THE JOY OF QUEER SCIENCE FICTION READING, OR: WILL QUEERS DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION?
THE JOY OF QUEER SCIENCE FICTION READING, OR: WILL QUEERS DESTROY SCIENCE FICTION?

Summary/Abstract: The paper seeks to examine the connections between “queer reading” and “science fic- tion reading” from the perspective of readers’ recollections of their juvenile experiences of “looking for clues” in queer sf narratives. Using Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s concept of reparative reading, I discuss the idea of queer adolescent reading as a possibly transformative experience that of- fers exciting theoretical opportunities for academic scholarship on the fantastic. By turning atten- tion to selected testaments of adolescent queer readerly experiences, written by both writers and fans, I hope to demonstrate both the personal (individual) and collective nature of queer self-recog- nition through these intense and affective engagements with sf texts. A closer examination of a col- lection of short essays in which authors reflect on the provocative idea of “queers destroying sf,” also based on individual recollections of engaging with sf as young readers, expands the discussion to incorporate fan activity and the question of queer canon-forming.

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