Here There Be Trees: Radical Otherness in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”
Here There Be Trees: Radical Otherness in Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow”
Author(s): Vera BenczikSubject(s): Studies of Literature, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, American Literature, Sociology of Literature
Published by: Debreceni Egyetem
Keywords: radical alterity; vegetal otherness; ecological sublime; neurodivergence; anthropocentrism;
Summary/Abstract: Ursula K. Le Guin’s science fiction tends to remain within an anthropocentric and anthropomorphic universe, exploring the possibility of communication between familiar and Other across a cultural divide, but within the boundaries of a humanoid physiology. This study investigates how Le Guin’s Hainish narratives explore the sublime encounter with the radical, vegetal Other in the short story “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow,” touching upon the topics of communication and transgression, mutual intelligibility, neurodiversity, and empathy. (VB)
Journal: Hungarian Journal of English and American Studies
- Issue Year: 31/2025
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 84-100
- Page Count: 17
- Language: English
