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LGBT themes in speculative fiction refer to the incorporation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) themes into science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction and related genres. Such elements may include an LGBT character as the protagonist or a major character, or explorations of sexuality or gender that deviate from the hetero-normative. Science fiction and fantasy have traditionally been puritanical genres aimed at a male readership, and can be more restricted than non-genre literature by their conventions of characterisation and the effect that these conventions have on depictions of sexuality and gender. However, speculative fiction also gives authors and readers the freedom to imagine societies that are different from real-life cultures. This freedom makes speculative fiction a useful means of examining sexual bias, by forcing the reader to reconsider his or her heteronormative cultural assumptions. It has also been claimed by critics such as Nicola Griffith that LGBT readers identify strongly with the mutants, aliens, and other outsider characters found in speculative fiction. Before the 1960s, explicit sexuality of any kind was rare in speculative fiction, as the editors who controlled what was published attempted to protect their perceived key market of adolescent male readers. As the readership broadened, it became possible to include characters who were undisguised homosexuals, though these tended to be villains, and lesbians remained almost entirely unrepresented. In the 1960s, science fiction and fantasy began to reflect the changes prompted by the civil rights movement and the emergence of a counterculture. New wave and feminist science fiction authors realised cultures in which homosexuality, bisexuality and a variety of gender models were the norm, and in which sympathetic depictions of alternative sexuality were commonplace. From the 1980s onwards, homosexuality gained much wider mainstream acceptance, and was often incorporated into otherwise conventional speculative fiction stories. Works emerged that went beyond simple representation of homosexuality to explorations of specific issues relevant to the LGBT community. This development was helped by the growing number of openly gay or lesbian authors and their early acceptance by speculative fiction fandom. Specialist gay publishing presses and a number of awards recognising LGBT achievements in the genre emerged, and by the twenty-first century blatant homophobia was no longer considered acceptable by most readers of speculative fiction. There was a concurrent increase in representation of homosexuality within non-literary forms of speculative fiction. The inclusion of LGBT themes in comic books, television and film continues to attract media attention and controversy, while the perceived lack of sufficient representation, along with unrealistic depictions, provokes criticism from LGBT sources. ==Critical analysis== As genres of popular literature, science fiction and fantasy often seem more constrained than non-genre literature by their conventions of characterisation and the effects that these conventions have on depictions of sexuality and gender.〔 Science fiction in particular has traditionally been a puritanical genre oriented toward a male readership.〔Clute & Nicholls, p. 1088 "Sex"〕 Sex is often linked to disgust in SF and horror,〔 and plots based on sexual relationships have mainly been avoided in genre fantasy narratives.〔Clute & Grant, "Sex" p. 354〕 On the other hand, science fiction and fantasy can also provide more freedom than realistic literature to imagine alternatives to the default assumptions of heterosexuality and masculinity that permeate many cultures.〔 Homosexuality is now an accepted and common feature of science fiction and fantasy literature, its prevalence due to the influence of lesbian-feminist and gay liberation movements.〔Garber & Paleo, p. x "Preface"〕 In speculative fiction, extrapolation allows writers to focus not on the way things are (or were), as non-genre literature does, but on the way things could be different. It provides science fiction with a quality that science fiction critic Darko Suvin has called "cognitive estrangement": the recognition that what we are reading is not the world as we know it, but a world whose differences force us to reconsider our own with an outsider's perspective.〔Darko Suvin, ''Metamorphoses of Science Fiction'', Yale University Press 1979, ISBN 978-0-300-02375-6〕 When the extrapolation involves sexuality or gender, it can force the reader to reconsider his or her heteronormative cultural assumptions; the freedom to imagine societies different from real-life cultures makes SF an effective tool for examining sexual bias.〔 In science fiction, such estranging features include technologies that significantly alter sex or reproduction. In fantasy, such features include figures such as mythological deities and heroic archetypes, who are not limited by preconceptions of human sexuality and gender, allowing them to be reinterpreted.〔Marchesani, pp.1–6〕 SF has also depicted a plethora of alien methods of reproduction and sex,〔 some of which can be viewed as homo- or bisexual through a human binary-gender lens. In spite of the freedom offered by the genres, gay characters often remain contrived and stereotypical,〔Garber & Lyn Paleo, p. xix "Introduction" by Samuel R. Delany〕〔Garber & Lyn Paleo, p. xi "Preface"〕 and most SF stories take for granted the continuation of heteronormative institutions.〔Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Eds.,''The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction'', "Science Fiction and Queer Theory", Wendy Pearson, p. 153. ISBN 0-521-01657-6〕 Alternative sexualities have usually been approached allegorically, or by including LGBT characters in such a way as to not contradict mainstream society's assumptions about gender roles.〔Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn Eds.,''The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction'', "Science Fiction and Queer Theory", Wendy Pearson, p. 150. ISBN 0-521-01657-6〕 Works that feature gay characters are more likely to be written by women writers, and to be viewed as being aimed at other women or girls; big-name male writers are less prone to explore gay themes.〔Bacon-Smith, p.137〕 Speculative fiction has traditionally been "straight";〔Stephanie A. Smith, ("A Most Ambiguous Citizen: Samuel R. "Chip" Delany" ), ''American Literary History'', Oxford Journals. Retrieved on October 20, 2008〕 Samuel R. Delany has written that the science fiction community is predominantly made up of white male heterosexuals, but that the proportion of minorities, including gay people, is generally higher than found in a "literary" group.〔Samuel R. Delany, ''Shorter Views'', p.268〕 The inclusion of homosexuality in SF has been described in ''Science Fiction Culture'' as "sometimes lagging behind the general population, sometimes surging ahead".〔Bacon-Smith, p.135〕 Nicola Griffith has written that LGBT readers tend to identify strongly with the outsider status of mutants, aliens, and characters who lead hidden or double lives in science fiction.〔Nicola Griffith, Stephen Pagel ''Bending the Landscape. Original Gay and Lesbian Writing: Science Fiction'', Overlook Press: 1998 ISBN 978-0-87951-856-1〕 In comparison, Geoff Ryman has claimed that the gay and SF genre markets are incompatible, with his books being marketed as one or the other, but never both,〔 and David Seed said that SF purists have denied that SF that focuses on soft science fiction themes and marginalised groups (including "gay SF") is "real" science fiction.〔David Seed Ed., ''A Companion to Science Fiction'', "Science Fiction and Postmodernism" p. 245, ISBN 1-4051-1218-2〕 Gay and lesbian science fiction have at times been grouped as distinct subgenres of SF,〔Brian Stableford, ''Science Fact and Science Fiction: An Encyclopedia'', "Sex", p. 479, ISBN 978-0-415-97460-8〕 and have some tradition of separate publishers and awards. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「LGBT themes in speculative fiction」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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