On Wed, 30 Apr 1997, Anastasia McPherson wrote:
> Hi Ladies (I assume)
NH: No, we are women and men here. I'd even tread cautiously with
assuming that anyone's necessarily identifying her (him?)self as a
'lady.' :)
>
> And here is a meaty question. I have always loved the
> utopia/dystopia dyad but find myself leaning toward creating dystopic
> futures by extrapolation and see this tendency in the other literature of
> the day. How much of this do you think is due to the millenialism abroad
> n the culture today and how much due to a real weighing of the facts of
> our near future?
NH: I wonder how much of that is due to what fiction *is,* which is
watching characters deal, successfully or no, with problems or
conflicts. I think that's what holds our interest. I don't know or
understand much about classic definitions of utopia lit or theories about
what it's *for,* but going by a simple definition of what a utopia is
supposed to be, it's probably not going to be very interesting to write a
story that essentially says, "Well, here we all are, and everyone's
happy, and everything works fine. The end." Hmm. Would Kim Stanley
Robinson's _Pacific Edge_ qualify as a utopia? What's interesing about
that novel is that even in that essentially peaceful setting, people
still butt heads, and there's still plenty of room for disappointment,
disagreement, anger, loss, difference...the stuff that makes fiction
interesting.
-nalo
"Proud to be flesh."
By the way, this is probably an ideal forum to ask for help. I'm a juror
for the Tiptree Awards that will be announced in 1998. Didn't out myself
sooner because I'm so very junior a writer, and this is an intimidating
bunch of people. However, if any of you come across any speculative
fiction published in 1997 that "explores or expands our notions of gender
and gender roles," I'd be happy if you'd send me a private e-mail about it.
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