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Reveling in Genre An Interview with China Miéville Author(s): Joan Gordon, China Miéville |
China Miéville was born on September 6, 1972, in Norwich, England, but has spent most of his life in London. King Rat (1998), his first novel, is a coming-of-age fantasy incorporating folk tales and drum’n’bass music into an action-packed quest. His second novel, Perdido Street Station (2000), which he wrote while working on his PhD, received a great deal of critical attention. The Scar (2002), his third novel, also very well received, is a stand-alone sequel to Perdido Street Station, taking place in the same world but with different characters. Miéville is working on a third stand-alone novel set in that world. He has published several short stories and novellas, and is presently an editor of Historical Materialism, serving as special editor of a recent issue on Marxism and Fantasy (10.4 [2002]). In May 2003, he was Guest of Honor, along with Carol Emshwiller, at WisCon, the feminist sf convention. A committed Marxist, he ran for British Parliament in 2001 as the Socialist Alliance candidate. The photo of him that appears on both Perdido Street Station and The Scar fairly represents his strong physical presence—tall, muscular, and brooding. The man himself, however, is soft-spoken, humorous, and self-deprecating. The interview which follows is based on an email dialogue conducted between March 2002 and August 2003. It represents the current interests of a writer already accomplished but still near the beginning of his career.
China Mieville rođen je 6. septembra 1972. u Norvichu u Engleskoj, ali je većinu svog života proveo u Londonu. King Rat (1998), njegov prvi roman, fantazija je o odrastanju koja uključuje narodne priče i muziku drum’n’bass u akciju ispunjenu potragom. Njegov drugi roman, Perdido Street Station (2000), koji je napisao dok je radio na doktoratu, dobio je veliku kritičku pažnju. Ožiljak (2002), njegov treći roman, takođe veoma dobro prihvaćen, samostalan je nastavak Perdido Street Station, koji se odvija u istom svetu, ali sa različitim likovima. Mieville radi na trećem samostalnom romanu smeštenom u tom svetu. Objavio je nekoliko kratkih priča i novela, a trenutno je urednik Istorijskog materijalizma, bio je specijalni urednik nedavnog broja o marksizmu i fantaziji (10.4 [2002]). U maju 2003. bio je počasni gost, zajedno sa Carol Emshviller, na VisCon -u, feminističkoj konvenciji SF -a. Predan marksista, kandidovao se za britanski parlament 2001. godine kao kandidat Socijalističke alijanse. Fotografija njega koja se pojavljuje na stranici Perdido Street i The Scar predstavlja njegovo snažno fizičko prisustvo - visok, mišićav i zamišljen. Međutim, sam čovek je tih, šaljiv i samopregorljiv. Intervju koji sledi zasnovan je na dijalogu putem e-pošte koji je vođen u periodu od marta 2002. do avgusta 2003. On predstavlja trenutne interese pisca koji su već ostvareni, ali su još na početku karijere.
Key words: authors/ Joan Gordon, China Miéville, Language/ English, historical materialism, Marxism, literature
Ključne reči: Autori/ Joan Gordon, China Miéville, Jezik / Engleski, istorijski materijalizam, Makrizam, književnost
