The Future

How did American science fiction imagine the future? While paying some attention to the scientific, political, and cultural contexts from which particular visions of the future emerged, we will work above all to develop an overarching sense of science fiction as a genre. The course will provide different analytical paradigms (Formalist, Marxist, Feminist, &c.) to explore the stakes and the strategies for imagining future worlds. After some initial attention to the magazine and pulp culture that helped to establish the genre, we will spotlight major SF movements (Afro Futurism, Cyberpunk, Biopunk, etc.) and major authors (including Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, Samuel R. Delaney, and Octavia Butler). Finally, we will use this 20th-century history to think about 21st-century SF work across different media, and to think about how we ourselves imagine the future.

ENGL 13512 | SIGN 26088 | CCCT 13512