Mieville Thread!

[LD]

Yes he did co-author a Pathfinder Supplement; he created a River Kingdom's nation-- I think he created the country of Outsea.

[O Senhor Leetz]

I plan on getting my hands on Mieville as soon as I get state-side. That and the most recent ASOIAF.

[LD]

http://www.amazon.com/Railsea-China-Mieville/dp/0345524527/

Mieville's next book. Due soon.
May 2012

On board the moletrain Medes, Sham Yes ap Soorap watches in awe as he witnesses his first moldywarpe hunt: the giant mole bursting from the earth, the harpoonists targeting their prey, the battle resulting in one's death and the other's glory. But no matter how spectacular it is, Sham can't shake the sense that there is more to life than traveling the endless rails of the railsea—even if his captain can think only of the hunt for the ivory-colored mole she's been chasing since it took her arm all those years ago. When they come across a wrecked train, at first it's a welcome distraction. But what Sham finds in the derelict—a kind of treasure map indicating a mythical place untouched by iron rails—leads to considerably more than he'd bargained for. Soon he's hunted on all sides, by pirates, trainsfolk, monsters, and salvage-scrabblers. And it might not be just Sham's life that's about to change. It could be the whole of the railsea.

Here is a novel for readers of all ages, a gripping and brilliantly imagined take on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick that confirms China Miéville's status as "the most original and talented voice to appear in several years" (Science Fiction Chronicle).

[LD]

And for those who have academic access, wikipedia now has a catalogue of academic references to Bas-Lag

Birns, Nicholas (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "From Cacotopias to Railroads: Rebellion and the Shaping of the Normal in the Bas-Lag Universe". Extrapolation 50 (2): 200–211.
Burling, William J. (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "Periodizing the Postmodern: China Mieville's Perdido Street Station and the Dynamics of Radical Fantasy". Extrapolation 50 (2): 326–345.
Christakos, N.G. (2004). "China Miéville's The Scar: Pulp Weird Fiction Revisited (Part One: The Books)". Studies in Modern Horror 1 (2): 15–17.
Christakos, N.G. (2004). "China Miéville's The Scar: Pulp Weird Fiction Revisited (Part Two: The Others)". Studies in Modern Horror 1 (3): 3–6.
Cooper, Rich Paul (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "Building Worlds: Dialectical Materialism as Method in China Miéville's Bas-Lag". Extrapolation 50 (2): 212–223.
Dillon, Grace L. (2007). "Scarification and Survivance in China Mieville's The Scar". Foundation 36 (101): 13–25.
Freedman, C. (2005). "To the Perdido Street Station: The Representation of Revolution in China Mieville's Iron Council". Extrapolation 46 (2): 235–248.
Gordon, Joan (2003). "Hybridity, Heterotopia, and Mateship in China Miéville's Perdido Street Station". Science Fiction Studies 30 (3): 456–476.
Hendrick, Christopher (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "Monster Realism and Uneven Development in China Mieville's The Scar". Extrapolation 50 (2): 258–275.
Palmer, Christopher (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "Saving the City in China Mieville's Bas-Lag novels". Extrapolation 50 (2): 224–238.
Rankin, Sandy (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "AGASH AGASP AGAPE: The Weaver as Immanent Utopian Impulse in China Mieville's Perdido Street Station and Iron Council". Extrapolation 50 (2): 239–258.
Vint, Sherryl (2009). Vint, Sherryl. ed. "Possible Fictions: Blochian Hope in The Scar". Extrapolation 50 (2): 276–292.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bas-Lag#First_Umbric_Age

[LD]

Other recent (new-ish) articles about him:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/may/14/china-mieville-life-writing-genre
http://io9.com/5605836/china-mieville-explains-theology-magic-and-why-jj-abrams-hates-you

He is also writing a comic series: "Dial H" for DC Comics
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36381
Also coming in May.
...Always trying new things(!)

[Steerpike]

Nice links!  I've read most of those articles :).

Had heard about the comic through the grapevine... I will have to check that out.

[Superfluous Crow]

but seriously, what is happening to the RPG??

[Steerpike]

No idea what's up with the RPG.  I heard from Mieville's mouth that it was for sure coming out, but I'm not sure how closely he's actually following the project.

I'm going to shamelessly brag a bit here - I've had an article Iron Council accepted for publication in Science Fictions Studies.  I'm not sure when it will come out - probably not for a few months at least, possibly even a bit longer - but I'm pretty excited about it.  Those with access to JSTOR and the like might be able to view it for free once it  actually appears in print.  It basically performs a feminist/post-structuralist analysis of the Remade in IC, arguing that the identity of "Remade" is far more linguistic, discursive, and social than it is  simply technological/biological.

