“During the spiral dance, each participant at a given moment is facing each other, and meets her gaze. It seems that here the cyborg and the Goddess have indeed exchanged a look, that a connection has taken place, the manifestation of which is, and can only be, a certain joy.” *
There may have been joyful connections between Goddesses and cyborgs before Donna Haraway wrote her Cyborg manifesto. Notably in the pages of The Witch and the Chameleon, the first feminist science-fiction fanzine created in 1974 by Amanda Bankier, which will be followed by many others, starting with Janus and Aurora. To dive into these archives is to be moved to see the work of people who shared our dreams and aspirations some fifty years ago!
On my side, I was overjoyed to meet Ξͺan Larue, who wrote LibΓ¨re-toi cyborg ! my bedtime book since I read it a year ago. We did an interview that will be at the heart of this new cycle of publications on Expo156. We’ll come back to the novels mentioned in the Cyborg manifesto, but not only. We will also talk about dinosaur goddesses, all flower, hopeβ¦
It will also be about hope in the new visual selection on Instagram. Composed with the contribution of Ξͺan Larue, it will be a stroll along along a polychrome earth, strewn with regenerating organisms. This stroll will continue by going to meet some great initiatives related to queer and feminist SF!
(Version franΓ§aise)
“Lors de la danse spirale, chaque participant/e Γ un moment donnΓ© fait face Γ chaque autre, et croise son regard. Il semble quβici la cyborg et la DΓ©esse aient en effet Γ©changΓ© un regard, quβune connexion ait eu lieu, dont la manifestation est, et ne peut Γͺtre que, une certaine joie.” *
Des rencontres joyeuses entre DΓ©esses et cyborgs il y en a peut-Γͺtre eu avant lβΓ©criture du Manifeste cyborg de Donna Haraway. Notamment dans les pages de The Witch and the Chameleon, premier fanzine de science-fiction fΓ©ministe crΓ©e en 1974 par Amanda Bankier, qui sera suivi de bien dβautres, Γ commencer par Janus et Aurora. Plonger dans ces archives, cβest Γͺtre Γ©mue de voir des travaux de personnes qui partageaient nos rΓͺves et nos aspirations il y a dΓ©jΓ une cinquantaine dβannΓ©es !
De mon cΓ΄tΓ©, jβai Γ©tΓ© infiniment heureuse de rencontrer Ξͺan Larue, qui a Γ©crit LibΓ¨re-toi Cyborg !, mon livre de chevet depuis que je lβai lu il y a un an. Nous avons rΓ©alisΓ© une interview qui sera au cΕur de ce nouveau cycle de publications sur Expo156. Nous reviendrons sur les romans citΓ©s dans le Manifeste cyborg, mais pas seulement. On parlera aussi de DΓ©esses dinosaures, de murailles de fleurs, dβespoirβ¦
Et dβespoir il en sera aussi question dans la nouvelle sΓ©lection visuelle sur Instagram. ComposΓ©e avec la contribution de Ξͺan Larue, elle prendra la forme dβune balade le long dβune terre polychrome, jonchΓ©e dβorganismes en rΓ©gΓ©nΓ©rations. Cette balade se poursuivra en allant Γ la rencontre de quelques chouettes initiatives relatives Γ la SF queer et fΓ©ministe !
Charline Kirch
*Isabelle Stengers in “Crafting hope at the edge of the abyss” // *Isabelle Stengers dans “Fabriquer de l’espoir au bord du gouffre”
Feature image credits // CrΓ©dits image de couverture : Lee Bul, “Cravings”, 1989. Performance, Jang Heung, Korea.
I would like to thank Ξͺan for her help, her availability, and all that she taught me. Also this work would not have been possible without Γlise Deubel and Garance Henry, so it is dedicated to them! // Je remercie Ξͺan pour son aide, sa disponibilitΓ© et tout ce quβelle mβa appris. Aussi ce travail nβaurait pas vu le jour sans Γlise Deubel et Garance Henry, il leur est dΓ©diΓ© !
β¨