Jeanette Winterson’s book about a foster mother and son in 17th century England is a travel novel that sometimes reminds some of Calvino’s work. This book gives a new meaning to science fiction because the ’science’ that is being challenged here is not the usual mathematics, physics or philosophy but rather history and the science of feelings. In other words, Winterson teaches us that science fiction doesn’t have to be about the future, it can also be about the past. What’s so special about this book is that even though it has references to historical figures such as Charles I, it isn’t an alternative history, because history runs its course along the book and no one denies what happened. The real protagonists of the book are not historical figures; most chances are that they never really existed. Most of all, if you read the opening lines you can see that Winterson, like The Bible, does not accept the idea that there is a present, past or future. The book breaks the chronological order of times and more than that Sexing the Cherry defies reality and that’s what makes it science fiction. We have to take a break from reality when words become a palpable thing where a banana is seen as a devilish obstacle. We can think that the idea that there is a city where people live above an open alligator pool is preposterous or the fact that two lovers can choke on their own words is weird, but don’t we all live on the edge of danger? And even though choking on one’s word is a metaphor to reality, where people are being hurt by words, even that is presented to us with the means of defamiliarization. One of the lessons that I take from this book is that science fiction doesn’t have to be science but a way to challenge our wit and feelings by looking at reality in a whole different perspective. And that is what great literature should do.
In the upcoming weeks we shall deal with gender and Polish literature, and if possible, we shall combine both.