Reading Science Fiction

by Gunn, James; Barr, Marleen S.; Candelaria, Matthew

• ISBN13: 9780230527171
• ISBN10: 0230527175
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Science Fiction is illuminated by world class scholars and fiction writers, who introduce the history, concepts and contexts necessary to understanding the genre. Their groundbreaking approach provides insights into today's SF world and makes learning how to read Science Fiction an exciting collaborative process for teachers and students.

Author Biography

JAMES GUNN, Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Kansas, has published more than a dozen novels and half a dozen collections of stories. His best-known novels are The Immortals, The Dreamers, The Listeners, Kampus and The Joy Makers. The Immortals was filmed as The Immortal and became a TV series. His academic publications include Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the six-volume anthology The Road to Science Fiction, The Science of Science-Fiction Writing, Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction and Inside Science Fiction.

MARLEEN S BARR is known for her pioneering work in feminist science fiction and teaches in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. She has won the Science Fiction Research Association Pilgrim Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction criticism. Barr is the author of Alien to Feminity: Speculative Fiction and Feminist Theory, Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond, Feminist Fabulation: Space/Postmodern Fiction and Genre Fission: A New Discouse Practice for Cultural Studies. Barr has edited many anthologies and co-edited the special science fiction issue of PMLA.

MATTHEW CANDELARIA received his PhD from the Universit of Kansas and has published articles on science fiction. He is recipient of the 2003 Golden Quill Award from the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest and co-editor of Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors

Introduction

Mapping Science Fiction Editor's Introduction Defining Science Fiction

What is Science Fiction - and How it Grew

Narrative Strategies in Science Fiction

There is No Such Thing as Science Fiction

Science Fiction and Popular Culture SF Movies: The Fued of Eye and Idea

The Feedback Loop

Computers in Science Fiction

Cross-Fertilization or Coincidence? SF and Video games

Theoretical Approaches to Science Fiction Gender is a Problem That Can Be Solved: Women's SF and Feminist Theory

Marxism and SF

Reading SF with Postcolonial Theory

Encountering International Science Fiction Through a Latin American Lens

Reading Science Fiction in the Classroom Reading Science Fiction as Science Fiction

Reading Joanna Russ in Context: Science, Utopia and Postmodernity

Reading Science Fiction's Interdisciplinary Conversation with Science and Technology Studies

Science Fiction and Diverse Disciplines Neuroscience Fiction Redux

Physics Through Science Fiction

Science Fiction and Biology

The Invigoration of a Philosophic Issue in Science Fiction: How

Finds a Stage in the Foundation and Dune Trilogies

Science Fiction and the Internet

The Reading Science Fiction Blog Launching the Reading Science Fiction Blog: Episode I

The Reader Response Force is With You

Works Cited

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