Ïan Larue, (2 September 1958)
is an
essayist,
science fiction author and
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
. She has published two
science fiction novels
This is a list of science-fiction novels, novel series, and collections of linked short stories. It includes modern novels, as well as novels written before the term "science fiction" was in common use. This list includes novels not marketed as SF ...
, ''La Vestale du calix'' and ''La fille geek''.
One of her best-selling books, ''Libère-toi cyborg. Le pouvoir transformateur de la science-fiction féministe'',
deals with the theme of cyborgs. Reflecting on the list of
feminist science fiction authors cited at the end of
Donna Haraway's
Cyborg Manifesto (including
Octavia Butler), Ïan Larue redefines this founding figure in the philosopher's thought. According to the author, ‘The cyborg is the ultimate hybrid, a hybrid between a real woman and a character in a novel who is superimposed on her to endow her with a thousand new possibilities, including the fundamental one of breaking up
capitalism,
family and
patriarchy
Patriarchy is a social system in which positions of dominance and privilege are primarily held by men. It is used, both as a technical anthropological term for families or clans controlled by the father or eldest male or group of males a ...
.’ In 2019 Ïan Larue was the winner of the
Grand prix de l'Imaginaire, in the ‘Essays’ category, for this non-fiction book.
Biography
After teaching at the
University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne
The University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (; URCA), also known simply as the University of Reims, is a public university based in Reims, France.
In addition to the main campus in Reims, the university has several campuses located throughout ...
, Ïan Larue worked at the
Sorbonne Paris North University teaching compared litterature.
''Libère-toi cyborg''
Her essay ''Libère-toi cyborg, le pouvoir transformateur de la science-fiction féministe'' (Set youself free, Cyborg ! The transformative power of feminist science fiction), published in 2018, placed her among the leading French-language figures in feminist science fiction. In the essay, she comments extensively Donna Harraway's ''Cyborg Manifesto'', and reproduces in an appendix Harraway's ‘H-list’ of works by women science fiction novelists that she believed were must-reads for building a
utopian future world free of
racism and
sexism, or even one that embraces a hybridisation between nature and technology.
Among these must read women SF writer ared : included :
Octavia Butler (''Dawn'', part of the ''
Xenogenesis Trilogy''),
Joanna Russ (''
The Female Man''),
Monique Wittig (''
'') and
James Tiptree, Jr (''Beyond the World's Walls''). In these worlds, cyborgs transgress gender and norms, while often incorporating aspects of
ecofeminism
Ecofeminism is a branch of feminism and political ecology. Ecofeminist thinkers draw on the concept of gender to analyse the relationships between humans and the natural world. The term was coined by the French writer Françoise d'Eaubonne in h ...
and feminist figures of
witchcraft, creating a path of emancipation and joyful liberation.
Painting
Ïan Larue is the granddaughter of the painter and film set designer Charles Mérangel. She has been painting since the age of eleven. She held exhibitions in the 2000s
In 2020 she took part in the group exhibition ''Even the rocks reach out to ki''ss you, at the Centre d'art contemporain Transpalette in Bourges and the exhibition ''Rêver l'obscur'', at the Galerie d'art brut Christian Berst in Paris
The curator of both exhibitions is Julie Crenn, an exhibition curator, art historian and specialist in ecofeminist art.
She has also published an essay about the role of women painter throughout history from antiquity and medieval times, questionning the reasons of their disapearence from historical reviews.
Activism
In 2022 Ïan Larue protested against the eviction of Stéphanie Nicot from the festival Les imaginales by publishing a letter of support for Nicot with other authors among whom
Floriane Soulas,
Sylvie Lainé
Sylvie Lainé (born June 29, 1957) is a French science-fiction writer. Sylvie Lainé won a Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire in 2006. Activism
In 2022 Ïan Larue protested against the eviction of Stéphanie Nicot from the festival Les imaginales by p ...
,
Robin Hobb
Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (born March 5, 1952), known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the ''Realm of the Elderlings'', w ...
,
Estelle Faye
Estelle Faye (born 1 May 1978) began her career as a French actor and screenwriter. Since 2009 she has been best known as a science fiction and fantasy author, where her novels and short stories have won several awards.
Biography
After taking ...
,
Sara Doke
Sara Doke, born in 1968 in France, is a Belgian journalist, translator and author of science fiction and fantasy who is also an activist engaged for authors' rights. Biography
Sara Doke is the daughter of visual artist and feminist activist for w ...
,
Sylvie Denis
Sylvie Denis (born 10 November 1963 in Talence) is a French science fiction writer. She is also a translator and co-edited the magazine "Cyberdreams."
A novelist, she won the Solaris Prize in 1988 for ''L'Anniversaire de Caroline'', the Prix Ro ...
,
Lucie Chenu
Lucie Chenu (born 10 May 1960) is a French author who works in the field of fantastic literature, fantasy and science fiction. A doctor in bacterial genetics, she received the Bob Morane Prize twice (2008 and 2009) for her work as an anthologist. ...
, , and .
Publications
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References
External links
{{Feminist science fiction
20th-century French women writers
French feminist writers
1958 births
Feminist science fiction
French painters
Living people