LEADER 04519nam 2200661 a 450 001 9910807758603321 005 20230124182545.0 010 $a0-292-79582-3 024 7 $a10.7560/713062 035 $a(CKB)1000000000467070 035 $a(OCoLC)614484671 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10217902 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000101142 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11555790 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000101142 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10043276 035 $a(PQKB)11332131 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3443163 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse2267 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3443163 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10217902 035 $a(DE-B1597)587462 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780292795822 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC30788035 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL30788035 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000467070 100 $a20051116d2006 ub 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aAlien constructions$b[electronic resource] $escience fiction and feminist thought /$fPatricia Melzer 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aAustin $cUniversity of Texas Press$d2006 215 $a1 online resource (338 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-292-71306-1 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [299]-315) and index. 320 $aIncludes filmography: p. 315-316. 327 $aCultural chameleons : anticolonial identities and resistance in Octavia E. Butler's Survivor and dawn -- The alien in us : metaphors of transgression in the work of Octavia E. Butler -- Technoscience's stepdaughter : the feminist cyborg in Alien resurrection -- Our bodies as our selves : body, subjectivity, and (virtual) reality in The matrix -- The anatomy of dystopia : female technobodies and the death of desire in Richard Calder's Dead girls -- Beyond binary gender : genderqueer identities and intersexed bodies in Octavia E. Butler's Wild seed and Imago and Melissa Scott's Shadow man. 330 $aThough set in other worlds populated by alien beings, science fiction is a site where humans can critique and re-imagine the paradigms that shape this world, from fundamentals such as the sex and gender of the body to global power relations among sexes, races, and nations. Feminist thinkers and writers are increasingly recognizing science fiction's potential to shatter patriarchal and heterosexual norms, while the creators of science fiction are bringing new depth and complexity to the genre by engaging with feminist theories and politics. This book maps the intersection of feminism and science fiction through close readings of science fiction literature by Octavia E. Butler, Richard Calder, and Melissa Scott and the movies The Matrix and the Alien series. Patricia Melzer analyzes how these authors and films represent debates and concepts in three areas of feminist thought: identity and difference, feminist critiques of science and technology, and the relationship among gender identity, body, and desire, including the new gender politics of queer desires, transgender, and intersexed bodies and identities. She demonstrates that key political elements shape these debates, including global capitalism and exploitative class relations within a growing international system; the impact of computer, industrial, and medical technologies on women's lives and reproductive rights; and posthuman embodiment as expressed through biotechnologies, the body/machine interface, and the commodification of desire. Melzer's investigation makes it clear that feminist writings and readings of science fiction are part of a feminist critique of existing power relations?and that the alien constructions (cyborgs, clones, androids, aliens, and hybrids) that populate postmodern science fiction are as potentially empowering as they are threatening. 606 $aScience fiction, American$xHistory and criticism 606 $aScience fiction, English$xHistory and criticism 606 $aFeminism in literature 615 0$aScience fiction, American$xHistory and criticism. 615 0$aScience fiction, English$xHistory and criticism. 615 0$aFeminism in literature. 676 $a813/.08762099287 686 $aEC 6745$2rvk 700 $aMelzer$b Patricia$f1970-$01663060 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910807758603321 996 $aAlien constructions$94020107 997 $aUNINA