Sara Martín

Masculinity in Contemporary Science Fiction by Men: No Plans for the Future is the first comprehensive study of the self-representation of men in SF novels published in the twenty-first century by male authors. Exploring a broad selection of writers and works, the fourteen chapters present a panoramic overview of men’s contributions to current SF and explore their slow but noticeable progress in the representation of gender. The impact of feminism and gender studies, and the demands of readers, have profoundly transformed men’s SF, which now presents far more caring and vulnerable male characters. The old stereotypes are being replaced by a collective reflection on how men and masculinity are changing, though the lack of a common agenda results in novels that, while exciting and often challenging, sometimes miss the chance to imagine a better, anti-patriarchal, pro-feminist future for men and for all human beings. The authors analysed include Robert Charles Wilson, Geoff Ryman, Samuel R. Delany, Richard K. Morgan, John Scalzi, Iain M. Banks, Ernest Cline, James S.A. Corey, Colson Whitehead, Andy Weir, Daniel H. Wilson, Ian McDonald, Yoon Ha Lee, Tade Thompson, Neal Stephenson and Kim Stanley Robinson.

No Plans for the Future

Masculinity in Contemporary Science Fiction by Men

M. Isabel Santaulària

This edited volume rethinks Masculinity Studies by breaking away from the notion of the perpetual crisis of masculinity. It argues that not enough has been done to distinguish patriarchy from masculinity and proposes to detox masculinity by offering a collection of positive representations of men in fictional and non-fictional texts. The editors show how ideas of hegemonic and toxic masculinity have been too fixed on the exploration of dominance and subservience, and too little on the men (and the male characters in fiction) who behave following other ethical, personal and socially accepted patterns. Bringing together research from different periods and genres, this collection provides broad, multidisciplinary insights into alternative representations of masculinity.

In Search of Good Men

Detoxing Masculinity in Anglophone Literature and Culture

Manuel de Pedrolo

The first English translation of a Catalan science fiction masterpiece

Typescript of the Second Origin

David Owen

David James

Paul March-Russell

Sonia Villegas-López

Bianca Leggett

Miriam Borham-Puyal

Laura Monrós-Gaspar

In the year 2000, two young editors, Nicholas Blincoe and Matt Thorne, published All Hail the New Puritans, an anthology of short stories which created an impact in the somewhat faded literary scene of Britain at the turn of the millennium. The stories themselves, written by 15 young English writers (Scarlett Thomas, Alex Garland, Ben Richards, Nicholas Blincoe, Candida Clark, Daren King, Geoff Dyer, Matt Thorne, Anna Davis, Bo Fowler, Matthew Branton, Simon Lewis, Tony White, Toby Litt and Rebbecca Ray), together with the editors' manifesto, offered a new and stimulating approach to fiction, although the whole project had an outrageous reception by the literary establishment. For the first time, a collection of essays addresses the importance of the New Puritan movement and provides guidelines to understand this generation of writers.

The New Puritan Generation

How are men represented on the printed page, the stage and the screen? What do these representations say about masculinity in the past, the present, and the future? The twelve essays in this volume explore the different ways in which men and masculinity have been represented, from the plays of William Shakespeare to the science fiction of Richard K. Morgan, passing through classic fiction by Emily Brontë and Charles Dickens, and popular favourites by Terry Pratchett and Isaac Asimov, without forgetting the Star Wars saga. Collectively, these essays argue that, although much has been written about men, it has been done from a perspective that does not see masculinity as a specific feature in need of critical appraisal. Men need to be made aware of how they are represented in order to alter the toxic patriarchal models handed down to them and even break the extant binary gender models. For that, it is important that men distinguish patriarchy from masculinity, as is done here, and form anti-patriarchal alliances with each other and with women. This book is, then, an invitation to men’s liberation from patriarchy by raising an awareness of its crippling constraints.

Sara Martín

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