Planet of the have-nots

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Planet der habenichtse (in the original The Dispossessed. An Ambiguous Utopia , other German titles Die Enteigneten und Freie Geister ) is a novel by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin from 1974. It is a utopia in that of her conceived "Ekumen Universe" plays in which other of her works are also set (see Hainish cycle ).

content

The book is set on the double planets Urras and Anarres. Urras is the original world of the human-like inhabitants from which the rebels moved into exile in Anarres after a failed anarchist revolution. Afterwards, mutual isolation was agreed, which is only broken by a small exchange of goods (the prehistory and the philosophy of the founder Odo are presented in Le Guin's story The Day Before the Revolution , contained in the story volume The twelve lines of the wind rose ).

The novel is set 200 years after these events. Urras has developed into a high-tech world with a number of competing authoritarian systems, alongside capitalist states there are also socialist states and a military dictatorship. The anarchists defy their existence from the inhospitable neighboring planet Anarres and try to remain true to their ideals (and those of their founder).

The main character is Shevek, a brilliant theoretical physicist on Anarres who is working on the development of a general temporal theory that would, among other things, enable communication and travel at faster than light speeds. His work is rated low on Anarres, and attempts to communicate with scientists from Urras are viewed as treason. Nevertheless, he sets off on a journey to the planet Urras in order to complete the theory of the general temporal theory in collaboration with local scientists. In doing so, he comes into conflict with the existing conditions, but also with the anarchist teachings of his homeland.

The novel follows different storylines in alternating chapters - on the one hand the journey of the main character to Urras and the events unfolding there and on the other hand, in retrospect, their life on Anarres from birth. This parallel representation not only contrasts both forms of society, but also depicts the transformation of the main character.

To the book

The novel won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award ; both are considered to be the most important awards in English-language science fiction literature.

Planet of the have-nots is one of the last modern utopias . The utopia researcher Richard Saage sees Ursula Le Guin's novel, together with the eco-utopia ( Ökotopia ) by Ernest Callenbach and the novels by Marge Piercy, as classics that mark the end of modern utopias. Characteristic of the novel, however, is a rather critical and distant, and not an enthusiastic representation of the conditions on Anarres. The political community of Anarres is located on an inhospitable planet and is therefore confronted with extreme ecological restrictions and an extreme shortage of goods, which leads to distribution conflicts. In addition, the free cooperation of equals is undermined by bureaucratization. There is no similarly differentiated representation of society for Urras. Here the rejection by the author is clearly expressed. The text does not give the reader a final evaluation, entirely according to the subtitle of the original. “An important local image - a brilliantly ambiguous one - is the wall that is introduced on the first page. It is related to the image / idea of ​​the prison; the question of who is excluded or included, on which side of the wall someone is standing, is the focus of the story. "(Douglas Barbour)

The novel was one of the few SF works from the West that could appear in the GDR - albeit with an afterword in which Le Guin is certified to represent a “non-authoritarian communism”.

Quote

“We are dividers, not haves. We are not wealthy. None of us are rich. None of us are powerful. If you want anarres, if it is the future that you are looking for, then I tell you that you have to come empty-handed. You have to come alone, and naked, as the child comes into the world, into his future, without a past, without possessions, completely dependent on other people in order to live. You cannot take what you have not given and you must give to yourself. You can't buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in you or it is nowhere. "

- The expropriated , Phantasia Paperback, December 2006. Pages 272–273.

criticism

Brian Ash characterizes the novel in his book Who's Who in Science Fiction as “a beautifully conceived allegorical representation of an earth-like planet”.

The utopia researcher Richard Saage criticizes that utopia is “not entirely free from anti-individualistic mysticisms”. What is innovative about utopia, however, is that “the construct of the positive counterworld raises its immanent criticism to the central theme and thereby relativizes itself”.

Detlef Hedderich wrote about the novel by Ursula K. LeGuin: “What one must definitely credit the author with is the openness with which she lets her protagonists act. With her these are all people, people with good, but also bad qualities. And finally, these people also have their very own opinion without in any way becoming agitators of their respective political systems. (...) After all, the planet of the have-nots is also the story of a partnership, a tragic friendship and a romantic love. "

Reclam's Science Fiction Guide describes the novel as a link between politics and science fiction and believes that the juxtaposition of the principle of government and anarchy shows the author's sympathy for the second form of society despite balanced consideration and an open solution. The combination of topics was successful because Le Guin approached the matter with intellect and sensitivity. Finally, it is noted that "[d] ate the novel sometimes reads a little dry and too didactic with the given objective", which is inevitable and hardly affects the flow of reading.

expenditure

English editions
  • US edition: The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia. Harper & Row, New York City, 1974, ISBN 0-06-012563-2 .
  • UK edition: The Dispossessed. Gollancz, London 1974, ISBN 0-575-01678-7 .
  • Paperback: The Dispossessed. Panther, 1975, ISBN 0-586-04219-9 .
  • EBook : The Dispossessed. HarperCollins, 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-179688-3 .
  • Audio: The Dispossessed: A Novel. Voiced by Don Leslie. HarperAudio, 2010.
German translations
  • Planet of the have-nots. Translated by Gisela Stege. Heyne, Munich 1976, ISBN 3-453-30395-4 .
  • Planet of the have-nots. Roman, with an afterword by Arnold Schölzel. Das Neue Berlin , Berlin (GDR) 1987, ISBN 3-360-00081-1 .
  • Planet of the have-nots. Translated by Hiltrud Bontrup based on the translation by Gisela Stege. Argument Verlag, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-88619-943-6 .
  • The dispossessed. An ambivalent utopia. With a foreword by Denis Scheck. Newly translated from the American by Joachim Körber ; New edition corrected based on the translation by Hiltrud Bontrup. Edition Phantasia, Bellheim 2006, ISBN 3-937897-20-8 .
  • Free spirits. Newly translated by Karen Nölle. Fischer TOR, Frankfurt am Main 2017, ISBN 978-3-596-03535-9 .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Richard Saage , Utopische Profiles. Volume 4: Contradictions and Syntheses of the 20th Century . Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-5431-0
  2. ↑ Quoted from: Brian W. Aldiss : The Billion Years Dream, The History of Science Fiction. Bergisch Gladbach 1987, p. 652
  3. ^ Brian Ash: Who's Who in Science Fiction . Taplinger Publ., New York 1976, ISBN 0-8008-8274-1 , Ursula K. Le Guin, p. 134 .
  4. ↑ See Richard Saage , Utopische Profiles. Volume 4: Contradictions and Syntheses of the 20th Century . Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-5431-0 , p. 239.
  5. ↑ See Wolfgang Jeschke (Ed.): Das Science Fiction Jahr 1991 , Wilhelm Heyne Verlag Munich, ISBN 3-453-04471-1 , p. 726.
  6. ↑ Hans Joachim Alpers, Werner Fuchs, Ronald M. Hahn (eds.): Reclam's Science Fiction Guide . Philipp Reclam jun., Stuttgart 1982, ISBN 3-15-010312-6 , Le Guin, Ursula K (roeber). The Dispossessed, S. 254 .