1. LeGuin “The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction”
-story of the caveman
-first invention was originally believed to be a weapon/tool (masculine)
-does this make humans human? Are heroes men? What is the hero story?
-new story is that first invention is a basket/container (feminine):what makes us
human is our need to create, collect, and hold life
-how would this new matriarchal story (if we subscribed to it from the beginning)
change how humans approach and treat life now?
-This is an evolutionary story of nurturance and sustenance (unlike how in today’s
patriarchal society domestic labor is undervalued and not paid unlike other
professions that involve action, conquering, and destruction)
-what if conflict and climax is not central to the story? What if there is no plot?
-what difference does it make how a story is told?: cultural pedagogy (our stories
teach things)
-the stories that we tell create our future (what is the center of our culture is what
we do)—ex: young adult apolcalyptic dystopia novels on the rise since 20th century
-if we think differently, we can change what manifests
-the original story teaches us that women are nature (not apart of civilization--
material) and men are culture (they provide morality, art, and a soul)