Intersectionality in Speculative Fiction: May 2021
Intersectionality in speculative fiction: N. K. Jemisin’s The Fifth Season
Tuesdays, May 4, 11, 18 at 7-8:30 pm | All sessions will be via Zoom | Facilitated by UCE member Emily Eckwahl-Sanna
“So here is why I write what I do: We all have futures. We all have pasts. We all have stories. And we all, every single one of us, no matter who we are and no matter what’s been taken from us or what poison we’ve internalized or how hard we’ve had to work to expel it—we all get to dream.” —N. K. Jemisin
Imagine a world where apocalypses are commonplace. Where frequent seismic activity—whether volcanoes, earthquakes, or other environmental disasters—result in extended winters and the widespread loss of human life. In this world, where nature is seen as a force to be feared rather than revered and where human survival is always tenuous at best, society and law are ordered around strict caste systems, and orogenes—people with the magical power to affect and control the earth—are feared and subdued.
This is the world of N. K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy—the only science fiction trilogy to win the Hugo Award in consecutive years for all three novels and the first time a Black writer has won a Hugo for a novel. Written while Jemisin was attending a NASA-funded workshop on science and media, the first book in the trilogy, The Fifth Season, tells the story of three orogene women of different castes, ages, and time periods who are seeking to survive in the midst of apocalypse.
In this three-week series, we will discuss how Kimberlé Crenshaw’s definition of intersectionality—or how race, class, gender, sexuality, and other identities interconnect and overlap—shows up in the The Fifth Season. Other topics to address include the role of science in interpreting science fiction and the role of speculative fiction in creating the Beloved Community.
About Emily Eckwahl-Sanna
Emily Eckwahl-Sanna is the managing editor of U.S. Catholic, a progressive magazine based in Chicago that focuses on how spirituality affects all parts of life, from social justice work to family to pop culture. She has an M.Div from Yale Divinity School, where she studied sexual ethics and feminist theology. When she’s not working, she’s probably reading, and while her bookshelves are full of everything from Hindu philosophy to Harry Potter to historical romance novels, science fiction and fantasy books remain particular favorites.