Lifeshaping a New Planet

“生命形塑”一個新星球

Christa Grewe-Volpp

《Tamkang Review》 39卷2期 (2009/06) Pp. 27-38

https://doi.org/10.6184/TKR.200906_39(2).0002

摘要

在她的小說《子孫星球》裡，微生物學家及科幻小說作家瓊恩史朗修絲基(Joan Slonczewski)分析了星際之間生態共存的危險與可能性。由於自然資源的濫用、人口過多、污染及疾病，人類環境變得越來越無法居住。一個新的星球，普羅卡揚，漂亮卻有毒，或許可以作爲人類新的居住地，但是卻必須要先「生命形塑」，也就是說它的生態系統需要被毀滅。要不要讓普羅卡揚保持不變的決定關鍵在於智能的發現，那也暗示著不同物種之間的溝通。這本小說引出了重要的生態批評問題，在一個人類不是唯一有智能的生物的世界裡，生命中心平等的深層生態概念引發的的後果。人類須要借助科學研究，與迥然有異於人類的外星人，一些已經入侵人體的外星人，建立接觸。史朗修絲基支持女性主義科學研究的方法，這種方法強調人與自然爲夥伴而非宰制關係的概念，以及科學是「主觀的、關係性的、整體性的、複雜的」這樣的理想。如此一來，與外星的、有智能的入侵者溝通成爲存活的關鍵要求。

關鍵字

生態共存 ； 相互依存 ； 跨物種溝通 ； 後人類 ； 女性主義科幻小說 ； 女性主義科學概念 ； 賽博人

並列摘要

In her novel The Children Star microbiologist and science fiction writer Joan Slonczewski analyzes the dangers and possibilities of interplanetary ecological coexistence. The human environment has become increasingly uninhabitable due to the abuse of natural resources, over-population, pollution and disease. A new planet, Prokaryon, beautiful but poisonous, might serve as the new habitat for human beings, but it would have to be ”lifeshaped” first, which means its ecosystem would have to be destroyed. The decision to keep Prokaryon intact hinges on the discovery of intelligence which implies the ability to communicate across species. The novel raises important ecocritical questions about the consequences of the deep ecological concept of biocentric equality in a world in which humans are not the only intelligent beings. Scientific research is needed to establish contact to aliens radically different from humans, aliens who have already invaded the human body. Slonczewski supports feminist methods of scientific research which stress a conception of human relationship to nature as partnership not domination and the ideal of science as ”subjective, relational, holistic, and complex” (Donawerth 2). Communication with the alien, intelligent invaders thus becomes a crucial requirement for survival.

並列關鍵字

ecological coexistence ； interdependence ； cross-species communication ； the posthuman ； feminist science fiction ； feminist conceptions of science ； cyborgs

參考文獻

Donawerth, Jane.(1997).Frankenstein's Daughters: Women Writing Science Fiction.Syracuse, NY:Syracuse UP.

Haraway, Donna.,Linda J. Nicholson.(Ed.)(1990).Feminism/Postmodernism.N.Y.:Routledge.

Haraway, Donna.(1991).Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature.N.Y.:Routledge.

Hayles, N. Katherine.(1999).How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics.Chicago:U of Chicago P.

Margulis, Lynn.(1998).Symbiotic Planet: A New Look at Evolution.N.Y.:Basic Books.