THE SILVER SEER: GENDER, SEX, AND THE DIVINE FEMININE IN URSULA K. LE GUIN’S THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS
| dc.contributor.advisor | Hynes, Peter | |
| dc.contributor.committeeMember | Klaassen, Frank | |
| dc.creator | Stadnyk, Tara 1987- | |
| dc.creator.orcid | 0000-0002-3577-1177 | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-20T19:56:50Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2018-09-20T19:56:50Z | |
| dc.date.created | 2017-09 | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018-09-20 | |
| dc.date.submitted | September 2017 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2018-09-20T19:56:50Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | This Project Thesis considers Ursula K. Le Guin’s application of feminist difference theory in her most celebrated science fiction novel, The Left Hand of Darkness. Le Guin’s work is consistent with much of the art and literature produced in the 1960s and 70s insofar that it explores themes of androgyny, but in this thesis I argue that the Karhiders of Winter cannot be defined as genderless, as many scholars have recommended. My iconoclastic reading arises from a close analysis of the Foreteller ritual, where Faxe the Weaver transforms into a female silver seer during the collective’s peak state of consciousness. This complex and mystifying scene seems to suggest superior spiritual power located in women’s bodies, a view that is inconsistent with androgyny. To convey the significance of this passage in Le Guin’s work and what it means for feminist criticism, I will be acknowledging the long historical tradition of female mystics, mediums, priestesses, and spiritual leaders in the western world, and how these women have revolutionized our cultural landscape through their femininity. I will address the ways in which Le Guin appears to draw from this tradition, creating a character with the status of leader—or Weaver—and a numinous atmosphere that harkens back to sacred rites of the past. The Foreteller sequence is one of the most important scenes on sex and gender in the novel, and it demands a gendered reading that elevates woman to the most sacred position in Karhider society: the silver seer. | |
| dc.format.mimetype | application/pdf | |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10388/10770 | |
| dc.subject | gender | |
| dc.subject | sexuality | |
| dc.subject | feminism | |
| dc.subject | ritual | |
| dc.subject | religion | |
| dc.subject | mystic | |
| dc.subject | saint | |
| dc.subject | sacred | |
| dc.subject | ursula k. le guin | |
| dc.subject | science fiction | |
| dc.title | THE SILVER SEER: GENDER, SEX, AND THE DIVINE FEMININE IN URSULA K. LE GUIN’S THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dc.type.material | text | |
| thesis.degree.department | English | |
| thesis.degree.discipline | English | |
| thesis.degree.grantor | University of Saskatchewan | |
| thesis.degree.level | Masters | |
| thesis.degree.name | Master of Arts (M.A.) |