Colonial/Imperial Discourses in a First-Contact Narrative: Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made of Meat” (1991)
Colonial/Imperial Discourses in a First-Contact Narrative: Terry Bisson’s “They’re Made of Meat” (1991)

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the intersection of colonial/imperial discourse inherent in the genre of science fiction using the example of a first-contact narrative – Terry Bisson’s short story, “They’re Made of Meat” (1991). As a first-contact narrative, the story is analysed in the context of Mary Louise Pratt’s (1992) theory on transculturation: contact zone, anti-conquest narrative and autoethnography. First, the paper considers the historical development of the first-contact trope, then the narrative is interpreted as establishing and reproducing several functions of colonialism/imperialism. The distinctively colonial character of the hegemonic discourse informs the dynamics of the contact. However, what sets Bisson’s story apart is not only the subversive nature of the narration, but its seemingly philosophical implications presented in the figure of an alien. The ethnographic framework of the contact zone emulates cognitive appropriation as a function of colonial/imperial discourse; simultaneously, it legitimises the dominant culture while being permeated by discourses such as primitivism and racism. Yet, the narration itself functions as a projection that does not offer space for the marginalised other to actively construct their own identities.

• Details
• Contents