ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the concept of postcolonialism provides a framework for considering religious influences on interrelations between and among divergent species and civilizations. Case studies are drawn from stories of alien interactions that recreate or subvert historical patterns of human imperial conquest. As SF creators unsettle traditional roles of colonizer and colonized, they also often interrogate the idea of “otherness” that is associated with what is “alien.” In the process, they may question assumptions of human exceptionalism. What is alien may even be embraced in stories of cross-species friendship, or of “Messianic” aliens who serve as saviors of sorts for humanity.
