1994 00 00 Transition - Alien Nation (Book Reviews) - Luise White

Magazine Overview

This document is a review from the journal *Transition*, Issue 63, published in 1994 by Indiana University Press on behalf of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute. The review, titled "ALIEN NATION: The hidden obsession of UFO literature: race in space," is written by Luise White and discusses several books on UFO abductions, including works by David M. Jacobs, Edith Fiore, Raymond E. Fowler, Budd Hopkins, and Karla Turner.

The Genre of UFO Abduction Narratives

Luise White begins by describing the typical UFO abduction experience as depicted in literature: repeated abductions aboard alien spacecraft for study, invasive medical procedures, and sometimes the removal of fetuses or impregnation. She notes the striking similarities in these accounts, often recalled under hypnosis, which lead researchers to believe they are true. However, White posits that these similarities might indicate that the stories form a genre, akin to recollection and authorship, rather than literal truth.

She explains that many books on the subject are biographies of individuals who, through hypnotic regression, retrieve memories of abductions. These individuals often initially experience symptoms like "missing time," anxiety, and unexplained marks, leading them to seek counseling from experts sympathetic to UFO lore. These experts then use hypnosis to bring the abduction experience to conscious memory, often co-authoring books with the abductees. This process, White argues, contributes to the birth of a genre.

David M. Jacobs's book, *Secret Life*, is presented as a structured collage of abduction narratives, using quotes from abductees and hypnosis sessions to argue for the reality of UFO abductions by highlighting commonalities. White, however, views these narratives not as evidence of aliens, but as illuminating insights into "ourselves."

Abduction Narratives as Stories About Race

A central thesis of the review is that abduction narratives, as a genre, tend to configure themselves as stories about race. White draws parallels between contemporary UFO abduction accounts and eighteenth and nineteenth-century first-person narratives of Americans captured by Indians. She argues that without notions of racial difference, there would be virtually no abduction literature. This concept of race is not the socially constructed idiom of modern times, but rather the old-fashioned, discredited ideas of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, informed by European imperial expansion, physiological difference, and the possibility of interbreeding.

White uses Bram Stoker's *Count Dracula* as an example of first-person abduction fiction from the 1890s that reflects ideas about race and the measurement of race mixing through bodily fluids. She contends that the concept of race invoked by abduction narratives is tied to the idea of European imperial expansion and concerns about hybridity.

The Role of Hypnosis and Interrogation

The review delves into the nature of evidence derived from interviews and hypnosis. White questions whether we can ever hear anything but the inquisitors' categories or if the stories reflect a reality known only to the abductee. She suggests that dialogic interrogations might reveal conflicts between the interviewer and the informant. The concepts and categories used in UFO abduction accounts are seen as closely related to contemporary American racial neuroses, making it important to examine the issues of hybridity, genetic dominance, and colonization that these narratives reveal.

Time and Racial Difference

Abductees are often alerted to their plight by "missing time," which White suggests is a trope used to mark racial and cultural differences. While Jacobs sought to order these missing hours chronologically, White emphasizes that the very nature of interrogation reveals not only the world of the aliens but also the world of the interrogators. She notes that contemporary UFO abduction narratives seem to be deeply embedded in contemporary American racial neuroses, raising questions about race, gender, reproduction, and nation.

UFO Abduction Narratives and the Tedious Health of Subversive Texts

White asserts that UFO abduction narratives, whether considered popular culture or a new academic discipline, possess the "tedious health of subversive texts." They challenge government secrecy and orthodox science while engaging with the complex politics of our time, including the nature of racial difference and who has the right to express it.

Race and Alien Reproduction

The review explores what can be learned about race from UFO narratives. While Jacobs insists that the abduction experience transcends race, gender, and class, White points out that race is often presented as an alien invention. The aliens are described as a separate race, with varying characteristics, and their interest in human reproduction is highlighted. This interest mirrors historical concerns about the physiological extent of biological and cultural differences between races and the implications of interbreeding.

Descriptions of aliens often involve physical characteristics that reflect human biases. For instance, the concept of alien skin is contested, and gender is often attributed by the abductee rather than inherent in the alien. The review notes that while some abductees report gendered aliens, most describe them as lacking distinct sexual characteristics, which White links to historical tropes like the Hottentot apron.

The Obsession with Human Reproduction

White argues that aliens in these narratives are not curious about human sexualities but are obsessed with human reproduction. This focus on how humans reproduce, the mechanisms of sex, bonding, and nurturing offspring, is seen as reflecting nineteenth-century ideas about race and biological differences. The question of whether humans and aliens can have sex is framed by whether they are biologically compatible, a question that depends on the researcher's interpretation.

