LOH biographical context, historical context, media afterlife Flashcards
where was LeGuin born?
Berkeley
why did LeGuin’s father move to Berkeley?
to create a museum and department of anthropology at uc berkeley
what degree did Theodora Krober (Leguin’s mother) receive at Berkeley?
masters in clinical psychology
what controversy are LeGuin’s parents best known for?
their relationship to a man known as Ishi, who was likely the last surviving member of the Yahi tribe.
Yana tribe
(Yahi is a subgroup of this tribe) they lived in the foothills of Mount Lassen before white people. most were killed by militia. in 1908 a small group was found; only Ishi and his mother were able to survive when this small group was looted
When was Ishi found alive without his mother?
august 1911
what happened to Ishi after he was held in jail?
Alfred Kroeber (Leguin’s father) and Thomas Waterman gained custody of him and made him a janitor at UC san diego. Kroeber saw him as a way to gain insight into the dying California Indian culture
what two biographies did Theodora Kroeber write about Ishi?
Ishi in Two Worlds (1961) and the children’s version, Ishi, the Last of His Tribe (1964)
Why was the Kroeber’s relationship with Ishi considered controversial?
some see it as an appropriation and exploitation of an indigenous man’s voice
In 2021, what did Berkeley do in consolidation with native people?
removed the name Kroeber from Kroeber hall
what architectural artwork was LeGuin raised in?
Semper Virens (always green) by Bernard Maybeck
LeGuin’s childhood vacation home in Napa Valley, Kishamish, inspired which of her books?
Always Coming Home (1985)
what was LeGuins other lifelong retreat (beside Kishamish)?
her family’s cottage in Cannon Beach, Oregon
Leguin’s essay/lecture “Indian Uncles”
inspired by her fathers friends, the Papago Juan Dolores and the Yurok Robert Spott.
generally speaking how was Leguin’s upbringing?
loving and unaware of the darker things in life
J. Robert Oppenheimer (family friend) inspired which of LeGuin’s characters?
the protagonist Shevek in The Dispossessed
what SF author went to LeGuin’s high-school?
Phillip K Dick
what degrees did LeGuin receive?
Masters in Renaissance French and Italian language and literature from Columbia
where did LeGuin meet her husband?
aboard the Queen Marry in 1953
where did LeGuin and Charles Leguin (husband) live for most of their adult life?
Portland, Oregon
what editor praised Leguin’s skill but (like many others) didn’t know how to market her work?
Alfred Knopf
how was Leguin able to publish her work?
she began to send short stories to SF magazines like Amazing stories
what were LeGuin’s earliest novels?
Rocannon’s World (1966), Planet of Exile (1966), and City of Illusions (1967)
A Wizard of Earthsea (1968) by LeGuin
a global bestseller, the first book in LeGuin’s Earthsea series
The Lathe of Heaven (1971)
won the Nebula, Hugo, and Locus award for best novel
The Left Hand of Darkness
one of the first novels to speculate about gender fluidity. influenced by second wave feminism
The dispossessed (1975)
won the Hugo, Nebula, and the Locus award
The Tombs of Atuan
selected as a Newberry Honor Book by the American Library Association
The Farthest Shore
won the National Book Award for Children’s literature
Always Coming Home (1985)
set in future California. Involved collaboration with a geologist, artist, and composer (the original version was published with a cassette). Won the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and was a runner up for the National Book Award.
Lavinia
a retelling of the Aeneid from Lavinia’s point of view. won the Locus award
Steering the Craft (1998) by LeGuin
a handbook on writing
which awards had LeGuin won by the end of her career?
a National Book Award, seven Hugo Awards, six Nebula Awards, the Howard Vursell Award, the PEN/Malamud award, and the National Book Foundation Medal for distinguished contribution to American Letters (2014)
what did the library of congress name Leguin?
a living legend
how many of LeGuin’s books have been finalists for the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize?
three
What two things were The Left Hand of Darkness inspired by according to LeGuin?
the image of two people pulling an ice sledge and the question: what does it mean to be male or female?
which of Leguins works are most influenced by feminism?
Tehanu, The Other Wind, Lavinia, and The Left Hand of Darkness
Authors who, like LeGuin, infiltrated SF when it was white & male dominated
Allie Sheldon (under pseudonyms James Tiptree and Racoona Sheldon), Joanna Russ, Margret Atwood, Marge Piercy, Vonda N. McIntyre, Elizabeth Lynn, Kate Willhelm
The Word for World is Forest (1968)
depicts moral issues of the Vietnam war like the use of chemical weapons (e.g. agent orange). contemplates cold war tensions, past atrocities, and also ongoing human rights violations
ecological concerns like global warming influences which of LeGuin’s works?
The Lathe of Heaven (1971)
What other ecological concern is present in the Lathe of Heaven (besides global warming)?
the reemergence of deadly diseases, like Kwashiorkor - caused by lack of protein
Always Coming Home addresses which ecological concerns?
recycling, sustainability, and ecological resource management
He Who Shapes (1965) by Roger Zelazny
The Lathe of Heaven is sometimes compared to this novella; it features a physician who uses technology to shape and share others’ dreams and help them with psychiatric issues
LOH was originally published in which magazine?
The march and may issues of Amazing Science Fiction
What company published LOH as a standalone novel in 1971?
Charles Scribner’s Sons
The Lathe of Heaven (1979) film version
directed by David Loxton and Fred Barzyk, LeGuin was a consultant. It was PBS’s first made-for-tv movie.
cinematographic tricks in LOH film version
the augmentor gets more and more outrageous as the film goes on. also reflects influence of contemporary video art with dark modernist architecture to convey an uncertain future
LOH film version accolades
the most request program in PBS history, nominated for a Hugo, nominated for a Writer’s guild award, Entertainment Weekly named it one of the top one hundred works of SF
The Lathe of Heaven (2002) film version
directed by Alan Sharpe and Philip Hass. discards philosophical underpinnings, themes of racism, and removes the aliens altogether. Disappointment to SF fans and LeGuin
The Lathe of Heaven (2002) accolades
nominated for a 2003 Saturn Award
