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Suzette Haden Elgin

Suzette Haden Elgin. Born in Missouri, 18/11/ 1936 Entered Linguistic graduate studies at UCSD in late 1960’s. At this time had 5 children, so began writing SF novels to pay her bills. Had to write 2 dissertations for her PhD. (Eng/Navajo)

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Suzette Haden Elgin

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  1. Suzette Haden Elgin • Born in Missouri, 18/11/ 1936 • Entered Linguistic graduate studies at UCSD in late 1960’s. • At this time had 5 children, so began writing SF novels to pay her bills. • Had to write 2 dissertations for her PhD. (Eng/Navajo) • Taught linguistics at San Diego SU, retired in 1980. • Director of Ozark Center for Language Studies

  2. Suzette Haden Elgin • In 1978, founded Science Fiction Poetry Association. • Phyllis Gottlieb also began writing as a poet.

  3. Writing • Recurrent Themes • Feminism • Impact of Languages • Peaceful co-existence with nature

  4. Non Fiction • The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense is a system developed by Suzette for establishing a language environment in which hostile language interactions almost never happen, and in which -- when they truly cannot be avoided -- they are handled efficiently, effectively, and with no loss of face on either side. • From her website

  5. Fiction • Native Tongue Series • Dystopian America, where women have no civil rights • An all-female group of linguists creates a language called Làadan

  6. Laadan • ‘Complete’ Constructed Language. • 10 year thought experiment • “A language specifically designed to express the perceptions of human women.” • Wanted to test 4 Hypotheses 1) That the weak form of the linguistic relativity hypothesis is true (2) That Goedel's Theorem applies to language (3) That change in language brings about social change, rather than the contrary; (4) That if women were offered a women's language one of two things would happen -- they would welcome and nurture it, or it would at minimum motivate them to replace it with a better women's language of their own construction.

  7. Constructed Languages Quenya Klingon

  8. Constructed Languages Esperanto

  9. Questions • What was Elgin’s motivation for placing poetry in such high regard in For the sake of Grace? • What is the significance of Og being a neutral entity, i.e. a robot with no (human-like) character before his assignment? • Why is (soft) SF a suitable tool for exploring ideas about language? • Phyllis Gottlieb focuses a lot on telepathy, and says she feels no sexual inequality in the field. Elgin is interested in feminism, impact of language and constructed languages (specifically Ladaan). Any thoughts?

  10. References • Le Guin, Ursula K., and Brian Attebery, eds. The Norton Book of Science Fiction. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1993. • Sargent, Pamela, ed. Women of Wonder: the Contemporary Years. Harcourt Brace and Co., 1995. "Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc." 18 Mar. 2008 <http://blog.ucsd.edu/clarion/the-interview-page/>. Elgin, Suzette H. The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense At Work. Paramus: Prentice Hall, 2000. http://blog.ucsd.edu/clarion/the-interview-page/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzette_Haden_Elgin http://adrr.com/aa/

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