Race in American Science Fiction

Race in American Science Fiction AUTHOR: ISIAH LAVENDER III INDIANA UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2011 PRICE: $24.95. ISBN: 13: 9780253222596

Science fiction often talks about race by not talking about race, makes real aliens, has hidden race dialogues. Even though it is literature that talks a lot about underclasses or oppressed classes, it does so from a privileged if somewhat generic white space. If science fiction is about social change, let us talk about how this change comes about from an "other" space, a black space . (p. 8 )

The above quote from this work not only illuminates how the author frames this work, but how race in science fiction often goes ignored through dialogue, character development, and cultural norms of this genre. Throughout this work the focus is to examine science fiction through a black cultural lens in order to offer a varying perspective on the silence of raced narratives in science fiction. The author asserts by neglecting the dialogue surrounding this issue within science fiction that this genre functions as a way to make privilege invisible. However, discussing 'otherness' unpacks this privilege and puts the focus on how black bodies are negotiated within time, space, and science fiction narratives.

In the opening chapter, Introduction: Mapping the Background the author outlines the focus of this work. Isiah Lavender dismantles the privilege prevalent in this genre regarding the dismissal of race in the text, subtext, content, and style of science fiction. He suggests that in order for a true discussion of race to occur within science fiction that the invisible must become visible. In chapter two, Lavendar frames the discussion of...