Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction (Alternatives) PDF
Preview Aliens: The Anthropology of Science Fiction (Alternatives)
Aliens : The Anthropology of Science title: Fiction Alternatives author: Slusser, George Edgar. publisher: Southern Illinois University Press isbn10 | asin: 0809313758 print isbn13: 9780809313754 ebook isbn13: 9780585186535 language: English Science fiction--History and criticism, Life subject on other planets in literature, Monsters in literature. publication date: 1987 lcc: PN3433.6.A44 1987eb ddc: 809.3/0876 Science fiction--History and criticism, Life subject: on other planets in literature, Monsters in literature. Page ii ALTERNATIVES is a series under the general editorship of Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, and Joseph D. Olander which has been established to serve the growing critical audience of science fiction, fantastic fiction, and speculative fiction. Other titles from the Eaton Conference are: Bridges to Science Fiction, edited by George E. Slusser, George R. Guffey, and Mark Rose, 1980 Bridges to Fantasy, edited by George E. Slusser, Eric S. Rabkin, and Robert Scholes, 1982 Coordinates: Placing Science Fiction and Fantasy, edited by George E. Slusser, Eric S. Rabkin, and Robert Scholes, 1983 Shadows of the Magic Lamp: Fantasy and Science Fiction in Film, edited by George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, 1985 Hard Science Fiction, edited by George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, 1986 Storm Warnings: Science Fiction Confronts the Future, edited by George E. Slusser, Colin Greenland, and Eric S. Rabkin, 1987 Intersections: Fantasy and Science Fiction, edited by George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin, 1987 Page iii Aliens The Anthropology of Science Fiction Edited by George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin Southern Illinois University Press Carbondale and Edwardsville Page iv Copyright © 1987 by the Board of Trustees, Southern Illinois University All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Edited by Yvonne D. Mattson Designed by Quentin Fiore Production supervised by Natalia Nadraga 90 89 88 87 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Aliens: the anthropology of science fiction. (Alternatives) Includes index. 1. Science fictionHistory and criticism. 2. Life on other planets in literature. 3. Monsters in literature. I. Slusser, George Edgar. II. Rabkin, Eric S. III. Series. PN3433.6.A44 1987 809.3'0876 87-4721 ISBN 0-8093-1375-8 Superman, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen are trademarks of DC Comics Inc. and are used with permission. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Page v CONTENTS Introduction: The Anthropology of the Alien vii George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin Part One Searchings: The Quest for the Alien 1. The Alien in Our Minds 3 Larry Niven 2. Effing the Ineffable 13 Gregory Benford 3. Border Patrols 26 Michael Beehler 4. Alien Aliens 36 Pascal Ducommun 5. Metamorphoses of the Dragon 43 George E. Slusser Part Two Sightings: The Aliens among Us 6. Discriminating Among Friends: The Social Dynamics of 69 the Friendly Alien John Huntington 7. Sex, Superman, and Sociobiology in Science Fiction 78 Joseph D. Miller Page vi 8. Cowboys and Telepaths/Formulas and Phenomena 88 Eric S. Rabkin 9. Robots: Three Fantasies and One Big Cold Reality 102 Noel Perrin 10. Aliens in the Supermarket: Science Fiction and 113 Fantasy for "Inquiring Minds" George R. Guffey 11. Aliens 'R' U.S.: American Science Fiction Viewed 128 from Down Under Zoe Sofia Part Three Soundings: Man as the Alien 12. H. G. Wells' Familiar Aliens 145 John R. Reed 13. Inspiration and Possession: Ambivalent Intimacy with 157 the Alien Clayton Koelb 14. Cybernauts in Cyberspace: William Gibson's 168 Neuromancer David Porush 15. The Human Alien: In-Groups and Outbreeding in 179 Enemy Mine Leighton Brett Cooke 16. From Astarte to Barbie and Beyond: The Serious 199 History of Dolls Frank McConnell 17. An Indication of Monsters 208 Colin Greenland Notes 221 Biographical Notes 233 Index 235 Page vii INTRODUCTION: THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF THE ALIEN George E. Slusser and Eric S. Rabkin The bliss of man (could pride that blessing find) Is not to think or act beyond mankind. Alexander Pope Our title, the "anthropology of the alien," sounds like a contradiction in terms. Anthropos is man, anthropology the study of man. The alien, however, is something else: alius, other than. But other than what? Obviously man. The alien is the creation of a needman's need to designate something that is genuinely outside himself, something that is truly nonman, that has no initial relation to man except for the fact that it has no relation. Why man needs the alien is the subject of these essays. For it is through learning to relate to the alien that man has learned to study himself. According to Pope, however, man who thinks beyond mankind is foolishly proud. Indeed, many aliens, in SF at least, seem created merely to prove Pope's dictum. For they are monitory aliens, placed out there in order to draw us back to ourselves, to show us that "the proper study of Mankind is Man." But this is merely showing us a mirror. And many so-called alien contact stories are no more than that: mirrors. There are two main types of this contact story: the story in which they contact us, and the story in which we contact them. Both can be neatly reflexive. The aliens who come to us are, as a rule, unfriendly invaders. And they generally prove, despite claims to superiority, in the long run to be inferior to man. This is the War of the Worlds scenario, where the invasion and ensuing collapse of the Martians serves as a warning to man not to emphasize (in his pride)
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