(Re)Imagining the World: American Speculative Fiction 4219-RS248
The course will focus on the ways in which American speculative fiction engages with social, cultural, and political issues of the contemporary world. We will discuss the ways in which alternatives are imagined, the current situation is criticized, and taken-for-granted frames of reference are redesigned. Through reading (and watching) a wide array of speculative fiction and critical texts on science fiction, we will think through the critical and creative opportunities offered by the genre.
Some topics include:
Utopias/dystopias
Alien intelligences
SF ecologies
Speculative retellings of history
The attached list of primary and secondary sources is preliminary and will be supplemented and changed based on the participants’ own interests.
Please note that this is a reading-heavy course; at least 50% of the materials discussed will be literature. Participants must be willing to do both primary and secondary readings and perform critical analysis of literary texts (though TV shows and movies will be discussed as well).
Since the proseminar is focused as much on content as on research methods and skills, students will choose a speculative text, analyze it using a selected theoretical apparatus, and write a 10-15 page research paper, in addition to several other course requirements.
Type of course
proseminars
Learning outcomes
Upon completing this course the student:
1. KNOWLEDGE
* has a knowledge of the contemporary American speculative fiction
* is aware of the evolution of the conventions, trends, and themes in American speculative fiction
* has an advanced knowledge of American speculative fiction’s engagement with contemporary social and political issues
2. SKILLS
* is able to analyze speculative fiction texts
* is able to formulate critical arguments about cultural texts
* is able to use a range of academic perspectives and methodologies in his or her independent research
3. COMPETENCES
* is able to plan and undertake research steps necessary to write an independent research paper
* can present his or her project and findings publicly
* can actively and respectfully engage in group discussions
Assessment criteria
Since this is an intensive seminar (8 ECTS), the amount of work required, both in-class and outside it, is more substantial than in an average elective course. Apart from independent research, which students will conduct under the instructor’s guidance, the seminar requirements include:
* active seminar participation 20%
* in-class presentation of the proposal of the final project 20%
* annotated bibliography of key secondary texts relevant for the selected text, to be used in the research paper 20%
* 10-15 page research paper 40%
Final grade (comprising the above): over 90% – 5; 85-89% – 4+; 75-84% – 4; 70-74% – 3+; 60-69% – 3.
Bibliography
Primary texts (selection, subject to change)
The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
The Only Harmless Great Thing, Brooke Bolander
This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
“The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” Ted Chiang
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” Ursula K LeGuin
“The Ones who Stay and Fight,” NK Jemisin
“The Effluent Engine,” NK Jemisin
Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky
“Bloodchild,” Octavia Butler
Annihilation, Jeff Van der Meer
Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009), created by Ronald D. Moore
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), dir. George Miller
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014), dir. Matt Reeves
Arrival (2016), dir. Denis Villeneuve
Chew (2009-2016), created by John Layman and Rob Guillory
Secondary Literature
Carrington, andré m. Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction. Univ. Of Minnesota Press, 2016.
Csicsery-Ronay, Istvan. The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction. Wesleyan University Press, 2011.
Hollinger, Veronica, Wendy Gay Pearson, Joan Gordon (eds.). Queer Universes: Sexualities in Science Fiction. Liverpool University Press, 2008.
Melzer, Patricia. Alien Constructions: Science Fiction and Feminist Thought. University of Texas Press, 2006.
Rieder, John. Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction. Wesleyan Univ. Press, 2008.
Schalk, Sami. Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women's Speculative Fiction. Duke University Press, 2018.
Seymour, Nicole. Strange Natures: Futurity, Empathy, and the Queer Ecological Imagination. Univ. of Illinois Press, 2013.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: