Beggar in Spain
Beggar in Spain is a 1991 novella by the American science fiction writer Nancy Kress . In it, Kress describes the development of people in the face of the division into genetically modified insomniacs and unmodified sleepers . The story won both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award in 1991 . In 1993, a greatly expanded version was published as a novel under the same name, which together with the sequels Bettler und Sucher (1994) and Bettlers Ritt (1996) form the beggar cycle . The first German edition of the novel was published by Heyne Verlag in 1997 .
action
The US financier Roger Camden has his unborn daughter equipped with genetic modifications that make her sleepless ; These do not need sleep and have the advantages of high intelligence, insensitivity to many diseases and a slower aging process. If the sleepless children are ridiculed at first, they will experience rejection, envy and hatred as adults, as they will soon occupy key positions in politics and business due to their intelligence and extended use of time. It comes to genetic discrimination . Therefore, the insomniacs band together to find refuge in a sanctuary that is only open to them.
As a consequence of the existence of the insomniacs, there are on the one hand genetically less modified elites, on the other hand protective laws that are supposed to prevent humans and other living beings from being genetically transformed too much.
Critical topics and theses
Kress goes into detail about the problems of the US and the US justice system with minorities and compares the insomniacs created in her story by genetic modifications with other groups such as Jews and African-Americans .
In a bogus editorial in the New York Times ( Success and Hatred: A Trend We Would Rather Not See ), the American people's predilection for emotion and energy and an aversion to logic, rationality and prudence (as cold ) are discussed .
literature
- Nancy Kress: Beggars in Spain. (Novella), 1991, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Axolotl Press, 1991
- Nancy Kress: Beggars in Spain. (Novel), 1993, Avon Books
- Nancy Kress: Beggars in Spain. 1997, Heyne Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-453-12655-6
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thomas Lemke: The police of the genes. Forms and fields of genetic discrimination. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 978-3-593-38023-0 , pp. 15-17.
- ^ Nancy Kress: Beggars in Spain. 1997, Heyne Verlag, Munich, ISBN 3-453-12655-6 , pp. 114-116.