For years, ethnic groups and the problems that afflict them have been rendered invisible, however science fiction has become a tool to bring them to everyone's attention.
The struggle of ethnic groups to be visible has crossed many borders and has managed to use a literary genre as an instrument of visibility, since its characteristics allow to show the impact that situations such as technological, scientific and social advances have on society.
Without a doubt, showing the reality of racial and ethnic groups is essential and literature is creating a bridge to disseminate it.
"These stories are starting to look at science fiction beyond the stereotype of traveling through space and conquering it and seeing it as something much more regional, localized and connecting with communities and how they're experiencing the world right now," said Ericka A. Hoagland, associate professor and coordinator of Graduate Studies, English and Creative Writing at Stephen F. Austin State University, at a press conference organized by Ethnic Media Services.
Hoagland discussed some science fiction stories that help make ethnic groups visible and recommended showing students that literature can provide great lessons, and that it is not only for white men, but that women and communities of color can also write and be successful in this genre.
"American science fiction in the mid-20th century was very exclusive and exclusionary, considering which authors were being published and promoted, and many women and people of color were not being promoted and took much longer to be able to write," she explained.
And due to various reasons such as discrimination, racism and the gender gap, the path of writers of color has been more complicated and to date, they still struggle to have more dissemination and support for their dissemination.
"I'm still learning how deep this diverse history of science fiction goes," he said.
In her turn, Libia Brenda, a writer, editor and translator who currently resides in Mexico City, pointed out that at least in Mexico and Latin America, although there are serious situations such as poverty, violence, murders and femicides, there are authors from other generations who influence literature, but also culture and the fact that they are colonized countries.
"In Mexico, when we imagine a future - especially young women - we try to imagine something based on hope, not an impossible world, but a world that is the product of change," she stressed.
She also pointed out the need to write things that focus on the different voices and origins that exist, avoiding ethnocentrism, that is, avoiding a single vision of the world.
For his part, Ken Liu, an American author of speculative fiction and winner of the Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy awards, pointed out the need to "redefine" technology - understanding that it is a manifestation of human patterns in the world where there are cultural factors, capital and ideologies - through science fiction literature, to make it part of the construction of modernity and the future.
Isis Asare, CEO and founder of Sistah Scifi — the first Black-owned science fiction and fantasy bookstore in the United States — said, “As a queer woman of color in America, where there are so many limitations, science fiction is a place where you can ignore class and gender limitations and explore the world.
"Science fiction is about developing practices and exploring themes to re-imagine," she said, noting that in her experience, oppression is what limits imagination.
Finally, Samit Basu, an Indian novelist and filmmaker of science fiction, fantasy and superhero novels, children's books, graphic novels, short stories and non-fiction works, pointed out the importance of writing stories that consider the different filters of reality in which we are living.
"I live in a part of the world and I'm writing a book where I hope to capture everyday reality, even though everyone says it's a dystopia. And I realized that a dystopia is a function of distance, where my reality, for other people, can be seen as a complaint or a criticism," she said.
Science fiction is certainly capable of showing the multiplicity of cultures, characteristics, social problems and hopes of each region about which it is written.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
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