It doesn't help that the Athsheans embody just about every romanticized stereotype of the native primitive. Like the most Disneyfied take on Native Americans, they live amongst the trees, perfectly in balance with nature. They're deeply spiritual, with a strong, aboriginal-like connection to the dream time. And, in the book's most groan-inducing conceit, they're completely peaceful, never having even conceived of murder until it's introduced to them by humans. Unfortunately, I wasn't alive in 1972 (it's okay, I still became a misanthropic ecologist without it). And fortunately, in the 50 years that passed between when The Word for World was published and when I read it, some of the major paradigms it challenges - views of indigenous people, ecological thinking, anthropocentrism - have shifted in ways that make this book seem less audacious. Indigenous land management techniques, for example, are having a renaissance as we realize, belatedly, that 100 years of forest fire suppression has possibly not been the way to go. It's no longer revolutionary to portray humans as the antagonists, particularly in the face of accelerating climate change.

Earth men who come to colonize Athshe's are made aware that the creatures living there are as human as they (from a genetic point of view) but most of them to choose to ignore that and treat them worse than animals. Profit rules as always but there is more at work there. Le Guin digs into some shameful events of human history (genocides and colonization) and perhaps even warns us of how easy it will be to repeat those violent patterns in the future, for have we ever been truly free of them? “For if it's all the rest of us who are killed by the suicide, it's himself whom the murderer kills; only he has to do is over, and over, and over." He was always disagreeably suprised to find how vulnerable his feelings were, how much it hurt him to be hurt is best rendered. Davidson is the epitome of toxic masculinity and self aggrandisement, even slightly shunned by the author herself as possibly to one dimensional, but somehow instantly made me think of Donald Trump his positioning and showmanship, showing that however modern we think we are sexism is still definitely a thing. Similarly, the Athshean word for "dream" is the same as the word for "root". Athsheans have learned to exert some conscious control over their dreams, and their actions are dictated by both their dream experiences and their conscious non-dreaming thoughts. Thus their dreaming makes them rooted, something which is demonstrated through their use of language. [14] The Athshean word for "god" is the same as the word for "translator", representing this role that "gods have" in their society, which is to interpret and translate their dreams into actions. [46] Dreaming and consciousness [ edit ] The novel was originally named "Little Green Men," [9] in reference to the common science-fiction trope. In her introduction to the 1976 edition, Le Guin stated that she was concerned at the exploitation of the natural world by humans, particularly in the name of financial gain, and that this concern drove her story. [10] Setting [ edit ] Kees, the local naturalist from Smith Logger Camp, has few actual powers to stop Davidson, the logger's boss and the poster boy of the New Right, America Earth First policy. Le Guin has no use for subtlety or moderation. It's a life or death situation both for the forest and for the creechies. Us or them. Liberals or Conservatives. Might versus Right. And we all know which side is losing.

estoy inmerso en una green vibe, donde mi interés (y por lo tanto conocimiento) sobre el medioambiente y su cuidado alcanzaron picos nunca antes vistos. No es ilógico que, en consecuencia, haya buscado unos cuantos libros de tendencias ambientalistas (si alguien lee esto y quiere recomendar uno de tales características, será muy bien recibido :) ). Esta novela es uno de los resultados de mi búsqueda. But the Athsheans’ existence proves that nature directly impacts people, regardless of their species. The Athsheans live in harmony with the forest, and their lives are inextricable from the nature that surrounds them: Athshean homes are built into the roots of trees, and their people are defined by the trees in their area. ( Selver, one of the novella’s protagonists, belongs to the “Ash” people.) At one point, the human anthropologist Raj Lyubov reveals that the Athshean word for “world” is also their word for “forest” (hence the title of the novella), which speaks to the interconnectedness of Athshean society and nature. Beyond their society’s structure, Athsheans’ customs and culture are also tied to nature. They spend large chunks of their day in a dream state, and their dreaming is frequently compared to tree growth. When Selver became unable to dream after experiencing violence, he worries that he was “cut off from his roots”—and after Selver introduces this violence to his people, Lyubov notes that Selver has changed “from the root.” In other words, Athsheans’ lives are so intertwined with the forest that any violence against them is likened to violence against nature. Trata temas como la colonización, el machismo, la xenofobia, el racismo y el más importante, el medio ambiente, y todos los trata de manera exquisita. La autora es capaz de crear personajes redondos en muy pocas páginas (el libro es muy cortito) y dotarlos de un carácter muy definido. El personaje de Davidson refleja todo lo que está mal en la sociedad, el de Lyubov representa a ese hombre horrorizado ante la verguenza de pertenecer a una especie que solo destruye, y Selver es un personajazo que se ve obligado a convertirse en un lider. Qué pasa entonces con esas criaturas? Parecen hombres y hablan como hombres. ¿No son hombres? -No lo sé. ¿Acaso el hombre mata a otro hombre, excepto en un ataque de locura? ¿Acaso mata la bestia a los de su especie? Sólo los insectos. Estos yumenos nos matan con la misma indiferencia con que nosotros matamos víboras. El que me enseñó a mí decía que se matan unos a otros, en disputas individuales, y también en grupos, como las hormigas cuando pelean. Eso yo no lo he visto. Pero sé que no escuchan a quienes piden clemencia."

