Feminist Science Fiction: The Alternative Worlds of Piercy, Elgin and Atwood

Year 1996, Issue: 4, 69 - 77, 01.10.1996

Sema Kormalı

Abstract

Since the late 1960s feminist authors have been writing prolifically in the genre of science fiction SF , often merging and overlapping the other genres of fantasy. In its present practice, SF has become a blanket term covering nearly all the genres of fantasy, including utopian and dystopian fiction, the mystery, and the Gothic tale. As such, it has a special appeal to feminist writers, making it possible for them to create allegorical worlds in which the patriarchal society is questioned, or to produce female fantasies in which there is no oppression on the basis of gender or class. It moreover enables them to delineate alternative worlds to those created by the male writers of SF.

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