Speculating Canada on Trent Radio Episode 5: Disability in Canadian SF
How many spaceships are wheelchair accessible? Do office buildings create light shielding for the undead who might be singed by solar exposure? Can my guide dog be a werewolf? Does one need to simply WALK into Mordor… or can one wheel in instead? SF has an interest in the body, whether it is the augmented body of sci fi, the body horror of the gothic, or the magically altered body of fantasy, and it is worth looking at the way disabilities are portrayed in Canadian SF.
Speculative fiction often explores the figure of the outsider, particularly the body that differs from the norm, and people with disabilities are often the subject of interest by SF authors. SF readings of the disabled body often speak to the way that disabled people are ‘read’ in our world and our time. This episode examines the interest in bodily difference and in treatments of the disabled body that can be either empowering or intensely problematic.
Among the positive portrayals of disability in Canadian SF that are discussed, we take a look at
Tanya Huff’s Blood Books
James Alan Gardner’s Expendable
Leah Bobet’s Above
Alison Sinclair’s Darkborn Trilogy
and
Sparkle Hayter’s Naked Brunch
Click on the icon below to hear the full radio programme.
This audio file was originally broadcast on Trent Radio, and I would like to thank Trent Radio for their continued support.
Make sure to allow a few minutes for the file to buffer since it may take a moment before it begins to play.
