Suzette Haden Elgin (born Patricia Anne Suzette Wilkins; November 18, 1936 – January 27, 2015) was an American researcher in experimental linguistics, construction and evolution of languages and poetry and science fiction writer. She founded the
Science Fiction Poetry Association
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA) is a society based in the United States with the aim of fostering an international community of writers and readers interested in poetry pertaining to the genres of science fiction, fantasy, ...
and is considered an important figure in the field of science fiction
constructed language
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
s. Her best-known non-fiction includes her
''Verbal Self-Defense'' series.
Life
Patricia Anne Suzette Wilkins was born in 1936 in
Jefferson City, Missouri
Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...
.
She attended the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...
(UCSD) in the 1960s, and began writing science fiction in order to pay tuition. She gained a PhD in
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
, and was the first UCSD student ever to write two dissertations (on English and
Navajo
The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States.
With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
).
She created the
engineered language
Engineered languages (often abbreviated to engelangs, or, less commonly, engilangs) are constructed languages devised to test or prove some hypotheses about how languages work or might work. There are at least three subcategories, philosophical ...
Láadan for her ''
Native Tongue'' science fiction series. A grammar and dictionary was published in 1985. She supported
feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction (abbreviated "SF") focused on theories that include feminist themes including but not limited to gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, reproduction, and environment. Feminist ...
, saying "women need to realize that SF is the only
genre
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
of literature in which it's possible for a writer to explore the question of what this world would be like if you could get rid of
where
is filled in with any of the multitude of real world facts that constrain and oppress women. Women need to treasure and support science fiction."
In addition, she published works of shorter fiction. Overlying themes in her work include
feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
,
linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and the impact of proper
language
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
, and peaceful coexistence with nature. Many of her works also draw from her
Ozark
The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portio ...
background and heritage.
Later years and death
Elgin became a professor at
San Diego State University
San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
(SDSU). She retired in 1980 and lived in
Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...
with her second husband, George Elgin. She died at age 78 in 2015 from undisclosed causes. She was survived by her husband. Her son Michael pre-deceased her.
Bibliography
Fiction
Coyote Jones series
*''The Communipaths'' (1970)
*''Furthest'' (1971)
*''At the Seventh Level'' (1972) (cover and interior illustrations by
George Barr)
*''Star-Anchored, Star-Angered'' (1979);
*''Yonder Comes the Other End of Time'' (1986); (also in The Ozark series )
The Ozark Trilogy (1981)
*''Twelve Fair Kingdoms'';
*''The Grand Jubilee'';
*''And Then There'll Be Fireworks'';
*''Yonder Comes the Other End of Time'' (1986); (also in the Coyote Jones series
)
Native Tongue series
*''
Native Tongue'' (1984);
*''The Judas Rose'' (1987);
*''Earthsong'' (1993);
Other
*''Peacetalk 101'' (2003);
Short stories
*"For the Sake of Grace" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1969 (inspired the novel
The Two of Them by
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ (February 22, 1937 – April 29, 2011) was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as ''How to Suppress Women's Writing'', as w ...
)
*"Old Rocking Chair's Got Me" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1974
*"Modulation in All Things" – ''Reflections of the Future'' anthology, 1975
*"Lest Levitation Come Upon Us" – ''Perpetual Light'' anthology, 1982 (reprinted in ''
The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 9'' anthology, 1983)
*"Magic Granny Says Don't Meddle" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1984
*"School Days" – ''Light Years and Dark'' anthology, 1984
*"Chico Lafleur Talks Funny" – ''A Treasury of American Horror Stories'', 1985
*"Lo, How an Oak E'er Blooming" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1986
*"Hush My Mouth" – ''Alternative Histories: 11 Stories of the World as It Might Have Been'', edited by
Charles G. Waugh and
Martin H. Greenberg
Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ov ...
, 1986
*"Tornado" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1989
*"What the EPA Don't Know Won't Hurt Them" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1990
*"Only A Housewife" – ''
Fantasy & Science Fiction
''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...
'', 1995
*"Soulfedge Rock" – ''Space Opera'' anthology, 1996
*"Weather Bulletin" – 1999
*"Honor Is Golden" – ''
Analog
Analog or analogue may refer to:
Computing and electronics
* Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable
** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals
*** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...
'', 2003
"We have always spoken Panglish" ''SciFi.com'', 2004 (Panglish appears in ''Native Tongue'')
*"What We Can See Now, Looking in the Glass" – ''
Glorifying Terrorism
''Glorifying Terrorism'' is a 2007 science fiction anthology edited by Farah Mendlesohn, which was compiled in direct response to the Terrorism Act 2006. Every story in the anthology has been specifically designed to be illegal under the Act's p ...
'', 2007
Poetry
*''The Less Said: A Book of Poems'' (1965)
*"McLuhan Transposed" – ''Burning with a Vision'' anthology, 1968
*"Lexical Gap" – ''
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...
