Science Fiction and the Prediction of the Future

Gary Westfahl, a professor emeritus at the University of La Verne, California, has authored, edited, or co-edited 31 books about science fiction and fantasy, and hundreds of articles and reviews. In 2003, he received the Science Fiction Research Association’s Pilgrim Award for his lifetime contributions to science fiction and fantasy scholarship. Wong Kin Yuen is the chair of the English department at Hong Kong Shue Yen University and has published broadly on science fiction. Amy Kit-sze Chan teaches English at Hong Shue Yen University and has published numerous articles on women’s issues and cultural studies.

“excellent”—Science Fiction Studies.

• Table of ContentsIntroduction: Of Futures Imagined, and Futures InhabitedGARY WESTFAHL      I. Cosmic Visions1. Pitfalls of Prophecy: Why Science Fiction So Often Fails to Predict the FutureGARY WESTFAHL      2. Emotional Dimensions of Transmimetic Fiction: Emotion, Aesthetics, Ethics, and Rhetoric in Tales of Tomorrow’sScience, Technology, and TechnoscienceRICHARD L. MCKINNEY      3. The Internet and the Anagogical Myths of Science FictionKIRK HAMPTON AND CAROL MACKAY      4. Technobodies and the Anxieties of PerformanceVERONICA HOLLINGER      5. Places of Alterity in Science FictionRICHARD L. MCKINNEY      II. The Practice of Prophecy6. Future City Toyko: 1909 and 2009SHARALYN ORBAUGH      7. Rebooting “A Logic Named Joe”: Exploring the Multiple Influences of a Strangely Predictive Mid–1940s Short StoryDAVID L. FERRO AND ERIC G. SWEDIN      8. Victims of a Globalized, Radicalized, Technologized World, or, Why the Beatles Needed Help!LYNNE LUNDQUIST      9. “A Journey Beyond the Stars”: 2001: A Space Odyssey and the Psychedelic Revolution in 1960s Science FictionROB LATHAM      10. The Endless Odyssey: The 2001 Saga and Its Inability to Predict Humanity’s FutureGARY WESTFAHL      11. Intercultural and Interface: Kung Fu as Abstract MachineWONG KIN YUEN      12. Post-Genre Cinemas and Post-Colonial Attitude: Hong Kong Meets ParisVÉRONIQUE FLAMBARD-WEISBART      13. Writing, Weaving, and TechnologyAMY KIT-SZE CHAN      14. The Technological Contours of Contemporary Science Fiction, or, The Science Fiction That Science Fiction Doesn’tBROOKS LANDON      15. Thinking About the Smart Wireless WorldGREGORY BENFORD      Bibliography of Works Related to Science Fiction and the Prediction of the Future      Bibliography of Other Works Cited in the Text      About the Contributors      Index