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EwaWiśniewska
Guin,ahistorian.Shedidnotstartpublishingherliteraryworksuntil1959,
whenherfirstpiecesofpoetryappearedinnumerousperiodicals.
(FreedmanChronologyxxiii).LeGuin’sfirstpublishedworksofprose
wereGAndieMusik”,whichappearedinWesternHumanitiesReviewin
1961,andGAprilinParis”inFantasticin1962(FreedmanChronology
xxiii).Herfirstbigwork,thenovelentitledRocannon’sWorld,was
publishedin1966andatoncereceivedmuchinterestintheliteraryworld.
ThesameyearLeGuindecidedtopublishhersciencefictionnovelPlanet
ofExile,thuscontinuingtheso-calledEkumen(orHainorHainish)series.
AmongthewriterswhoseemtohaveinspiredLeGuintoreturntoher
childhoodinterestinsciencefictionReidenumeratesCordwainerSmith
withhisshortstoryentitledGAlphaRalphaBoulevard”andPhilipK.Dick
(8).
ReidwritesthatLeGuinGbeganherpublishingcareerwritingscience
fiction,nowcalledspeculativefiction,andhasconsistentlybeenlabeled
aCsciencefiction’writersince”(18).Thisisobviouslytrue,sinceeven
thoughLeGuinpracticedmanygenres,tomostreaderssheiswidely
knownonlyastheauthorofsciencefiction.LeGuinalwaysobjectedto
sciencefictionbeingtreatedasunfitforreading.
Sheiswellknownfortwoseries:HainandEarthsea.Theformer,
aseven-partsciencefictionseriesalsoknownasEkumen,isthemost
widelyknownandisconsideredbymanythebest.ItincludesTheLeft
HandofDarkness(1969).InTheDispossessed(1974),CityofIllusions
(1967),andtheshortstoriesseriesTheBirthdayoftheWorld(2002)and
FourWaystoForgiveness(1995)theauthorpresentsdifferingcultures,
andevenhumanspecies,inhabitingnumerousplanets,onesgradually
discoveredanddescribedbyEkumen,aleagueofworlds.
Theauthorbuiltanumberofworldsandgavebirthtomanyraces–
oneswithdifferinglaws,traditions,andappearance.Amongthe
inhabitantsofthoseworldsthereareevenandrogynousbeings,i.e.,ones
whoareabletopossessbothmaleandfemalesexualorgans.Theworlds
visitedbyEkumendifferfromeachotherpolitically,climatically,and
technologically.ThesupremelawofEkumenisnottorevealtechnologies
tothevisitedplanetsthatgreatlyexceedtheirowntechnologicalabilities
andknowledge.Thislawisobviouslyveryartificialandprobablynaive
sinceatsomepointsthemembersofEkumenmakeuseoftheirpowerand
knowledge,showingthehypocrisyofthewholeconcept.Theydonotwish
tosharetheirknowledgewithstrangers,probablytoavoidsuspicionsof
