In this major study of the work of Joanna Russ, Jeanne Cortiel gives a clear introduction to the major feminist issues relevant to Russ’s work and assesses its development. The book will be especially valuable for students of SF and feminist SF, especially in its concern with the function of woman-based intertextuality. Although Cortiel deals principally with Russ’s novels, she also examines her short stories, and the focus on critically neglected texts is a particularly valuable feature of the study. "I recommend this book to any reader interested in Russ’s fiction, or in women’s science fiction generally."—Science Fiction Studies
Author(s): Jeanne Cortiel
Year: 1999
Language: English
Pages: 272
Title Page......Page 4
Table of Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 7
Introduction......Page 10
Part One: Agency......Page 22
Introduction to Part One......Page 24
1: The Act of Telling: Who is the Subject of Narrative Action?......Page 26
2: Acts of Violence: Representations of Androcide......Page 55
3: The Revolutionary Act: A Dialectic of Sex/Gender in The Female Man......Page 85
Part Two: Sexuality......Page 102
Introduction to Part Two......Page 104
4: Author-izing the Female: Women Loving Women Loving Women......Page 108
5: Patterns of Innocence: The Rescue of the Female Child......Page 139
6: Lesbian Existence: Impossible Dreams of Exteriority......Page 164
Part Three: Indeterminacy......Page 176
Introduction to Part Three......Page 178
7: Patterns of Experience: Sappho and the Erotics of the Generation Gap......Page 183
8: The Great, Grand Palimpsest of Me: Fragmented Locations and Identities......Page 206
9: Vampires, Cyborgs and Disguises: Politics of the Theatrical......Page 219
Notes......Page 239
Primary Bibliography......Page 244
Secondary Bibliography......Page 254
Index of Names......Page 260
Index of Novels and Short Stories by Joanna Russ......Page 262
