{"id":1069,"date":"2014-08-19T15:44:38","date_gmt":"2014-08-19T14:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/?p=1069"},"modified":"2014-08-19T15:44:38","modified_gmt":"2014-08-19T14:44:38","slug":"blog-hop-accessing-the-future-julyaugust-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/?p=1069","title":{"rendered":"Blog Hop – ‘Accessing the Future’ – July\/August 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kudos to The Future Fire<\/strong> and Kathryn Allan<\/strong> for pursuing a Disability in SF anthology entitled \u2018Accessing the Future\u2019<\/em>. There has been a recently published generic anthology, looking at essays and \u2018realistic\u2019 fiction, entitled \u2018Criptiques\u2019<\/em>: http:\/\/bitchmagazine.org\/post\/criptiques-kickstarter-disability-anthology-caitlin-wood<\/a> This book is available at: http:\/\/criptiques.com\/<\/a> However, there has been limited engagement of the SF genre with \u2018disability\u2019 and so ‘Accessing the Future<\/em><\/strong>‘ is\u00a0a crucial, original and wonderful venture which I urge you to support here: https:\/\/www.indiegogo.com\/projects\/accessing-the-future<\/a><\/p>\n

Blog Hop Questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Tell us about your Work In Progress (WIP) \/ Current Read (CR) and the world it’s set in.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u2018Azanian Bridges<\/em>\u2019 is a book sitting with a publisher awaiting a verdict at the moment. It is set in a contemporary alternative South Africa where Nelson Mandela<\/strong> and other Struggle leaders were never released, i.e. apartheid survives.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Who are the most powerful people in this world?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      White Power, as legislated and entrenched by government, with prescribed\u00a0discourses that suffuse the air to \u2018normalise\u2019 this power, facilitating colonisation.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Where does their power come from?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The \u2018points of divergence\u2019 in history are\u00a0the continuation of the Soviet Union and the survival of the Berlin Wall. Allied to this was a right-wing military coup that ensured a restrictive continuation of the policy of apartheid \u2013 FW De Klerk<\/strong> gets imprisoned for \u2018treason\u2019. South Africa maintains tacit (and hidden) support from Western powers, which see it as a barrier to \u2018Soviet and Chinese expansion\u2019 within Africa.<\/p>\n

          \n
        1. What physical and\/or mental characteristics underpin their positions of power?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          For one of the two main characters – Martin van Deventer<\/strong>, clinical psychologist – this is his white skin and all that this implies, within such a political system. He also has superior education and access to resources, based on structural inequalities. (His \u2018disability\u2019 is also latent and unacknowledged racism, which initially (and additionally) hampers his ability to relate to the majority of people in the country.)<\/p>\n

          For Sibusiso Mchunu<\/strong> (student and ‘psychiatric patient’ initially), the underpinning of his relative powerlessness is his black skin. The novel hinges on the relationship of power and the shifting dynamic between both men. mediated by a ‘mind-reading’ machine, which is of interest to the security police as well. Sibusiso<\/strong> learns to manage his internal world and seek action for change in the external world. Martin<\/strong> learns he needs (lots of!) changing\u00a0too.<\/p>\n

          So too there is\u00a0a woman (\u2018Mamma Makosi\u2019<\/strong>) who leads a cell of resistance, in the spirit of Kameron Hurley\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a02014 Hugo Award winning \u2018We Have Always Fought<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0http:\/\/www.sfwa.org\/2013\/05\/guest-post-we-have-always-fought-challenging-the-women-cattle-and-slaves-narrative\/<\/a><\/p>\n

          And, flitting though it all, a Hamerkop Bird<\/strong> (or idlozi:\u00a0<\/em>ancestral spirit?) looks for Some Place\u00a0to Nest – and Something to Burn.<\/p>\n

            \n
          1. How does this affect the weakest people in the world?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            The aimed impact of a domineering and oppressive political system is to foster resignation and passivity. Powerlessness has to be resisted by action, which is both extremely risky and has high personal costs. (This book is dedicated to the many who paid a high price, sometimes the ultimate price \u2013\u2013 for movement to a democratic system in South Africa in 1994.)<\/p>\n

            More on ‘Accessing the Future<\/em>‘ Blog Hop here (Please Support!):<\/p>\n

            http:\/\/djibrilalayad.blogspot.co.uk\/2014\/08\/blog-hop-accessing-future-fiction.html<\/a><\/p>\n

            Next Post:<\/strong> September\/October – Back to (African) Science Fiction updates.<\/p>\n

            Nick Wood<\/strong><\/p>\n

            August 2014<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Kudos to The Future Fire and Kathryn Allan for pursuing a Disability in SF anthology entitled \u2018Accessing the Future\u2019. There has been a recently published generic anthology, looking at essays and \u2018realistic\u2019 fiction, entitled \u2018Criptiques\u2019: http:\/\/bitchmagazine.org\/post\/criptiques-kickstarter-disability-anthology-caitlin-wood This book is available at: http:\/\/criptiques.com\/ However, there has been limited engagement of the SF genre with \u2018disability\u2019 and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1069","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2014blogs","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1069"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1069\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickwood.frogwrite.co.nz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}