/08) and finish up the novel on Thursday (4/10). Then, we have the very peculiar and radical (with an exception regarding relationships…) novel The Dispossessed (1974) by Ursula K. LeGuin, required reading for any intellectual.