The Cambridge History of Science Fiction

Provides a comprehensive, global, detailed history of science fiction from its beginnings to the present.

Gerry Canavan (Edited by), Eric Carl Link (Edited by)

9781107166097, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 January 2019

836 pages, 2 b/w illus.
23.5 x 16 x 5 cm, 1.28 kg

The first science fiction course in the American academy was held in the early 1950s. In the sixty years since, science fiction has become a recognized and established literary genre with a significant and growing body of scholarship. The Cambridge History of Science Fiction is a landmark volume as the first authoritative history of the genre. Over forty contributors with diverse and complementary specialties present a history of science fiction across national and genre boundaries, and trace its intellectual and creative roots in the philosophical and fantastic narratives of the ancient past. Science fiction as a literary genre is the central focus of the volume, but fundamental to its story is its non-literary cultural manifestations and influence. Coverage thus includes transmedia manifestations as an integral part of the genre's history, including not only short stories and novels, but also film, art, architecture, music, comics, and interactive media.

Dedication
Contributors
On not defining science fiction: an introduction Eric Carl Link and Gerry Canavan
Part I. Before the New Wave: 1. Science fiction before science fiction: ancient, medieval, and early modern science fiction Ryan Vu
2. Interrelations: science fiction and the Gothic Roger Luckhurst
3. European science fiction in the nineteenth century Terry Harpold
4. Inventing new worlds: the age of manifestos and utopias Rhys Williams
5. War machines and child geniuses: American Edisonades Nathaniel Williams
6. Afrofuturism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries W. Andrew Shephard
7. Science fiction, modernism, and the avant-garde Paul March-Russell
8. The Gernsback years: science fiction and the pups (1920s–30s) Brooks Landon
9. Astounding stories: John W. Campbell and the Golden Age, 1938–50 Michael R. Page
10. Science fiction in Continental Europe before World War Two Salvatore Proietti
11. Rise of the Supermen: science fiction during World War II Andrew Pilsch
12. Utopia …: science fiction in the 1950s and 1960s Malisa Kurtz
13. … or bust: science fiction and the bomb (1945–60) Brent Ryan Bellamy
14. Women in the Golden Age of science fiction Jane Donawerth
15. Better living through chemistry: science fiction and consumerism in the Cold War Lee Konstantinou
16. 'The Golden Age of science fiction is twelve': children's and young-adult science fiction into the 1980s Michael Levy
17. Spectacular horizons: the birth of science fiction film, television, and radio, 1900–59 Sean Redmond
18. Fandom and fan culture in the Golden Age and beyond Karen Hellekson
19. Science fiction and its critics Rob Latham
Part II. The New Wave: 20. Riding the new wave Andrew M. Butler
21. New wave science fiction and the counterculture Shannon Davies Mancus
22. Science fiction film, television, and music during the new wave, 1960–80 Jeffrey Hicks
23. Science fiction, gender, and sexuality in the new wave Lauren J. Lacey
24. Shestidesyatniki: the conjunction of inner and outer space in Eastern European science fiction Larisa Mikhaylova
25. Afrofuturism in the new wave era Mark Bould
26. New wave science fiction and the Vietnam War David M. Higgins
27. New wave science fiction and the dawn of the environmental movement Rebecca Evans
28. Stagflation, new wave, and the death of the future Greg Conley
29. Science fiction in the academy in the 1970s Ritch Calvin
Part III. After the New Wave: 30. The birth of the science fiction franchise Stefan Rabitsch and Michael Fuchs
31. Science fiction and postmodernism (1980s–90s) Phillip E. Wegner
32. Cyberpunk and post-cyberpunk Graham J. Murphy
33. Science fiction film and television in the 1980s and 1990s Nicole de Fee
34. 'Strangers to ourselves': gender and sexuality in recent science fiction Veronica Hollinger
35. Contemporary science fiction and Afrofuturism Isiah Lavender, III
36. Science fiction and the revenge of nature: environmentalism (1990s–2010s) Eric C. Otto
37. Science fiction and the return of Empire: global capitalism, Tom Cruise, and the War on Terror (2000s–2010s) Dan Hassler-Forest
38. Comic books from the 1980s to the 2010s Aaron Kashtan
39. Video games and virtual lives: science fiction gaming (1980s–2010s) Pawel Frelik
40. Twenty-first century Chinese science fiction on the rise: anti-authoritarianism and dreams of freedom Hua Li
41. Ciencia ficcion/ficcao cientifica from Latin America Rachel Haywood Ferreira
42. Science fiction and the Global South Hugh Charles O'Connell
43. Science fiction film and television of the twenty-first century Sherryl Vint
44. Dystopian futures and utopian presents in contemporary young adult science fiction Rebekah Sheldon
45. Convergence culture: science fiction fandom today Paul Booth
46. Theorizing science fiction: science fiction studies since 2000 John Rieder
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Science fiction [FL], Literary reference works [DSR], Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers [DSK], Literature: history & criticism [DS]