Scraps of the Untainted Sky: Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia

407 Pages·2000·34.93 MB·English

by  Thomas Moylan

Scraps of the Untainted Sky
Cultural Studies Series
Pauf Smith, Series Editor
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Laure-enceG rossberg, ancl Ellcn Wartella
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Forthcoming
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Scraps o
Science Fiction, Utopia, Dystopia
crnber of the Perseus Baoks Group
AI1 rights reserved, Printed in the United States of h~ericaN, o part of this publication may be repro-
duced or transmitted in any forrn or by any means, ejectronic or mechdniwl, including phorocopy,
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Copyright Q 2000 by Wet;tview Press, A Mernber of the Perseus Boi~ksG roup
Published in 2000 in the United States of America by Westview Ress, 5500 Central Avenue, Boulder,
Colorado 80304-2877, and in the United Kingdom by Westview Press, 12 Hid5 Copse Road, Curtllzor
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Visit us 012 the iYt~rld% Tktei Ycb at w\~\~.i~~ctstviewpress,com
Library of Congess Catatoging-in-Publicatio11 Data
Moylan, %m, 1943-
Scraps af the untai~lteds ky: science fictio~zu, topia, dysropialThomas iMoylnn.
p. cm..--- (Cultural studies series)
Includes bibliographical references and index,
ISBN 0-8133-9758-5
1, Science fiction-History and criticism, 2. Dysropias in literdrure. 3, Utopias in literdrure. I.
Tide. 11. Cultural studies.
The payer used in this publcation meets the recluirements of the American National Standard for Per-
rxlanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials 239.48-1984.
As he spoke, the whole city was broken like a honeycomb. An air-
ship had sailed in through the vomitory into a ruined wharf: It
crashed downwards, exploding as it went, rending gallery afier
gallery with its wings of steel. For a moment they saw the na-
tions of the dead, and, before they joined them, scraps of the un-
tainted sky.
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Cont ents
PART ONE SCIENCE JFlCTION AND UTOPIA
1. Dangerous Visions
2 Absent Paradigms
3 flaring to t>weam
PART TWO: IDVSTOPIA
4 New Maps of Hell
5 The Dystoyian Turn
6 The Critical. t>ystopia
PART THREE: DYSTOPIAN MANEWERS
7 Kirn Stanfey Robinst-,nk Other Califc):,rnia
8 Octavia Butler's Parables
9 Marge Piercy's Tale of Hope
l0 Horizons
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Excerpts from the foltoMring copyrighted material appear by permissiczn. Any ad-
ditional arrangements or oversights will be corrected in subsequent editions.
"Against the Great Defeat of the Wc~rld'%y John Berger; reprinted by permission
of the Xllstitute of Race Relations,
The Concept of Utopia by Ruth Levitas; copyright @ 11990 by Ruth Levitas;
reprinted by permission of the author.
"The Ccrncept of Utopia in the Work of Fredric Jameson" by Peter Fitting;
reprinted by permission of UtopZarz Studies.
"Dreamwood" the lines from ""Dreamwood," from Time? Power: Poems
1985-1988 by Adrienne Rich. Used by permission of the author and W Nczrton
8F Company, Inc.
The Gold Coast. by Kim S~ilnleyR obinson; excerpts, copyright @ l988 by Kim
Stanley Robinson; reprinted by permission ofil~ea uthor, Orb Books, and Harper-
Collins.
He3 She and It (published in Engiand as Body ofG2ass) by Marge Piercy; copy-
right @ 11991 by Middlemarsh, Inc.; reprinted by permission of Alfred A, Knopf, a
Division of Random Hr-tuse Inc. and The Wallace Literary Agency.
""The Heat Death of the Universe" by byamela Zo-fine;r eprinted by permission of
McPlberson and Cczmpany on behalf of kmefa Ztzline,
"Horizons, Figures, and Machines: The t>iaXectic of- Utopia in the Vhrk of
Frederic fameson" by bl~illiyE . Wegner; reprinted by permission of- Utopian
Studies.
"Hczusttzn, f-forzsttzn, Do You Read?" by Jjarnes Tiptree, Jr.; permission being
arranged with Randczm House and other possible hrrlders of the copyright.
"The Machine Stops" by E. M. Forster; excerpts from The Eternal Monzerzt and
other S~riebsy E, M, Fczrstex; copyright O 1928 by Warcourt, Inc. and renewed
1956 by E. M. Forster, reprinted by permission of the publisher and The Society of
Authors,