Reading Science Fiction

JAMES GUNN is Emeritus Professor of English at K.U. and has published more than a dozen novels and half a dozen collections of stories, and has edited more than a dozen and a half books. His best-known novels are The Immortals, The Dreamers, The Listeners, Kampus and The Joy Makers. The Immortals was filmed as The Immortal and became a TV series. His academic publications include Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the six-volume anthology The Road to Science Fiction, The Science of Science-Fiction Writing, Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction and Inside Science Fiction.MARLEEN S BARR is known for her pioneering work in feminist science fiction and teaches in the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. She has won the Science Fiction Research Association Pilgrim Award for lifetime achievement in science fiction criticism. Barr is the author of Alien to Feminity: Speculative Fiction and Feminist Theory, Lost in Space: Probing Feminist Science Fiction and Beyond, Feminist Fabulation: Space/Postmodern Fiction and Genre Fission: A New Discouse Practice for Cultural Studies. Barr has edited many anthologies and co-edited the special science fiction issue of PMLA.MATTHEW CANDELARIA received his PhD from the University of Kansas and has published articles on science fiction. He is recipient of the 2003 Golden Quill Award from the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest and co-editor of Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction.

'As a reader and teacher of Science Fiction, I have wished for a book like this for years, and Reading Science Fiction exceeds that wish. The fusion of theory with practice and history with interpretations, combined with the implied dialogue of authors with various approaches to SF, makes this an extraordinarily valuable work. Reading Science Fiction is certain to become an essential text for teachers and students.' - Dr. Dennis Kratz, University of Texas at Dallas, USA 'This new collection will be a major aid to teaching Science Fiction. It presents different approaches and situates the fiction within its cultural context by drawing connections with the other media.' - Professor David Seed, founder of the MA program in Science Fiction Studies, University of Liverpool, UK '...[a] feature that will doubtless appeal to teachers and students using this text is the average essay's brevity and density, a format that facilitates and rewards rereading.' - Science Fiction Studies

• Notes on ContributorsIntroductionPART I: MAPPING SCIENCE FICTIONIntroduction to Part IDefining Science Fiction; E.S.RabkinWhat is Science Fiction and How it Grew; H.FranklinNarrative Strategies in Science Fiction; B.StablefordThere is No Such Thing as Science Fiction; M.Bould& S.VintPART II: SCIENCE FICTION AND POPULAR CULTUREIntroduction to Part IIScience Fiction Movies: The Fued of Eye and Idea: G.ZebrowskiThe Feedback Loop; M.CassuttComputers in Science Fiction; B.LandonCross-Fertilizationor Coincidence? Science Fiction and Video Games; O.S.CardPART III: THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO SCIENCE FICTIONIntroduction to Part IIIGender is a Problem That Can Be Solved: Women's SF and Feminist Theory; J.DonawerthMarxism and SF; C.FreedmanReading SF with Postcolonial Theory; M.CandelariaEncountering International Science Fiction Through a Latin American Lens; R.de Sousa CausoPART IV: READING SCIENCE FICTION IN THE CLASSROOMIntroduction to Part IVReading Science Fiction as Science Fiction; J.GunnReading Joanna Russ in Context: Science, Utopia and Postmodernity; J.CortielReading Science Fiction's Interdisciplinary Conversation with Science and Technology Studies; D.Davis& L.YaszekPART V: SCIENCE FICTION AND DIVERSE DISCIPLINESIntroduction to Part VNeuroscience Fiction Redux; J.D.MillerPhysics ThroughScience Fiction; G.BenfordScience Fiction and Biology; P.SargentScience Fiction and Philosophy; J.GunnScience Fiction and the Internet; B.SterlingThe Reading Science Fiction BlogBibliographyIndex.