[Superfluous Crow]

Sounds extremely cool. I'll read it if I ever have the option of doing so! can't you send us the article/post it or do they have some rights to it now that they are publishing it?
I do wonder how you arrive at a feminist angle, though?

[Steerpike]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the article - probably not.

By feminism I'm definitely speaking of the highly theoretical/critical feminism one finds in literary studies.  Specifically I was comparing the way that theorists like Judith Butler conceive of identity not as something stable, natural, or essential but as a sort of citation/repetitive performance that society demands - so, for Butler, masculinity and femininity, for example, or even our conceptions of maleness and femaleness, aren't essential modes of being that arise "naturally" from our bodies, as so many people have traditionally claimed, but social constructions which we are obliged to continuously (and imperfectly) create for ourselves, performative guises which we don not with conscious agency but due to the dictates of social discourse.  If we fail to do so we become "abject" in the eyes of society.  For Butler abjection is the process through which those deemed non-normative are ostracized, stigmatized, and demonized.  My reading of the Remade makes the claim that the state of being "Remade," while on the surface seeming totally (and hideously) physical, is actually a social construction created through language, and that the Remade are precisely those individuals which New Crobuzon abjects.  I point to things like the idea of the fRemade as an example of this structure being overturned or re-written.  The moment in The Scar where Shekel ceases to think of Angevine as Remade despite her half-mechanical body would also qualify.  The analysis goes on to bring in notions of Foucaultian biopower and talks a bit about Donna Haraway's cyborg theory.

[Superfluous Crow]

Seriously, why didn't my literature profs talk more about cyborg theory and Foucaultian biopower?? There is like a whole hidden world of awesome literature studies there.

[LD]

I may be misremembering since I looked into things of this nature a while ago, but regarding your statement that:
"but social constructions which we are obliged to continuously (and imperfectly) create for ourselves, performative guises which we don not with conscious agency but due to the dictates of social discourse. "

That sounds like she would be more defined as a deconstructivist (??)[possibly the post-structuralist that you are referring to] or an existentialist. Now, she would be in the "Critical Studies" area with her focus on class and race/gender distinctions and labels, but calling herself a "feminist" for those particular reasons seems to make the 'feminist' philosopher label a bit too broad-almost to the point where it ruins the essence of the distinction between the different waves of feminist political movements by associating the term with too wide a variety of associatives. That being said, I think that is more of a criticism of her calling defining feminist philosophy that way rather than your utilization of the term since you are merely using her terms to discuss your paper.

Thanks for your summary! And congratulations on the new publication credit.

[Steerpike]

Judith Butler is absolutely a deconstructionist and a post-structuralist.  What makes her a feminist are the objects she deconstructs: gender roles, sexuality, patriarchy, queerness, etc.  She's considered an important thinker for both queer theory and feminist theory.  Basically she takes feminist theory and adds a heavy dash of post-structuralism.  At a certain point the term "feminism" becomes a bit silly - what feminism really leads to and argues for, for most Third Wave feminists, isn't simply equality for women but a radical re-thinking of what constitutes identity - how identities are formed or acquired, how certain identities get marginalized, how identity might be transformed, etcetera.  Gender and sexuality are clearly central to all this, hence the connection to feminism.

[LD]

Any comments about Railsea: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railsea

[LD]

Also, steerpike, you have read more of Mieville's academic writings, so I was wondering as to your input on this. Wikipedia suggested he said this: "Law is structurally indeterminate as applied to particular cases, and so the interpretation which becomes official is always a matter of force; the stronger of the contesting parties in each legal dispute will ultimately obtain the sanction of law. Therefore, he states: "The attempt to replace war and inequality with law is not merely utopian but is precisely self-defeating. A world structured around international law cannot but be one of imperialist violence. The chaotic and bloody world around us is the rule of law." My question is, what then does he suggest to replace law with or to restructure the conflict?

Is he just a deconstructionist in his arguments or does he propose solutions?

I'd agree with his posits about what law is and how it is created and its effect, as his posits are presented in the above statement (e.g. law largely being the arbitrary creation of dominant interests), but I fail to see his conclusions as naturally emanating from those statements. E.g. his statements about law as being non-utopian and self-defeating. I suppose he may be saying it's self-defeating in that it does not inherently advance equality even though people think it is inherently neutral and equal., but I don't have enough information to go on based on the wikipedia statement.