This collection reads the science fiction genre and television medium as examples of heterotopia (and television as science fiction technology), in which forms, processes, and productions of space and time collide – a multiplicity of spaces produced and (re)configured. The book looks to be a heterotopic production, with different chapters and “spaces” (of genre, production, mediums, technologies, homes, bodies, etc), reflecting, refracting, and colliding to offer insight into spatial relationships and the implications of these spaces for a society that increasingly inhabits the world through the space of the screen. A focus on American science fiction offers further spatial focus for this study – a question of geographical and cultural borders and influence not only in terms of American science fiction but American television and streaming services. The (contested) hegemonic nature of American science fiction television will be discussed alongside a nation that has significantly been understood, even produced, through the television screen. Essays will examine the various (re)configurations, or productions, of space as they collapse into the science fiction heterotopia of television since 1987, the year Star Trek: Next Generation began airing.
Author(s): Joel Hawkes, Alexander Christie, Tom Nienhuis
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 311
City: Cham
Preproduction: Colliding Spaces
Boldly Moving Forward from 1987
Productions of Science Fiction, Space, and Screen
Screens, (Re)configurations, and Productions
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Part I: Contested Habitation: Enclosed, Encoded, and Reordered Spaces
(Re)configuration
Chapter 1: Occupied Space: The Contested Habitation of Terok Nor/Deep Space Nine
Introduction
This Land Is Your Land/This Land Is My Land
Cardassians Built Your Home
No Fixed Abode
Conclusion
References
Chapter 2: Welwala at the Borders: Language, Space, and Power in The Expanse
Introduction
Lang Belta As Resistance
Toward Mestiza Consciousness
Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: “You’ve Seen One Post-Apocalyptic City, You’ve Seen Them All”: The Scales and Failures of the Right to the City and the Science Fiction Production of Space in Love, Death, & Robots
Introduction
Representation of Spatial Stereotypes and the SF Generic City
Embodied Exclusions and Entrapment
The Right to the City as Revenge
Conclusion
References
Chapter 4: “Heaven is a Place on Earth”?: Configuring the Horizon of Queer Utopia in Black Mirror’s “San Junipero”
Introduction
The Interrogative Space of SF Utopias
Queer Utopia and its Narrative Failure
Between Nostalgia, Dystopian Quagmire, and Queer Hope
Conclusion
References
Chapter 5: SVOD: A Place for (Outer) Space?
Introduction
Exploring SF Spaces and Searching for Home
SVOD as SF Home and Imaginary
SVOD’s Utopias and Dystopias
Conclusion
References
Part II: Mirroring Screens: Reflections, Refractions, and the “Real World”
(Re)configuration
Chapter 6: The Wars of Ronald D. Moore: Terrorism, Insurgency, and News Media in Deep Space Nine and Battlestar Galactica
Introduction
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Battlestar Galactica
Conclusion
References
Chapter 7: “To Ensure the Safety of the Republic, We Must Deregulate the Banks”: A Social Democratic Reading of Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Introduction
The Clone Wars Strike Back
“Begun, the Clone Wars Have”
“Enter The Bureaucrats, The True Rulers of The Republic”
The Shock Doctrine
“Evil is Everywhere”
The Saga Continues
References
Chapter 8: Enclosing, Opening, and Redefining Modern Space in The Expanse
Introduction
Enclosing Space
Opening Space
Redefining Space
Conclusion
References
Part III: Intersecting Media: Text, Television, and Streaming Services
(Re)configuration
Chapter 9: The Year Everything Changed: Babylon 2020
Introduction
You Can’t Go Home Anymore
Spatial Effects
Beyond the Screen
Screening the Future
References
Chapter 10: Disembodied Spaces and Cyborg Utopias in Westworld
Introduction
Westworld Season 1: Dreams of Humanity
Westworld Season 2: Dreams Deferred
Conclusion
References
Chapter 11: Memos from the Author: Adaptation of Flashforward for Television
Introduction
Memo
Verbs
Genre
Production
Audience
Space
Conclusion
References
Part IV: Transformed Communities: Technologies, Bodies, and Viewers
(Re)configuration
Chapter 12: Pushing Through Networks and Media Spaces in Stranger Things
Introduction
The Bridge Between Worlds
Centering the Upside Down
“Doris, You Oughta Call the Paper…”
The Upside Down as a Space of Freedom
Leaving the Door Open Three Inches
Conclusion
References
Chapter 13: The Boys Keep Swinging: Celebrity Bodies in and Between Space
Introduction
Bodies in and Between Space
Capital Space and Celebrity Superhero Bodies
The Boys Keep Swinging
Conclusion
References
Post Production: Screening Futures—From Scarlet to Ebon
References
Index
