Alien Zone II The Spaces of Science Fiction Cinema

by Kuhn, Annette

• ISBN13: 9781859842591
• ISBN10: 1859842593
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-12-17
• Publisher: Verso

Summary

Science fiction cinema is too often left at the margins of serious critical film study. While a handful of films are the subject of general theoretical works, the genre as a whole, and especially its cinematic aspects, are neglected in favor of straightforward considerations of character and narrative. Alien Zone 2 redresses this imbalance by looking at the ways in which contemporary science fiction cinema transforms the themes and conventions of the genre itself. In many ways a companion volume to Alien Zone, it pursues theoretical issues opened up in the earlier book but also explores fresh territory with an eye that is both reflective and interventionist. Visionary cities, psycho-cybernetics, internet fandom, the convergence of science fiction literature and science fiction film, and bodybuilder stardom are all brought under its gaze. Contributors: Will Brooker, Scott Bukatman, Catherine Constable, David Desser, Barry Keith Grant, Brooks Landon, Linda Mizejewski, Vivian Sobchack, Claudia Springer, Janet Staiger, Garrett Stewart.

Author Biography

Annette Kuhn’s books include Alien Zone: Cultural Theory and Contemporary Science Fiction Cinema; Cinema, Censorship and Sexuality; The Power of the Image: Essays on Representation and Sexuality; and Women’s Pictures: Feminism and Cinema. She is lecturer in Film and Television Studies at Glasgow University.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(10)
PART I Cultural Spaces
Introduction	11	(5)
`Sensuous Elaboration': Reason and the Visible in the Science-Fiction Film	16	(15)
Barry Keith Grant
Diegetic or Digital? The Convergence of Science-Fiction Literature and Science-Fiction Film in Hypermedia	31	(19)
Brooks Landon
Internet Fandom and the Continuing Narratives of Star Wars, Blade Runner and Alien	50	(30)
Will Brooker
PART II City Spaces
Introduction	75	(5)
Race, Space and Class: The Politics of Cityscapes in Science-Fiction Films	80	(17)
David Desser
Future Noir: Contemporary Representations of Visionary Cities	97	(26)
Janet Staiger
Cities on the Edge of Time: The Urban Science-Fiction Film	123	(29)
Vivian Sobchack
PART III Corporeal Spaces
Introduction	147	(5)
Action Bodies in Futurist Spaces: Bodybuilder Stardom as Special Effect	152	(21)
Linda Mizejewski
Becoming the Monster's Mother: Morphologies of Identity in the Alien Series	173	(30)
Catherine Constable
Psycho-cybernetics in Films of the 1990s	203	(23)
Claudia Springer
PART IV Sensuous Spaces
Introduction	221	(5)
Body Snatching: Science Fiction's Photographic Trace	226	(23)
Garrett Stewart
The Artificial Infinite: On Special Effects and the Sublime	249	(27)
Scott Bukatman
Filmography	276	(9)
Bibliography	285	(14)
Notes on Contributors	299	(2)
Index	301