Fantastic Pasts and Science Futures: Speculative Fictions and Histories
Where have we been, and where are we going? Fantasy and Science Fiction – two of the genres that fit into the capacious mode of Speculative Fiction – have been at the centre of addressing these questions since the middle of the 20th century. This course is structured in two parts: first examining the history and development of the genre of Fantasy – from JRR Tolkien to GRR Martin and beyond – and its role in mediating the multiple pasts of western society, and second an introduction to the ever-moving genre of Science Fiction and its probing speculations about our future. We will read a range of novels and short stories – and watch some film and TV – both classics and lesser known works, as we examine the role of these two genres in the exploration of how literature reflects, shapes, and reshapes our sense of our past as a society, and poses questions as to our possible futures.
Please note that this is not a course on writing (that would be ENGL 100 or WRDS 150): we will spend our time on fantastic literature rather than essay-writing technical skills.