American science fiction and the cold war : literature and film

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

American science fiction and the cold war : literature and film

David Seed

Edinburgh University Press, c1999 , Fitzroy Dearborn

  • : us

Available at  / 15 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. 194-211) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: us ISBN 9781579581954

Description

American Science Fiction--in both literature and film--has played a key role in the portrayal of the fears inherent in the Cold War. The end of this era heralds the need for a reassessment of the literary output of the forty-year period since 1945. Working through a series of key texts, American Science Fiction and the Cold War investigates the political inflections put on American narratives in the post-war decades by Cold War cultural circumstances. Nuclear holocaust, Russian invasion, and the perceived rise of totalitarianism in American society are key elements in the author's exploration of science fiction narratives that include Fahrenheit 451, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Dr. Strangelove.

Table of Contents

  • Introduction
  • Chapter I Postwar Jeremiads: Philip Wylie and Leo Szilard
  • Chapter II Variations on a Patriotic Theme: Robert A. Heinlein
  • Chapter III History and Apocalypse in Poul Anderson
  • Chapter IV Views from the Hearth
  • Chapter V Cultures of Surveillance
  • Chapter VI Take-Over Bids: Frederik Pohl and Cyril Kornbluth
  • Chapter VII The Russians Have Come
  • Chapter VIII Embodying the Arms Race: Bernard Wolfe's Limbo
  • Chapter IX The Cold War Computerised
  • Chapter X Conspiracy Narratives
  • Chapter XI Absurdist Visions: Dr. Strangelove in Context
  • Chapter XII The Signs of War: Walter M. Miller and Russel Hoban
  • Chapter XIII In the Aftermath
  • Chapter XIV The Star Wars Debate
Volume

ISBN 9781853312274

Description

American Science Fiction - in both literature and film - has played a key role in the portrayal of the fears inherent in the Cold War. The end of this era heralds the need for a reassessment of the literary output of the forty-year period since 1945. Working through a series of important texts, David Seed investigates the political inflexions put on American narratives in the post-war decades by Cold War cultural circumstances. Nuclear holocaust, Russian invasion, and the perceived rise of totalitarianism in American society are key elements in the author'sexploration of science fiction narratives which include Fahrenheit 451, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Dr Strangelove. Written in a lively and engaging style, the author's approach draws on the significant body of Nuclear Criticism and the historicism of Hayden White and others in order to bring out the ideological tensions and urgencies in this fiction. Relating the theory to a range of popular novels, stories and films makes this book accessible to students, academics and general readers alike.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top