"Love After the End" and "Eloise" Discussion Essay
The Effect of Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions in “Eloise”
By Avery Andrews
March 15, 2023
The use of science fiction and fantasy conventions in “Eloise” by David A. Robertson, a story from the collection entitled “Love After the End” edited by Joshua Whitehead, allows for the writing to convey the emotional and psychological experiences of Indigenous and queer peoples in a unique way. It highlights the importance of Indigenous storytelling as a tool for addressing contemporary social issues. The science fiction and fantasy genres in stories create a space in which a story can be told with more conventions that the basic narrative that is often pushed. Integrating more qualities into a story that surround a different idea of reality allows for readers to accept information presented to them easier, whereas if the same information was to be suggested in a non-fiction format, the reader would be quicker to judge and fight against factual evidence.
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the ways in which science fiction and fantasy can be used to explore and address contemporary social issues. For Indigenous writers, in particular, these genres offer a unique opportunity to convey the emotional and psychological experiences of their communities, while also challenging dominant narratives about Indigenous peoples and their histories. In the short story “Eloise”, the author employs science fiction and fantasy conventions to tell a powerful story about a young woman who fights for her own memory to be kept alive in the mind of someone she loves. Cassie, the protagonist, leads the reader through the examination of a program titled “The Gate” that people around her use in order to fulfill many needs, like looking to a future that one has not yet achieved. Emma is an Indigenous woman, and the object of Cassie’s affections. During Cassie’s investigation of others around her using “The Gate” to look at alternatives to their own timelines, she finds out that Emma plans to use the program to forget her. Through the use of such genres, the complexities of Indigenous experiences is subtly woven into the story in a way that is both imaginative and thought-provoking, highlighting the importance of Indigenous storytelling as a tool for addressing contemporary social issues.
The science fiction aspect of “Eloise” allows for underrepresented emotions and stories to be told from a new perspective. Emma and Cassie are two women and the main characters around which the story is focused. Unlike most stories with romance as a main plot point, this story includes queer, sapphic love. The story explores the two girls’ feelings for each other, and also Emma’s attempts to forget Cassie. It could be argued that Emma feels the need to erase Cassie from her mind because their love is not the mainstream heterosexual romance. Cassie discovers Emma in her room, in the midst of a program meant to wipe any trace of Cassie from her memories. In the story, “Emma is lying on her bed…four white round stickers affixed to her temples and forehead,” (Whitehead, 185). The science fiction genre shines through in the technology created within the story meant to allow people to experience alternate life paths. Emma, throughout the story, is mentioned as someone who Cassie loved and who never called her back. Cassie then learns of Emma’s plans to eradicate her memory, and rushes to stop her. It can be argued that Emma feels the urge to bring her romantic feelings for Cassie to a halt because of the different nature of their love and the rareness of its representation. The existence of the fictional technology in the story is meant to show a physical manifestation of what many queer people feel is necessary in the real world. Many queer people often face discrimination and negative reactions to who they love. These emotions are subtly displayed in the story by Emma’s use of the technology to erase Cassie from her mind.
While the existence and usage of the technology in the story relates to emotions and experiences surrounding queer romance, it is also an homage to the experiences of Indigenous people and the idea that their history is often glossed over or erased. Deondre Smiles, a citizen of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and an Indigenous geographer, states, “We often acknowledge that Indigenous peoples did exist, but that recognition is placed in the past tense—tribes are portrayed as having historically once lived in a given space, but then they disappeared. Or their histories trail off, as if they simply stopped existing after a certain point,”(Smiles). Smiles writes about the fact that Indigenous people are often left to wonder about the gaps or areas that trail off in their histories. It is no secret that Indigenous cultures struggle to keep their own languages and stories alive because of the overpowering effects of Western colonialism. This is referenced subtly in the story by establishing Emma and her mother as Indigenous, and then showing Emma trying to forget her past. It is symbolic of the Indigenous peoples’ past being erased and forgotten over the years by history books.
The story addresses slyly the issue of indigenous peoples losing their cultures and languages due to colonialism. Nicole, Emma’s mother asks Cassie, “You know Cree?” (Whitehead, 185). “Cree” is the word used to describe specifically a member of an indigenous people, and is the language such people speak. Cassie greets Nicole by speaking and responding to her in Cree, although it is never stated that Cassie is indigenous. In fact, Cassie can be seen throughout the story speaking words in Cree even though it is not a part of her own culture. It is implied that she knows these words because of her time with Emma, who is actually indigenous. Nicole’s shock that Cassie can speak in her language even slightly shows how rare it is that indigenous people feel seen or important. Nicole is obviously shocked and pleased to hear Cassie speak her own language, and this shows the rarity of such a moment to Nicole. This moment establishes and addresses the loss and rarity of indigenous language in this simple way.
The erasure of Indigenous history is an issue that continues to affect Indigenous people, and the traces of that message in the story are shown through the light of science fiction. Chi Luu, a peripatetic linguist, states, “There’s hardly an indigenous culture surviving that does not struggle to preserve their traditional language and knowledge against the overwhelming homogenizing influences of Western colonialism,” (Luu). The erasure of Indigenous culture is not often represented or talked about in stories. By weaving the message into a fictional and impactful story, with the usage of science fiction elements to drive home the point, “Eloise” is unique and approaches the subject matter with a new perspective that makes the story more accessible to not just Indigenous people, but also Western culture. Science fiction is more likely to be accepted by Western society than a historic perspective, and so by creating this story the probability that it would reach a larger audience is high. The emotional factor included in the story by creating a queer romance and tragic aspect is due to the science fiction qualities. The technology that many of the characters use to experience life in new ways, to forget things, or change themselves is reminiscent of the same emotions one goes through when their culture or general identities are erased.
