The ''Kraith'' stories are a well-known set of early ''
Star Trek
''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the Star Trek: The Original Series, series of the same name and became a worldwide Popular culture, pop-culture Cultural influence of ...
''
fan fiction
Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...
. The earliest entries were written by
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Jacqueline Lichtenberg (born March 25, 1942, Flushing, Queens, New York (state), New York) is an American science fiction author.
Many of her early novels are set in the Sime~Gen Universe, which she first described in a short story in 1969. Writ ...
(best known for her later professionally-published
Sime~Gen Universe novels) starting in 1969. These continuing through the first few years after the cancellation of the first ''Star Trek'' series. The stories are named after the kraith, a goblet or chalice used in the performance of certain Vulcan rituals which feature prominently in several of the stories.
Background
The first few stories, beginning with "
Spock
Spock is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterpri ...
's Affirmation", were published in the ''
T Negative''
fanzine
A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleas ...
, a publication edited by
Ruth Berman
Ruth Berman is an American writer of weird science fiction and speculative poetry. In 2003, she won the Rhysling Award for Best Short Poem. She was also the winner of the 2006 Dwarf Stars Award for her poem ''Knowledge Of''. In 1973, she was a ...
.' in ''T-Negative'' 8. As interest grew, later stories were published in a wider range of outlets, and other authors began to make contributions to the sequence of stories. Over fifty amateur and professional authors have contributed to ''Kraith''.
The series' emphasis on stories with sociological, psychological and emotional plotlines had an impact on ''Star Trek'' fan fiction. A high proportion of early contributors to the ''Kraith'' storyline were women, and this has continued to be reflected in the high proportion of female fan writers.
Plot
The story of ''Kraith'' is ostensibly concerned with Spock finding a wife. The series, however, set out to question the presentation, in ''Star Trek'', of humans as the dominant race throughout the galaxy.
James Kirk was shown as imposing not only human values, but specifically 20th century American values on them, supposedly for their own good or to save them from being conquered by the
Klingon
The Klingons ( ; Klingon language, Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a humanoid species of aliens in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''.
Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star T ...
s. Lichtenberg's stories showed this as reflecting the overall attitude of the Earth-dominated
Federation
A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...
toward unaffiliated and member worlds, which other cultures and species, which would have different values and might reject capitalism, would object to.
Vulcan, with its
monoculture
In agriculture, monoculture is the practice of growing one crop species in a field at a time. Monocultures increase ease and efficiency in planting, managing, and harvesting crops short-term, often with the help of machinery. However, monocultur ...
derived from the Reforms of
Surak
Surak is a fictional character in the backstory of the ''Star Trek'' television series and franchises. He is portrayed as the most important philosopher in the history of the planet Vulcan (Star Trek), Vulcan. During an Earth-like "modern age", ...
, has been affected by contact with other races. Many Vulcans in the stories feel the changes are not for the better. A major plot arc concerns a proposal that Vulcan secede from the Federation. It is officially voted down, but there are still many who agree with the idea. Lichtenberg's goal was to show that the Vulcan culture we saw on the show was not perfect, and that contact with other civilizations would help post-Reform culture evolve from its present, static form, to "what it ought to become". The friendship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy became a microcosm reflecting these changes.
Lichtenberg believed that, at the time, most readers were incapable of accepting the ideas she proposed, because they were far too radical or ahead of their time.
[In the "Author's Preface" to ''Kraith Collected I'', p. 3, she explains the necessity of "gently introducing" readers to her ideas over a multi-story series: "The concepts are radical and very strange. Not one in five hundred would be able to accept them."]
''Kraith'' took a different turn with the input of
Sondra Marshak
Sondra Marshak (née Hassan; born June 15, 1942) is an American science-fiction writer. She is most well known for her work co-written with Myrna Culbreath. She was a co-writer of ''Star Trek Lives!'' (1975), with Jacqueline Lichtenberg, and tel ...
as Lichtenberg's chief collaborator. One of Lichtenberg's plot arcs concerned the idea that Kirk, having been in contact with a number of
telepathic
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
alien species, had gained telepathy. In order learn control and proper use of his new abilities he came to Vulcan to attend a psychic school. For this and other reasons, some politically complex, he was then adopted by
Sarek
Sarek is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock. The character was originally played by Mark Lenard in the epi ...
and educated in the
Vulcan way of life. This education had occasionally involved a "Warder-Liege compact" between Kirk and Spock, in which Kirk accepted Spock as his mentor and obeyed his commands (or vice versa, as in the Kraith novel ''Federation Centennial'').
Marshak saw plot possibilities in the Warder-Liege and revived and expanded on its implications. Later ''Kraith'' stories are rife with
BDSM
BDSM is a variety of often Eroticism, erotic practices or Sexual roleplay, roleplaying involving Bondage (BDSM), bondage, Discipline (BDSM), discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given ...
undertones, and in one entry,
Joan Winston's "The Maze" (published in ''Metamorphosis'' 2), Spock
spanks Kirk as a punishment for disobeying an order in favor of saving Spock's life while under Warder-Liege restrictions.{{fact, date=July 2018
Legacy
Although the classic ''Kraith'' stories are not
slash fiction
Slash fiction (also known as "m/m slash" or slashfic) is a genre of fan fiction that focuses on Romance (love), romantic or sexual attraction, sexual relationships between fictional characters of the same sex.Bacon-Smith, Camille. "Spock Among ...
, some commentators have seen ''Kraith'' as a precursor to some forms of slash: hurt/comfort themes, and themes of emotional and mental closeness, as well as the BDSM implications later in the series, are clearly closely related to themes found in many slash works.
References
See also
*
Speciesism
Speciesism () is a term used in philosophy regarding the treatment of individuals of different species. The term has several different definitions. Some specifically define speciesism as discrimination or unjustified treatment based on an indivi ...
*
Xenophobia
Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...
1969 short stories
Star Trek fan fiction