CiNii Books - Science fiction : toward a world literature

In what N. Katherine Hayles describes as "this enormously ambitious posthumous volume," renowned scholar George Slusser offers a definitive version of the argument about the history of science fiction that he developed throughout his career: that several important ideas and texts, routinely overlooked in other critical studies, made significant contributions to the creation of modern science fiction as it developed into a truly global literature. He explores how key thinkers like Rene Descartes, Benjamin Constant, Thomas DeQuincey, Guy du Maupassant, J.D. Bernal, and Ralph Waldo Emerson influenced and are reflected in twentieth-century science fiction stories from the United States, Great Britain, France, Germany, Poland, and Russia. The conclusion begins with Slusser's overview of global science fiction in the twenty-first century and discusses recent developments in countries like China, Romania, and Israel. Hayles's foreword provides a useful summation of the book's contents, while science fiction writer Gregory Benford contributes an afterword providing a personal perspective on the life and thoughts of his longtime friend. The book was edited by Slusser's former colleague Gary Westfahl, a distinguished scholar in his own right.

Table of Contents

Foreword: A Novel Method for Constructing Science Fiction's Origins by N. Katherine Hayles Notes on the Text by Gary Westfahl Introduction: Science Fiction: Toward a World Literature Chapter One The Paradigms of Science Fiction Chapter Two Fraternal Frontiers: Defining a Space for Literature Chapter Three Future Liberty: Nineteenth Century Horizons Chapter Four Extending the Mind Circle: DeQuincey's English Mail Coach Chapter Five Genre at the Crossroads: Cultural Readings of Maupassant's "Le Horla" Chapter Six Bernal's Masterplot and the Transhuman Promise Chapter Seven Each Man Is an Island: The Legacy of Emerson's Golden Age Conclusion The Fortunes of Science Fiction Afterword: Knowing George by Gregory Benford A Brief Bibliography of the Works of George Slusser

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Science fiction : toward a world literature

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