dystopia
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
n
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novelette by
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
, first published in the ''Future Power'' collection. The tale is set in a
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
society which uses
brainwashing
Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwash ...
by "electroshocks" to eradicate any kind of
political dissent
Political dissent is a dissatisfaction with or opposition to the policies of a governing body. Expressions of dissent may take forms from vocal disagreement to civil disobedience to the use of violence.
thoughtcrime
Thoughtcrime is a word coined by George Orwell in his 1949 dystopian novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''. It describes a person's politically unorthodox thoughts, such as beliefs and doubts that contradict the tenets of Ingsoc (English Socialism) ...
s". The whole setup of the story is reminiscent of the
punitive psychiatry in the Soviet Union
There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem. It was called "psychopathological mechanisms" of dissent.
During the leadership ...
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
rather than in Orsinia.As cited in:
When asked in an interview about her Orwellian-type stories, "The New Atlantis", "SQ", and "The Diary of the Rose", Ursula Le Guin commented:
Those three stories arose out of rage and fear at the institutionalised cruelty and stupidity of national governments-abroad and at home. None of them is more than slightly exaggerated. It is hard for a story to come close to the terrible reality of government-directed punishment of dissent and government-directed torture.
Awards and nominations
All events were in 1977.
* Jupiter Award in the novelette category
* Runner-up in the
Locus Award for Best Novelette The Locus Award for Best Novelette is one of a series of Locus Awards
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine '' Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, Californi ...
.
*
Hugo Award
The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
finalist
* Le Guin refused a
Nebula Award
The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
for "The Diary of the Rose" by withdrawing the nomination in protest of the
Science Fiction Writers of America
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...
's revocation of
Stanisław Lem
Stanisław Herman Lem (; 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006) was a Polish writer of science fiction and essays on various subjects, including philosophy, futurology, and literary criticism. Many of his science fiction stories are of satirical ...
's membership. Le Guin attributed the revocation to Lem's criticism of American science fiction and willingness to live in the
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
, and said she felt reluctant to receive an award "for a story about political intolerance from a group that had just displayed political intolerance" toward
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
. She withdrew the novelette shortly before the announcement of the winners. The SFWA pleaded her not to do that since she had in fact won, but Le Guin insisted on the withdrawal. The award was instead given to Isaac Asmiov's "
The Bicentennial Man
''The Bicentennial Man'' is a novelette in the ''Robot'' series by American writer Isaac Asimov. According to the foreword in ''Robot Visions'', Asimov was approached to write a story, along with a number of other authors who would do the same ...
."
Publication history
The first publication was in the ''Future Power'' collection in 1976. The same year it was translated in French.
In 1977 it was included into anthologies ''Psy Fi One: An Anthology of Psychology in Science fiction'' and ''Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Sixth Annual Collection''."Best Science Fiction Stories of the Year: Sixth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois, 1977" a review at ''SF Magazines''
It was anthologized in the author's collection ''
The Compass Rose
''The Compass Rose'' is a 1982 collection of short stories by American writer Ursula K. Le Guin, and illustrated by Anne Yvonne Gilbert in 1983. It is organized into sections on the theme of directions, though not strictly compass-related as the ...
'' in 1982.
In 2012 it was included into Volume One, ''Where on Earth'', of the two-volume collection ''The Unreal and Real'' of the author's works. In the opinion of Emily Nordling, a reviewer for
tor.com
''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction.
From 20 ...
, the story was included into the ''"Real"'' part of the collection despite the "hardcore" science fiction elements because it truly portrays the possible invasiveness of psychiatry regardless instruments used.
It was translated into French (''Le journal de la rose'', 1976), Dutch (''Het dagboek van de roos'', 1978; ''De Roos in de Winter'',The Dutch title ''De Roos in de Winter'' is reminiscent of the last words of the novelette: "<...>, the winter rose". 1985), German (''Das Tagebuch der Rose'', 1979), Italian (''Il diario della rosa'', 2003), and Russian (''Дневник Розы'', 2008)Урсула Ле Гуин Роза ветров collection description at fantlab.ru
A
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...
"The diary of the rose" !-- this is how the title is capitalized in this publication-->, the text reprinted by
Sage Publications
SAGE Publishing, formerly SAGE Publications, is an American independent publishing company founded in 1965 in New York by Sara Miller McCune and now based in Newbury Park, California.
It publishes more than 1,000 journals, more than 800 books ...
with author's and author's agent permissions, ''
Index on Censorship
Index on Censorship is an organization campaigning for freedom of expression, which produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association w ...