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Introduction
UrsulaK.LeGuin,althoughafemaleinaseeminglymale-dominated
worldoffantasyandsciencefictionwriting,wasoneofAmerica’smost
importantcontemporarywriters.Notonlywasshehighlyacclaimedby
literarycriticstheworldover,asshewasalsooneofthemostoften
awardedAmericanwriters,bothbycriticsandreaders.Inherintroduction
toLeGuin’scollectionofessays,SusanWooddescribestheauthoras
Gapoet,afantasywriter,andacreatorofdragons”(Introduction11).The
booksofUrsulaK.LeGuin,whomsomehailthefirstladyofAmerican
sciencefictionandfantasy,havebeentranslatedintonumerouslanguages
aroundtheworldandarereadilyavailableinmostbookstores.Theauthor
wasamasterofmanygenres,fantasyandsciencefictionamongthem.She
wasawriter,apoet,andatranslator.
TheaimofthisbookistodemonstratethatLeGuin’sworksexhibitan
evolutioninthedepictionoffemalecharacters,alongwiththeirknowledge
andpower,andthatthisevolutionisconnectedwiththeauthor’sgrowing
awarenessoffeministideology.UrsulaK.LeGuinstartedpublishingin
themid-1960swithRocannon’sWorld(1966),herdebutbook.Contrary
togeneraltendenciesamongwriters,LeGuin’stextspresentagradual
radicalizationofherthought,particularlyherattitudetowardssocial
matters.Indeed,overthecourseoftimeLeGuin’sfictionandnon-fiction
haveincreasinglyrevealedheropennesstotheissuesoffeminism.
Thisbookfollowschronologicalorderwiththepurposeofshowingthe
evolutionoffemalecharactersintheworksofUrsulaK.LeGuin.It
consistsoffourchapters.ThefirstchapterintroducestheAmericanwriter,
herlife,andexperiencesasawoman.Bornin1929,LeGuinwitnessed
boththesecondandthirdwavesoffeminism,includingtheirsources,
thrusts,andoutcomes.ShewasinspiredbyChinesephilosophy,butalso
Americanlegends,Europeanmyths,andanthropologicaltheories.From
thisuniqueblendemergesanextraordinaryoeuvre.
ThesecondchapterisananalysisofUrsulaK.LeGuin’searliestworks,
mainlyherfirstpublishednovel,Rocannon’sWorld,AWizardof
Earthsea,alongwithTheTombsofAtuan,thesebeingthefirstandsecond