'', 1985
*"Presuppositional Ghostbusting" – ''
Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine
''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publication ...
'', 1985
*"Rocky Road to Hoe" – ''Star*Line'', 1987
*"Binary Addendum" – ''Star*Line'', 1989
Songs (partial list)
*''Dead Skunk Song''
*''Song at the Ready''
*''When I Was a Young Girl'' (lyrics only, to the tune of "The Ash Grove")
*''Where the Emerald Kudzu Twines''
*''The World They Call Terra''
*''Down in Holes'' (lyrics only, to the tune of "Frère Jacques")
*''The Firelizard Song''
*''The Seas of Space''
Nonfiction
''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense''
*''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense'' (1980);
*''More on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense'' (1983);
*''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense Workbook'' (1987)
*''The Last Word on the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense'' (1987);
*''Language in Emergency Medicine'' (1987);
*''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense'' (Paperback; 1988; Barnes & Noble);
*''Growing Civilized Kids in a Savage World'' (1989)
*''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense for Business Success'' (1989);
*''Success with the Art of Verbal Self-Defense'' (1989);
*''Staying Well with the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense'' (1990);
*''GenderSpeak'' (1993);
*''The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense'' (1993);
*''The Gentle Art of Written Self-Defense Letter Book'' (1993);
*''Language in Law Enforcement'' (1993);
*''Linguistics & Science Fiction Sampler'' (1994)
*''Mastering the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense'' (1995-05; Unabridged; audio-cassette);
*''BusinessSpeak'' (1995);
*''"You Can't Say That To Me!"'' (1995);
*''The Gentle Art of Communicating with Kids'' (1996);
*''How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable'' (1997-03; Wiley);
*''How to Turn the Other Cheek and Still Survive in Today's World'' (1997);
*''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense at Work'' (2000-01-19; Second Edition; Prentice Hall);
*''The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense: Revised and Updated'' (2009);
Other
*''A Guide to
Transformational Grammar
In linguistics, transformational grammar (TG) or transformational-generative grammar (TGG) is part of the theory of generative grammar, especially of natural languages. It considers grammar to be a system of rules that generate exactly those combin ...
'' (with
John Grinder
John Thomas Grinder Jr. ( ; born January 10, 1940) is an American linguist, author, management consultant, trainer and speaker. Grinder is credited with co-creating neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) with Richard Bandler. He is co-director of Qu ...
) (1973);
*''What is Linguistics?'' (1973);
*''Bully for Us'' (with
John Grinder
John Thomas Grinder Jr. ( ; born January 10, 1940) is an American linguist, author, management consultant, trainer and speaker. Grinder is credited with co-creating neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) with Richard Bandler. He is co-director of Qu ...
) (1974)
*''Pouring Down Words'' (1975);
*''A Primer of Transformational Grammar for Rank Beginners'' (1975);
*''Never Mind the Trees'' (1980)
*''The Great Grammar Myth'' (1982)
*''A First Dictionary and Grammar of Láadan'' (1985, 2nd ed. 1988);
*''Try to Feel It My Way'' (1997);
*''The Grandmother Principles'' (1998);
*''The Language Imperative'' (2000);
References
* Mohr, Dunja M. ''Worlds Apart: Dualism and Transgression in Contemporary Female Dystopias.'' Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 2005.
xtensive chapter on Native Tongue series
External links
Official siteOfficial blogat
LiveJournal
LiveJournal (russian: Живой Журнал), stylised as LiVEJOURNAL, is a Russian-owned social networking service where users can keep a blog, journal, or diary.
American programmer Brad Fitzpatrick started LiveJournal on April 15, 1999, as ...
*
Suzette Haden Elgin at the
Encyclopedia of Science Fiction"Why a Woman Is Not Like a Physicist"Elgin's
Guest of Honor speech at
WisCon
WisCon or Wiscon, a Wisconsin science fiction convention, is the oldest, and often called the world's leading, feminist science fiction convention and conference. It was first held in Madison, Wisconsin in February 1977, after a group of fans at ...
6 (March 6, 1982)
"What the EPA Don't Know Won't Hurt Them"Database search for recordings of her songs*Entrevista en español http://escritorasfantastikas.blogspot.com.es/2015/04/entrevista-suzette-haden-elgin.html
*¿Por qué una mujer no es como un físico? http://escritorasfantastikas.blogspot.com.es/2015/05/por-que-una-mujer-no-es-como-un-fisico.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgin, Suzette Haden
1936 births
2015 deaths
American women bloggers
American bloggers
Linguists from the United States
American science fiction writers
Constructed language creators
San Diego State University faculty
University of California, San Diego alumni
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American writers
20th-century American women writers
21st-century American women writers
Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem winners
Women science fiction and fantasy writers
American women novelists
Place of death missing
Women linguists