Welcome, to another episode of benevolent colonialism vs barbaric indigenous culture, and this from the celebrated annals of science fiction. Oh, but what's this? The indigenous people are winning?! And without a white savior or a colonialist deflecting to the good side? No transformative hero's arc? No construction of entire narratives centred around a white dude that realises the value of indigenous culture and saves the day? So you're telling me, science fiction, a world of comple make-believe, a world belonging to Meinong's jungle, can actually imagine healthy, hopeful alternatives? Man, what a bummer. Ursula Le Guin clearly did not know how to play by the rules.

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And because of this, I argue that it is an extremely important work of science-fiction because we could learn from it as a society. And this is why art is so radically essential. We have a distant future, and a distant alien world, we are dealing with intergalactic politics and racism across humanoid species, but the allegory is not too far from today. The Word for World is Forest definitely delivers on the beautiful, poetic title and the themes of exploitation and ecological degradation are sadly as relevant as when this book was written

Le Guin, Ursula K. (2017). Hainish novels & Stories. New York, New York: The Library of America. ISBN 9781598535396. Several reviewers have noted that the narrative of the 2009 film Avatar has many similarities to that of The Word for World is Forest. [65] [66] Specific similarities include the notion that the Earth's resources have been used up, the extraction of resources in an exploitative manner from another planet, a native population on that planet which lives in close harmony with their world, and a rebellion by those natives against the exploitative human colonizers. [65] A key difference lies in the roles of the "benevolent" humans in both works: Raj Lyubov in The Word for World is Forest, Jake Sully and the human scientists in Avatar. While Lyubov made an impression as a "sensible" human and did help mediate peace between the Athshean people and humanity, he is not the savior of their race, and he does not survive to claim any "prize" from it. Additionally, in The Word for World is Forest militarism is regarded by the Athsheans– especially Selver– as an unfortunate but necessary addition to Athshean culture, and one that may destroy their way of life. In contrast, militarism is seen less critically in Avatar. [65] In the introduction to the second volume of the Hainish Novels and Stories, [67] Le Guin signals the similarities with "a high-budget, highly successful film" which "completely reverses the book's moral premise, presenting the central and unsolved problem of the book, mass violence, as a solution" and states "I'm glad I have nothing at all to do with it". [67] Style and structure [ edit ] The Athsheans perceive the Terrans as an insane people, partly because of the disconnect amongst the Terrans between conscious, rational thinking and subconscious drives. [61] The Terrans frequent use of hallucinogens is seen as the closest they are able to get to understanding their own subconscious. The psychological equilibrium which their dreaming gives the Athsheans is portrayed as the reason why they are able to live in balance with their ecosystem. [61] The Word for World is Forest was initially published in the first volume of the anthology Again, Dangerous Visions in 1972, [37] which was edited by Harlan Ellison. [38] The volume was meant to be a collection of new and original stories from authors that had come to be known as the " New Left" of science fiction. [39] It has subsequently been reprinted as a stand-alone volume several times, beginning in 1976, when it was published by Berkley Books. [38] [40] The work was nominated for the Nebula [41] and Locus Awards for Best Novella [42] and won the 1973 Hugo Award for Best Novella. [43] It was also a finalist for the National Book Award in 1976. [44] The more Le Guin I read, the more I love her. Reading Le Guin for me these last couple years, reminds me of how I felt when I first discovered John le Carré. They seem to both be able to write the same theme in so many different ways. It makes me think of Monet's many versions of the same church front or pond. Masters all. An artist doesn't have to go very wide to create worlds, sometimes the best worlds are created by just going deep.A thought provoking version of Avatar, with little green men instead of blue ones. We end up rooting for the aliens and the forest that covers their world, that’s trying to grapple with colonial Terran rule Next to The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness , Le Guin’s novella Word for World is among her most beloved by critics. It’s often presented as a key example of the growing ecological commitment of SFF authors in the 1970s as the environmentalist movement got into full swing. The novella is a blunt condemnation of colonialism that emphasizes how a regime of resource extraction wreaks havoc on indigenous cultures, not only physically and mentally, but culturally as well, causing a once-peaceful culture to adopt violence as a means of resistance. However, Selver and Lyubov’s communication also has demonstrable consequences for Selver and the Athsheans, no matter how necessary that communication is. For instance, Selver’s sense of self is fundamentally altered by his knowledge of human society and humans’ violence, and he’s no longer able to dream in the same way other Athsheans do. Eventually, Selver tells Lyubov that he wishes they’d never known each other, demonstrating the impact Selver’s friendship with Lyubov had on Selver’s selfhood. More broadly, Athshean society is also impacted by Selver’s connection with Lyubov. Selver’s decision to retaliate against the humans (which Lyubov’s information partly prompted) transforms the Athsheans into a violent people. Lyubov later worries that Selver has translated the worst parts of human society for his people and has learned to speak the humans’ figurative “language” of violence rather than his own. Ya puedo decir alto y claro que me he estrenado por la puerta grande con Ursula K. Le Guin. ¡Vaya gustazo más grande! Llevaba años queriendo iniciarme con la autora, aunque no tenía muy claro cual sería una buena opción. Al inicio dudaba entre "La mano izquierda de la oscuridad" y "Los desposeídos". Menos mal que una amiga (Carol, esa eres tú jaja) me recomendó empezar por "El nombre del mundo es Bosque". Y ha sido un acierto total, porque me ha maravillado.

