It seems pretty explicit about it, although "the past and present of science fiction" might be a better descriptor.
For example, here are quotes where the past:
> Delany came of age at a time when the genre [of science fiction] was indeed characterized by gee-whiz futurism, machismo adventuring, and white, heterosexual heroes.
is contrasted with the present:
> In the contemporary science-fiction scene, Delany’s race and sexuality do not set him apart as starkly as they once did.
EDIT: Actually, I hesitate to presume on the legendary New Yorker proofreaders / fact checkers, but shouldn't it be 'macho' (an adjective), not 'machismo' (a noun), 'adventuring'?
The final comments also support the theme: Some of the more conservative authors presently complaining are doing so, Dulaney thinks, because they fear the growing presence of a more diverse community and a wider acceptance of the same. Trends which will continue to grow into the future.
I think this might be attributing too much malice to the author in question though; Larry C seems more like a somewhat thoughtless writer annoyed that his low-brow entertainment books are not considered to have the same merit as Dulaney's stuff, backed up by an echo chamber online community.
Perhaps Larry C. could raise his profile with the New Yorker by joining NAMBLA. I'm sure that it was an innocent oversight on Bebergal's part to omit that detail about Delaney from the piece.
None of the following is a defence (his attitude on NAMBLA is deeply squicky to me); but, as far as I know, Delany (not Delaney) was never a member of NAMBLA. The closest that some quick Googling finds is the famous quote:
> I read the NAMBLA [Bulletin] fairly regularly and I think it is one of the most intelligent discussions of sexuality I've ever found.
It's not that cryptic. Delany and the author are highlighting the roles of marginalized communities in the genre, how they have changed (or not) over time, and what might change in the future.
I'm gonna sound like a conspiracy nut here, but it seems like a side-channel attack on Gamergate (via Sad Puppies), coupled with the "we're on the right side of history" meme.
I'm not saying I support either of those, but after following them for a while it's hard not to pick up on biased coverage in the media.
Upon re-reading, nothing particularly egregious. There is the characterization of Sad Puppies as a movement to push women and nonwhites out of the Hugo Awards, when I believe the motivation is that the participants want their fun sci-fi escapism to be evaluated as such and not by how well it coincides with the Hugo panel's politics.
Of course, the net effect of their effort has been, in practice, to favor white male authors, so the article is accurate at face value. I wouldn't expect the author to go in detail into something only tangentially related, either. It's just bothersome to see every controversy in traditionally geeky hobbies lately reduced to "white male bigots form hate mob," so even a relatively neutral mention feels biased sometimes.
Headlines are too often written prior to the editing process, however one can (at least) find reference to past and future science fiction writers in this late passage:
"“It’s socio-economic,” he said. In 1967, as the only black writer among the Nebula nominees, he didn’t represent the same kind of threat. But Delany believes that, as women and people of color start to have “economic heft,” there is a fear that what is “normal” will cease to enjoy the same position of power."
Interesting little profile of Delany. I didn't realize he was so prolific and still writing. And I'm not quite sure where to start his work.... probably not Dhalgren, right?
I started with Babel-17 and then read Nova and Stars In My Pocket... before getting into the short stories a bit (Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-Precious Stones was the first, I think).
He's a master, and his works are in a real sense masterworks. Whatever you start with, you'll probably find something to enjoy.
Stars in my pocket... is an Epic. Definitely worth it, but like Dune, it took me years of trying to get past page 100. Once past, they were both amazing works, but, oh do they start of sooo slowly.
I never had a problem with either of them, for some reason, but E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros had that effect on me pretty heavily. To this day I've never read more than 100 pages of that book in a single attempt (where attempt can be a couple weeks of concerted effort).
Dhalgren[1] is a rich, interesting book but it really isn't SF, and is very much a product of its era, the 1960s-70s. I think it is in part a fantastic re-imagining of Delaney's own early years as recounted more prosodically in "Heavenly Breakfast"[2]. There are long passages that are probably sharp parodies of figures and events in the 1970s NY literary scene. Much of it is an elevation of the 1960s San Francisco hippie scene into a dystopian fantasy world. I think it works to read the city of Bellona as a symbol of an economic status: the status of the urban underclass, some of whose members are trapped in it, while some have entered it willingly to explore it.
That smoke blown, it rewards patience with some wonderful writing and some gripping drama as well.
I'd say start with Babel-17. It's short, exciting, and dense with both lyricism and great ideas. The first book of his I read was Dhalgren though, and though I couldn't really break into it until the third try, once I did it was amazing, like no other book I've read before or since.
Babel-17 and Empire Star are both excellent and were the first things of his I read. I've tried to read Triton, Stars in My Pocket, Dhalgren, Nova, and Fall of the Towers and every single one of them has failed to gain or keep my interest.
I picked Dhalgren out of a bag of used books randomly. I'd never never read any of Delany before, but I'd read a fair amount of SF and general fiction. I can't say it was my favorite book, but it certainly wasn't impenetrable.
There are two others, Steven Barnes and (the late) Octavia Butler. Besides being great storytellers, Butler won the MacArthur Prize and Steve has written episodes for a variety of TV shows over the years. Each was (arguably) commercially more successful than Delany. If Butler were still living I'm sure she'd have been interviewed as well.
It's interesting that despite the phrase "...the face that stared back was as Negroid as my own.." in one of his short stories, it didn't occur to me that he was black until reading it in some interview or something. If I gave the line any thought at all, I probably dismissed it as poetic license or something.
I am seriously trying to understand.