Steinberg, Deborah Lynn. (2008) Reading sleep through science fiction : the parable of beggars and choosers. Body & Society, Vol.14 (No.4, Sp. Iss.). pp. 115-135. ISSN 1357-034X

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

This article examines the iconic 'Beggars' trilogy by feminist science fiction writer, Nancy Kress. These novels, produced in the early to mid-1990s, take as their 'thought experiment' two points of rupture and contemporary cultural contestation: the advent of human genetic engineering and sleep, or, more specifically, the prospect of a sleepless society. I shall begin by situating my analysis of the Kress trilogy in this nexus of fields. I shall consider the interest of Kress's works for the sociology of sleep as well as for a cultural analysis of science. In this context, and drawing in part on the work of Haran, I will suggest the particular value of science fiction as not only a site for, but also a source of, narrativized social theory. I shall introduce the notion of popular episteme as an analytic concept that aims to link the discursive to the social - that is, to theorize the relationship of textuality to materiality. I shall refer also to the psychoanalytic concept of 'phantasy' as a point of convergence for both structures of feeling and structures of knowledge. I shall then introduce the Kress works, focusing particularly on the first novel Beggars in Spain, locating it in a period in which feminist science fiction saw a marked renaissance, and in which speculative theorizations of genetics formed a distinct subgenre. The analysis will then focus on three core themes emergent in the novels that, I shall argue, have profound contemporaneous resonance. These are the questions of: embodied capital; the political economy of what I will term fast time; and paranoia and the human condition.

[error in script] [error in script]

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HM Sociology P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Feminism in literature -- History and criticism, Science fiction, American -- History and criticism, Kress, Nancy -- Criticism and interpretation, Paranoia in literature, Sleep in literature, Genetic engineering in literature
Journal or Publication Title:	Body & Society
Publisher:	Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	1357-034X
Date:	December 2008
Volume:	Vol.14
Number:	No.4, Sp. Iss.
Number of Pages:	21
Page Range:	pp. 115-135
Identification Number:	10.1177/1357034X08096898
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/28810

Data sourced from Thomson Reuters' Web of Knowledge

Request changes to a record

Actions (login required)

View Item