Introduction: Always Australian, Often Female, and Sometimes Queer: Gender and Sexuality in Australian Speculative Fiction

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the introduction:

Australian Speculative Fiction thus far remains an underappreciated and therefore notoriously undertheorised field of cultural output. Yet its very diversity and range means that it holds great productive potential for literary scholars from a number of different theoretical orientations. Postcolonial, ecocritical, inter- and transcultural approaches to Australian Speculative Fiction offer conducive avenues for critical exploration. Scholars concerned with migration, diaspora, Asian Anglophone literature, and Indigenous Australian writing will find ample material to analyse within the broad field of Australian Speculative Fiction, consisting of such genres as fantasy, science fiction, gothic, horror, magic realism, dystopian writing and many others. Often overlooked, these genres might offer unique insights into the dynamics, constructions and representations of often marginalised gender and sexual identities—perhaps all the more so, because these genres are, by definition, open to experimentation and subversion, and lend themselves to challenging heteronormative structures. It is because of Australian Speculative Fiction’s aptness for tackling these complex issues that we chose to focus on gender and queer identities within that field for this special issue of gender forum, especially since Australian Speculative Fiction seems to be particularly interested in exploring queerness, femininity, and other gender- and sexuality-related concepts.