A Companion to Science Fiction assembles essays by an international range of scholars which discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers.
* This Companion conveys the scale and variety of science fiction.
* Shows how science fiction has been used as a means of debating cultural issues.
* Essays by an international range of scholars discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers.
* Addresses general topics, such as the history and origins of the genre, its engagement with science and gender, and national variations of science fiction around the English-speaking world.
* Maps out connections between science fiction, television, the cinema, virtual reality technology, and other aspects of the culture.
* Includes a section focusing on major figures, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Guin.
* Offers close readings of particular novels, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Cuprins
Notes on Contributors ix
Introduction: Approaching Science Fiction 1
Part I Surveying the Field 9
1 Hard Reading: The Challenges of Science Fiction 11
]Tom Shippey
2 The Origins of Science Fiction 27
George Slusser
3 Science Fiction/Criticism 43
Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr.
4 Science Fiction Magazines: The Crucibles of Change 60
Mike Ashley
Part II Topics and Debates 77
5 Utopia 79
Phillip E. Wegner
6 Science Fiction and Religion 95
Stephen R.L. Clark
7 ‘Monsters of the Imagination’: Gothic, Science, Fiction 111
Fred Botting
8 Science Fiction and Ecology 127
Brian Stableford
9 Feminist Fabulation 142
Marleen S. Barr
10 Time and Identity in Feminist Science Fiction 156
Jenny Wolmark
11 Science Fiction and the Cold War 171
M. Keith Booker
Part III Genres and Movements 185
12 Hard Science Fiction 187
Gary Westfahl
13 The New Wave 202
Rob Latham
14 Cyberpunk 217
Mark Bould
15 Science Fiction and Postmodernism 232
Veronica Hollinger
16 The Renewal of ‘Hard’ Science Fiction 248
Donald M. Hassler
Part IV Science Fiction Film 259
17 American Science Fiction Film: An Overview 261
Vivian Sobchack
18 Figurations of the Cyborg in Contemporary Science Fiction Novels and Films 275
Christine Cornea
19 British Television Science Fiction 289
Peter Wright
Part V The International Scene 307
20 Canadian Science Fiction 309
Douglas Barbour
21 Japanese and Asian Science Fiction 323
Takayuki Tatsumi
22 Australian Science Fiction 337
Van Ikin and Sean Mc Mullen
Part VI Key Writers 351
23 The Grandeur of H.G. Wells 353
Robert Crossley
24 Isaac Asimov 364
John Clute
25 John Wyndham: The Facts of Life Sextet 375
David Ketterer
26 Philip K. Dick 389
Christopher Palmer
27 Samuel Delaney: A Biographical and Critical Overview 398
Carl Freedman
28 Ursula K. Le Guin 408
Warren G. Rochelle
29 Gwyneth Jones and the Anxieties of Science Fiction 420
Andy Sawyer
30 Arthur C. Clarke 431
Edward James
31 Greg Egan 441
Russell Blackford
Part VII Readings 453
32 Mary Shelley: Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus 455
Susan E. Lederer and Richard M. Ratzan
33 Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland 466
Jill Rudd
34 Aldous Huxley: Brave New World 477
David Seed
35 Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451 489
Brian Baker
36 Joanna Russ: The Female Man 500
Jeanne Cortiel
37 J.G. Ballard: Crash 512
Roger Luckhurst
38 Margaret Atwood: The Handmaid’s Tale 522
Faye Hammill
39 William Gibson: Neuromancer 534
Andrew M. Butler
40 Kim Stanley Robinson: Mars Trilogy 544
Carol Franko
41 Iain M. Banks: Excession 556
Farah Mendlesohn
Index 567
Despre autor
David Seed is Professor in the School of English at Liverpool University. He has published books on Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, science fiction and the Cold War, and cultural representations of brainwashing. He edits the Science Fiction series of Liverpool University Press and serves as a consulting editor for the journal Science Fiction Studies.
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