Race in American Science Fiction

by Isiah Lavender III

Overview

Noting that science fiction is characterized by an investment in the proliferation of racial difference, Isiah Lavender III argues that racial alterity is fundamental to the genre's narrative strategy. Race in American Science Fiction offers a systematic classification of ways that race appears and how it is silenced in science fiction, while developing a critical vocabulary designed to focus attention on often-overlooked racial implications. These focused readings of science fiction contextualize race within the genre's better-known master narratives and agendas. Authors discussed include Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Philip K. Dick, and Ursula K. Le Guin, among many others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253222596
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Publication date:	02/08/2011
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Isiah Lavender III is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Central Arkansas.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: Mapping the Blackground 1

1 Racing Science Fiction 21

2 Meta-slavery 54

3 Jim Crow Extrapolations 89

4 Ailments of Race 118

5 Ethnoscapes 157

6 Technologically Derived Ethnicities 186

Epilogue: Science Fictioning Race 211

Notes 233

Bibliography 243

Index 261

What People are Saying About This

"Critically ambitious. . . . Isiah Lavender spurs a direct conversation about race and racism in science fiction."

De Witt Douglas Kilgore]]>

Critically ambitious. . . . Isiah Lavender spurs a direct conversation about race and racism in science fiction.

De Witt Douglas Kilgore

"Critically ambitious. . . . Isiah Lavender spurs a direct conversation about race and racism in science fiction."

Editorial Reviews

"Critically ambitious. . . . Isiah Lavender spurs a direct conversation about race and racism in science fiction."—De Witt Douglas Kilgore, author of Astrofuturism

From the Publisher

"Critically ambitious.... Isiah Lavender spurs a direct conversation about race and racism in science fiction." —De Witt Douglas Kilgore, author of Astrofuturism

De Witt Douglas Kilgore

Sci-fi, almost by definition, has to do with racial differences; Lavender classifies the appearances and silencing of race in the genre, embracing such notables as Isaac Asimov and Ursula K. Le Guin.

Library Journal