Le Guin identifies herself with feminism, and is interested in non-violence and ecological awareness. She has participated in demonstrations against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons. These sympathies can be seen in several of her works of fiction, including the Hainish universe works. [7] The novels of the Hainish universe frequently explore the effects of differing social and political systems, although she displays a preference for a "society that governs by consensus, a communal cooperation without external government." [8] Her fiction also frequently challenges accepted depictions of race and gender. [8] Behind abbreviations these peaceful non-industrious people are used as slaves to facilitate the exploitation of the planet by the 2.000 odd settlers. The casual cruelties, like ignoring their natural sleep rhythm are especially poignant, as is the coercive manner how non-humanisation makes it so easy to use the natives. We follow Davidson, a psychopath like military man, Lyubov the anthropologist send to document the indigenous population and Selver who after being abused by Davidson turns into a rallying point for resistance against the humans. Reviewer Ian Watson states that the Athshean forest itself is a metaphor for consciousness in the novel. The Terrans, distanced from their own tangled subconscious, are afraid of the forest, and seek to tear it down. [61] The Athsheans, in contrast, are integrated with it at a subconscious level. The entire forest is also seen as a collective Athshean consciousness. [61] Although the forest in The Word for World is Forest is not actually sentient, Le Guin explores the idea of a sentient forest further in the short story " Vaster than Empires and More Slow", which shares many thematic parallels with the former. [61] Colonialism and anti-war themes [ edit ] I had to sit with this one a bit before reviewing. A hard-hitting look at imperialism, humanity and the appropriate use of violence, once again Le Guin manages to distill everything into a perfect clarity that is at once easy to follow and vastly complex.The Word for World is Forest broke my heart, but I loved it. This is a short book but it is very eventful. I felt for the characters and was engrossed in the story. I read it in one breath, I simply couldn't put it down once I started reading it. This is the kind of science fiction novel that I love to read. Educating, intelligent and complex. The kind that makes you ask questions and keep you guessing. It's still very much a relevant read. There is one quote from the Dune series (by Frank Herbert) that kept hunting me while I was reading this novel: " There is no escape, we pay for the violence of our ancestors. " Is there any escape? Will there ever be any escape from violence? This novella doesn't give any clear answers on the future. Our setting here is the planet Athshe (called "New Tahiti" by the Terran "yumans"), some 27 light years from Earth. It's mostly water (like the author's fantasy world of Earthsea), but with a large cluster of heavily forested islands. The indigenous population is humanoid (and Hainish-descended, as Earth humans supposedly also are, in Le Guin's fictional universe), albeit short-statured and green-furred; but they're technologically primitive. They have a very peaceful culture (physical confrontations can't escalate to extreme violence, because the weaker party can make a submissive gesture that the other party is culturally conditioned to unquestioningly respect) and generally live in sustainable harmony with each other and with their forest environment. So they initially have no psychological equipment to understand, or effectively resist, when Terran colonists descend on their world to log its timber and establish military bases. Submission gestures aren't respected by Terrans, and don't stop them from enslaving, raping and eventually killing Athsheans. Through the eyes of our two viewpoint characters, Athshean leader Selver and Terran Capt. Davidson, the most racist and aggressive of the invading military officers, we watch this cultural clash play out to its end --and it's virtually guaranteed that no matter how it ends, it won't be happily, and it's going to leave massive irreparable damage. Ursula K. Le Guin published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, etc. Her recent publications include the novel Lavinia, an essay collection, Cheek by Jowl, and The Wild Girls. She lived in Portland, Oregon.