ENG237H1 Chapter Notes -Bildungsroman, Narration, Thought Experiment
Document Summary
Examination of a sexless androgyny in science fiction. Le guin describes the book as a thought experiment to explore a society without men or women, where individuals share the biological and emotional makeup of both genders. Describes the interplanetary expansion started by the first race of humanity on the planet hain, which leads to the 83-world collective called the ekumen. It takes place many years in the future. Genly ai is an envoy from the ekumen who journeys to winter (gethen) to convince the citizens to join the ekumen. Citizens spend most of their time as asexual potentials ; anyone who is always one sex or the other is a pervert . They only adopt genders once a month, during a period of sexual receptiveness and high fertility known as kemmer. They become either male or female depending on the context and relationships. These conditions have affected the development of civilization: for example, there is no war.