Male Genitalia and the Discourse of Abduction

The review highlights the prevalence of male genitalia in abduction narratives, suggesting that the discourse itself is heavily penile. The mechanics of human reproduction are central, with male roles being particularly emphasized. The collection of sperm and semen is a common theme, and the absence of it is noted in some accounts. White points out that even when actual penises are not described, phallic symbols abound, such as the circumcised eyelids of alien babies or nosebleeds caused by devices inserted into the nasal cavity, which she links to ethnic descriptions of noses representing penises.

Women's Bodies and Reproductive Rights

In contrast to the focus on male genitalia, the descriptions of women's bodies by researchers are portrayed as more alien than the aliens themselves. Aliens are depicted as having a profound knowledge of women's reproductive cycles, even in cases of tubal ligations or hysterectomies. The narratives explore themes of impregnation by aliens, removal of fetuses, and the ethical implications of these events. White connects these issues to contemporary debates about reproductive rights, childbirth, and child custody.

The "Last Laugh" for Women?

While abduction narratives often reinforce gender stereotypes, some abductees resist the biological imperatives of alien experimentation. The review discusses instances where abducted women are shown rooms with numerous hybrid babies and are told they are needed as mothers. However, some women express anger and resistance, asserting their rights and questioning the aliens' claims. White suggests that in these contemporary debates about reproductive rights, women may ultimately have the "last laugh," as their role in reproduction and the continuation of their "seed" is emphasized.

Broader Implications of UFO Narratives

White concludes by stating that UFO abduction narratives contest the terrain of racial difference, not gender. She argues that the discourse passionately argues against racial exclusivity and depicts a universe where races and species must mingle to survive. The narratives highlight the interdependence of different racial groups for health and sustenance, depicting not only intimate exploitations but also intimate dependencies. The review questions why reproductive rights and child custody are debated within the context of UFO abduction narratives, suggesting that these stories tap into fundamental human anxieties about control, reproduction, and identity.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this review are the intersection of UFO abduction literature with concepts of race, gender, and reproduction. The editorial stance of *Transition*, as reflected in this review, is critical and analytical, using the phenomenon of UFO abductions to explore deeper societal issues and historical underpinnings of race and identity. The review challenges the literal interpretation of abduction accounts, instead using them as a lens to examine contemporary anxieties and debates, particularly those concerning biological determinism, reproductive rights, and the construction of racial categories. The author's argument that these narratives are more about "us" than "them" underscores a critical engagement with popular culture and its reflection of societal concerns.

Title: ALIEN NATION
Issue: 33
Date: Not specified

This issue of ALIEN NATION delves into the complex interplay between alien abduction narratives, contemporary social debates, and the nature of communication.

Analysis of Abduction Narratives and Speech

The article begins by examining the assertion that alien abductions are "proven" due to the unifying factor of belief among those who accept them. It questions the methodology of researchers like Jacobs who aim to exclude political opinions from their analysis of abduction phenomena. The author posits that the varying vocabularies people use to describe complex, emotional, and embodied experiences, such as alien encounters, are deeply tied to how contemporary society understands speech and the right to express oneself. The text argues that reducing memory and imagination to a dichotomy between speech and silence, or between speaking "about" and speaking "in their own words," can obscure the actual sites of expression and the diverse rhetorical strategies employed. It emphasizes that the speaker's position does not dictate the speech itself, and that once we consider selves and subjectivities, speech and silence are not opposites but rather strategies of varying reliability. The persistence of abduction narratives is presented as evidence of different sites of speech, where concepts and issues are distinct from their import, and where "speech about" is shaped by memory retrieval and negotiation, not just appropriation.

UFO Narratives and Reproductive Rights

The discussion then shifts to the concerns and imagery surrounding current reproductive rights debates. The article references Roz Petchasky's work on the "free-floating fetus" concept in the right-to-life movement and how pro-choice rhetoric sometimes obscures paternity, framing abortion as a matter between a woman and her physician. UFO narratives are analyzed as addressing similar issues of biological and social reproduction, exploring the dynamics of sperm and ova and their influence on social imperatives. The language used in these narratives, such as references to "big-eyed aliens" and "laparoscopies from outer space," is interpreted as potentially reflecting racial concerns. While acknowledging that the idea of race might be considered old-fashioned, the text notes that the genre of "authentic testimony" revealing "truths" about racial and cultural differences is itself an old one.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

This issue appears to focus on the socio-cultural implications of UFO phenomena, particularly how they intersect with and comment on broader societal issues like reproductive rights and race. The editorial stance seems to advocate for a nuanced understanding of communication, acknowledging the diverse ways individuals express their experiences and the underlying social and political contexts that shape these expressions. The analysis suggests that seemingly disparate topics like alien abductions and reproductive rights can share common thematic ground and reveal deeper truths about human concerns regarding reproduction, identity, and social structures.