The speculative genres of “Love After the End” and specifically “Eloise” allow for a new perspective on stories that are often underrepresented or told in a way that is more defeating than uplifting or truthful. Eve Morton, a writer and Professor of Literature in Ontario, Canada, states, “I have always loved romance and speculative genres for their ability to focus on possible happier futures. These utopian dreams, however, are not an act of the author burying their head in the sand. These stories are often built on the historical processes of the past and present moment and explore other trajectories for often maligned or ignored populations,” (Morton). Morton brings up the fact that speculative genres can often open the door to more uplifting endings or messages for stories that would normally meet a dismal end in Western cultures. Morton references stories like “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Danish Girl”, both of which are movies about the queer experience and struggles that end in death and upset. She states that such stories are the norm for stories involving things like queer romance. This is why speculative fiction catches Morton’s fancy, and why it is an interesting approach as well as a new perspective to underrepresented and untold stories like Indigenous queer experiences. While speculative fiction often involves “nicer” endings to similar stories, such writing is not based in naivety, but instead it is based on the possibilities that are often ignored or disrupted by Western societies.
Daniel Heath Justice, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and professor of First Nations and Indigenous Studies and English at the University of British Columbia, wrote that Indigenous people struggle to retain stories about their culture and history. He writes that while Indigenous people have managed to retain many stories from their own culture, there are others that are “imposed upon us from outside. They belong to the colonizing populations that claim and dominate our homelands- populations from which many of us are also descended and with which we must navigate our complex relations as well,” (Justice, 2). This fact of the erasure of Indigenous cultures is displayed in “Eloise”. Cassie and Emma navigate their relationship in different ways, with Cassie seeking out Emma and attempting to build upon their past, and Emma taking a route of erasure and trying to forget the past. This complex relationship mirrors that same relationship with colonizing populations and Indigenous people that Justice writes about. Cassie, a white woman, shows disregard for Emma’s emotions about the past and the difficulties brought upon her by accepting her queerness, while Emma, an indigenous woman, feels forced to forget that which she relates to and connects with. This mirrors the realities of processing cultures and emotions.
Speculative fiction allows for the exploration of what could be, and of possibilities that are not only limited to dystopian parameters. Lauralei Garrity, a community educator focused on decolonization, writes about the mention of the apocalypse in the introduction of the Anthology from which Eloise is from. They write, “As a white reader, the word “apocalypse” conjures images pulled from popular media: meteors crashing to earth, war, explosions, death, violence, famine, drought, every-man-for-himself, cataclysm, the end of all things,” (Garrity). Garrity emphasizes the difference in the ideas of what an apocalypse is between Indigenous people and white people. They state, “You see, the word “apocalypse” to me and other colonizers is a future occurrence; it hasn’t happened yet. But for Indigenous peoples, in Turtle Island (North America) and elsewhere, the apocalypse has already happened and it continues to happen every day,” (Garrity). The recognition that this collection of stories is a very hopeful and wishful look at a future the Indigenous people would hope for after their “apocalypse” demonstrates the effects that speculative science fiction like “Eloise” can have on readers. The inclusion of real themes in a science fiction story allows for the mind to open to more possibilities when they are not convinced the story must be rooted in pure reality or stay within parameters of what is possible based on information we currently know.
The use of science fiction and fantasy conventions in ‘Eloise’, a story from the collection entitled “Love After the End”, uses speculative science fiction to convey the experiences of Indigenous and queer people in a unique way. The use of science fiction aspects within the story and the inclusion of characters struggling with underrepresented emotions and situations allows for a new perspective on the struggles of Indigenous and queer people. The fiction genre opens up the possibilities for the story to end in a more utopian way because of the lifted parameters of sticking to current or past information. With the added aspect of science fiction, the reader can allow for the story to broaden without worrying about the accuracy of facts, like one would with a historic peace. The storytelling mixed with fiction provides a perspective on queer and Indigenous experiences that cannot be reached in the same way by nonfiction writing. “Eloise”, from the collection “Love After the End”, combines the struggles and emotions of the queer and Indigenous experience with science fiction in order to express such experiences in a unique way.
Works Cited
Whitehead, Joshua. Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit Et Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction. Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022.
By: Eve Morton Issue: 8 March 2021. “Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction Edited by Joshua Whitehead.” Strange Horizons, 10 Mar. 2021, strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/love-after-the-end-an-anthology-of-two-spiArit-and-indigiqueer-speculative-fiction-edited-by-joshua-whitehead/.
Luu, Chi. “What We Lose When We Lose Indigenous Knowledge – Jstor Daily.” JSTOR Daily, daily.jstor.org/what-we-lose-when-we-lose-indigenous-knowledge/.
Garrity, Lauralei. “Commentary: Love after the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit & Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction – Rebel-Mouthed Books.” Rebel, Rebel-Mouthed Books, 22 Apr. 2021, rebelmouthedbooks.squarespace.com/blog/2021/3/3/commentary-love-after-the-end-an-anthology-of-two-spirit-amp-indigiqueer-speculative-fiction.
Justice, Daniel Heath. Why Indigenous Literatures Matter. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2018. Smiles, Deondre. “Erasing Indigenous History, Then and Now.” Origins, origins.osu.edu/article/erasing-indigenous-history-then-and-now?language_content_entity=en.
