Female Aliens in (Post-)Soviet Sci-Fi Cinema: Technology, Sacrifice and Morality Feminism

Abstract

In this article I will discuss a number of (post-) Soviet sci-fi films, stretching over a hundred years or so, to look into what function (post-) Soviet female superhuman characters have, and what they might tell us about fundamental discussions of humanity and its relation to technology, identity and gender. By looking into the traditional function of women in Russian and Soviet culture, the Marxist and Soviet attitude to technology and with a particular attention given to how notions of verticality in film is a metaphor for hierarchies, this article will shed new light on (post-) Soviet sci-fi cinema, and provide a comparison to the Western/Hollywood trope of the female cyborg. The superhuman’s origin and material composition is unknown, she does not seem to be a critique of technology, instead she seems to have a moral and pedagogical function.