Contemporary women writers of science fiction : explorations in selected texts by Doris Lessing, Marge Piercy, and Octavia Butler

Abstract

Science fiction has long been considered a male-dominated genre with a predominantly male audience and readership. While there is much truth to this generalization, women writers have infiltrated the patriarchal arena. Indeed, one of the forerunners of science fiction is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). The first chapter of this dissertation traces the origins of science fiction, the development of the genre, and its generic definitions. Particular reference will be made to the development of science fiction during the twentieth century, and how it gradually evolved from popular fiction embraced by magazine culture to book publication. Attention will be given to the generic strands of science fiction, such as utopia, dystopia, and cyberpunk, and the respective contribution made by women writers. The generic conventions of science fiction allow for the creation of other worlds which women writers have explored for reasons which might include extrapolation, social criticism, or authorial anonymity. In appropriating conventional science fiction topoi, feminist science fiction has developed into an autonomous body, distinctive from the established patriarchal body of science fiction, and have gained a respect entirely their own. Other women writers have seized the opportunity the genre allows them to write more anonymously, straying away from gender definition and labelling. The remaining chapters approach the selected texts from a thematic point of view and examine the respective textual concerns.