All the literature of the imagination is contained in these two words: “And if”. The 25th edition of Utopiales, which brought together some 153,000 festival-goers from October 31 to November 3, asked the following question: what science fiction should we write today?
“I don’t think dystopia can change consciousness. This genre has been giving keys for decades, and has failed. We must certainly not despair young readers, but we must not promise them too many things because this creates bitter forties, who are today in destruction.hammered Estelle Fayeauthor of Magellanic Clouds (Scrineo), also outraged against dark romance: “It’s a problematic genre, which reinforces sexist and toxic behavior, and it’s marketed to be sold to 10-11 year old children who are called “young girls”. Booksellers who don’t have time to read put it on the youth list! »
Silene Edgar, speaking on dystopia at the Utopiales 2024 festival – Photo FANNY GUYOMARD
Utopias?
Alain Damasio for his part called for closing the “cyberpunk parenthesis” which inspired Silicon Valley, which now reaches “to lock people in technological cocoons, and to move the bonds of friendship and love to the digital world in order to control them and create added value”.
And to quote his novel The Stealths (La Volte), which responds “politically and literary” to this society of traces. A “bio-punk” singing of the link between humans and nature, as in The Backwind Hordewhere the characters must confront and embrace the life force of the (super)natural world. But also pay attention to the genre of utopia, as one of the festival organizers reminds us, Eva Sinanian : “One person’s utopia can be another person’s dystopia”.
Spiritual SF
To open up to other types of consciousness, the writer can draw inspiration from the thinking of the natives, suggests Silenus Edgarclose to the cosmic worldview of Pierre Bordagewhich invokes the image of the big bang to remind us that everything comes from the same nucleus. “Then why fight between us? » And the author of Warriors of silencealso present, to explain: “ Writing is a breadcrumb trail that takes me into a labyrinth where I see things I wouldn’t want to see. I write to explore all facets of humanity, see its monstrosities and seek meaning in human life. And space opera allows me to go to the heart of the universe”.
Repairing the “errors” made by the SF
Against blockbusters emptied of any critical comments on the world, Catherine Dufour offers a SF that combines scientifically documented prospective and “penetrating”. Films suggest possible life on the Moon? In a masterclass mixing pedagogy and humor, the author of Songs of the Moon, published on September 26 by Robert Laffont, shatters the dream: the lunar dust (regalithe) erodes the diving suits, the mist blinds the astronaut forced to drink his sweat, the loss of muscle mass limits the jumps, although they are freed from heavy gravity… Then the author deepens her thoughts by sliding towards SF, imagining dogs speaking thanks to an implant and a language that resembles them. An anthropological SF à la Ursula Le Guin, honored several times during the festival.
Catherine Dufour, in a masterclass on the impossibility of inhabiting the Moon – Photo FANNY GUYOMARD
Feminist SF
The opportunity to recall the importance of hearing non-male voices to hear a diversity of intelligences. After a decade of reflection, Argyll editions presented their collection of novellas “RéciFs”, dedicated to authors of the imagination – and whose schedule is almost full until 2026. “Many SF authors have been made invisible, like the American Judith Merril, whose only novels published in France were co-written with a man”wonders the publisher-bookseller-author Xavier Dollo. Error fixed.
